[Reader-list] Breakthrough in Singur
Shuddhabrata Sengupta
shuddha at sarai.net
Mon Sep 8 02:42:24 IST 2008
Dear all,
(apologies for cross posting on Kafila)
This list has in the past discussed the debacle of Nandigram in West
Bengal, and the efforts to ensure that the farmers of Singur were not
forcibly alienated from their land (without their consent) for the
sake of the Tata Motors factory that aims to produce the 'Nano' Car.
We have also read a great deal of reports recently from the Chengara
land struggle in Kerala.
For the past several days, a peaceful agitation on the Durgapur
expressway near the Tata Motors Factory site in Singur in West Bengal
has protested against the West Bengal Industrial Development
Corporation and the West Bengal Government's decision not to engage
with the demands of the farmers and others who did not voluntarily
accept the paltry compensation offered to them by the WBIDC for the
loss of their land or their livelihoods.
At the close of last night, the Governor of West Bengal, Gopal
Krishna Gandhi announced that a solution acceptable to all (the
protesting farmers at Singur and the Government of West Bengal) has
been found, and that Ms. Mamata Bannerjee of the Trinamool Congress
(one of the key protagonists of the Singur protest) would announce
that the agitation at Singur would be suspended.
This is good news, as it demonstrates that hitherto unwilling and
insensitive governments that try to ride roughshod over people in the
interests of capital can be made on occasion to listen to organized
and peaceful expressions of peoples' dissent. The CPI(M) led Left
Front Government of West Bengal seems to have learnt at least some
lessons from the fallout of its earlier shameful and anti-democratic
conduct in Nandigram. This is welcome. It can only be hoped that the
CPI(M) leadership takes stock, learns to listen more to people, and
indeed to many from amongst their own cadre who have been unhappy
about the way in which their party brokered unfair land deals for
Capital.
The people of Nandigram had based their struggle on what they had
learnt from the earlier phase of the Singur situation. It appears
today that the people of Singur have benefited from the restraint
shown by a government and ruling party chastened by its mismanagement
of the situation in Nandigram. The people of Singur owe their current
sense of respite to a great extent to the people of Nandigram and
their struggle.
Though it may be premature to call this 'breakthrough' a victory for
peasants and working people, it is certainly reason to believe that
not every struggle conducted by ordinary people over land, resources
and livelihood is doomed to failure. This news should raise the hopes
of all those committed to protest against unjust land alicquisition
and transfer moves - be they in Orissa, Haryana, Kerala, Kashmir or
elsewhere.
I enclose below a PTI report in the Hindu that gives more details of
the agreement.
regards,
Shuddha
-----------------
Understanding on Singur reached, Mamata calls of agitation
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200809080326.htm
Kolkata (PTI): The two-year-old Singur crisis was resolved late on
Sunday night as a land-for-land agreement was reached at a face-to-
face meeting between West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev
Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee here,
capping three days of hard-nosed bargaining.
As part of the agreement, the government would return the land of all
those farmers who have not been compensated, most of which are within
the premises of the Tata Motors Nano car factory in Singur, Governor
Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who brokered the talks between the two sides,
told mediapersons at Raj Bhawan.
Mamata, in turn, announced the immediate withdrawal of her party's
two-year-old agitation on the issue and the fortnight-long sit-in
demonstration at the factory site.
A committee would be set up to work out modalities of returning the
land of the farmers who have not got the compensation within a week
during which government ordered suspension of all construction work
in the nearby ancillary units of the car factory, Gandhi said reading
from a prepared text of the understanding reached between the two sides.
The Governor announced the breakthrough in the impasse in the
presence of the Chief Minister and the Trinamool Congress chief at
the end of a series of of meetings including the first-ever talks
between Bhattacharjee and Banerjee.
The talks, marked by twists and turns, was salvaged from the verge of
collapse this evening following a last-minute demand by Mamata, after
a consensus was reached earlier, that land of all farmers acquired of
vendors of ancillary units of the Tata Motors Nano car plant at
Singur be returned to farmers.
The sudden near-breakdown of talks was, however, resolved at the
initiative of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who has been chairing the
talks since Friday.
After the understanding was reached, Mamata Banerjee claimed "total
victory" for her party and said "this has brought to an end to the
two-year-old agitation and 15-day dharna over Singur".
Reading out the text of joint statement issued by both the chief
minister and the Trinamool Congress supremo, the Governor said the
state government had taken the decision to respond to demands of
those farmers who have not received compensation by means of land to
be provided to the maximum within the factory project area and rest
in adjacent areas as early as possible.
"Towards this, a committee will be constituted to ascertain the scope
and settle the modalities within a period of one week," the governor
said.
During this time, the statement said, the government would urge the
vendors not to make any construction.
"Mamata Banerjee is making an announcement regarding the suspension
of the agitation from Singur," he said.
The government and those agitating on behalf of the farmers would
cooperate with each other for the benefit of the industry,
agriculture and ancillaries, he said.
The Governor was flanked by the chief minister, the Trinamool
Congress chief, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, Leader of
the Opposition Partha Chatterjee and Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee.
Mamata Banerjee claimed 300 acres would be returned to farmers and
100 acres adjacent to the ancillary units to them.
The governor said, "I am happy to be able to read the text of an
understanding which has been signed on behalf of the government by
the honourable Minister for Industries and Commerce and on behalf of
the agitating farmers by the honourable Leader of the Opposition.
"I am particularly glad to be able to read this in the presence of
the chief minister and Mamata Banerjee who has come from Singur to be
present at this conclusive and concluding days of discussions between
the Samity and its representatives and the government."
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