[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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