The red sabbath

 

 

“They tied my hands and legs and then dragged me by my hair to a nearby house. I was strapped to a pole in the courtyard, under the blazing sun. Suddenly I found some men approaching me. Before I could realise anything, they started beating me up and then….” Devika Rani (name changed) broke down.

Devika’s crime: Her participation in the November 10 rally organised by the Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) at Sonachura in Nandigram. The peace rally was attacked by the armed CPI(M) cadres and Devika was one of the many prisoners taken in by the killer squad. Strapped to the pole, she was severely beaten up and mauled by the pack of comrades. Sometime after she was left alone by the maniacs, the bruised and battered Devika spotted a known face, Geeta, a woman CPI(M) cadre from her village. Sporting a red headband, brandishing a pistol, she stood over the victim. The gun-toting CPI(M) activist bent down, put the pistol under her chin and barked: “Kirey magi kemon lagche (Hello slut, how do you feel)?” She then kicked Devika and walked off. The victim, who later managed to escape, has now taken shelter in the local Congress party office in Nandigram.

Eleven-year-old Bulumi does not speak any more. He stares blankly. While he was playing outside his house at Satengabari, the CPI(M) men raided the village and opened fire. A bullet hit Bulumi’s forehead. His parents, picked up the bleeding child and ran till they reached a safer location. The bullet had grazed his forehead. Bulumi survived, but the incident has completely shaken up this little boy. The homeless family is now at a relief camp, set up at Brajomohan Tiwari School in Nandigram.

Tales of rape, murder, mayhem stem from each and every corner of Nandigram—“liberated” by the Marxists of Bengal. Rows of demolished, charred houses stand as mute witnesses to the red savagery. Sonachura, Southkhali, Satengabari, Jambari, Tekhali, Daudpur, Maheshpur are some of the hamlets massacred by the band of communists during their “operation re-capture.” Red flags flutter violently announcing the triumph all over Nandigram.

Incidentally, majority of the villagers rendered homeless, raped, beaten are Muslims. And these are not illegal immigrants, but those settled in Nandigram for generations. Sheikh Akram, Sheikh Jahangir are among the many, recovering from bullet injuries at Nandigram hospital. On November 22, anger of the minority community spilled onto the streets of Kolkata. As the agitation organised by the Muslim outfits turned violent, the government was forced to call in the Army. The Army staged a flag march in the capital of West Bengal after 15 long years.

Despite the wrath, there were also reports of some minority leaders trying to give the protests a communal tinge. These leaders tacitly blended the Nandigram issue with that of Taslima Nasrin. The outfits were demanding cancellation of her visa. Following the events, the Congress Muslim leader, Idris Ali, has been suspended by the party for fanning communal violence and put behind bars.

However, after the 2002 genocide, if the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, prevented further communal flare-ups following the terrorist strike at Akshardham temple, the CPI(M) also ordered its cadres in Kolkata not to retaliate. “We could have given a befitting reply and a stronger one. We were asked not to retaliate,” standing near the ransacked CPI(M) party office at Beniapukur, a party activist, gritted his teeth.

If Kolkata became the combat zone for a day, fire continues to simmer in that remote village of Nandigram—Jambari. As the car stopped near a gutted double-storeyed house, a young boy, Pranabesh Pal, braked and jumped off his bicycle. “Come with me, I will show you,” he said, even before one could ask. While one stood before the charred remnants, the boy informed that the house once belonged to a BUPC member, Bholanath Pal. On November 10, on being informed of the approaching CPI(M) mob, Bholanath fled with his family. The marauders ransacked the house and set it ablaze. Most of the men in this tiny village are on the run. “With CRPF patrolling the area, the situation is somewhat under control,” Usha Pal, an old woman, who could not flee, revealed. The CPI(M) cadres had raided her house looking for her brother-in-law, an active Trinamul Congress worker, and his “licensed rifle.” Failing to find either, the “culprit” or his gun, the reds took kerosene from her house and set her cow-shed and kitchen on fire. While fleeing, some of the poor families had dropped their utensils in the nearby pond, hoping to recover them on their return. “The CPI(M) boys even dived into the pond and took the utensils away,” the old woman said.

Deeper inside Nandigram is Satengabari, the worst hit village in the carnage unleashed by the red-brigade. Being the stronghold of the BUPC, Satengabari was the prime target of the CPI(M) cadres. There was a kind of hush, as the TSI team crossed the small wooden footbridge to step into the area. As one walked farther, an old man, Mir Mannan Ali, approached the team. Pointing at the rows of burnt and destroyed homes, he virtually screamed: “Look what the BUPC members did to us.” Slowly people started trickling out of their huts. The entire village has now been taken over by the CPI(M) men, who had earlier fled and taken shelter at a party relief camp in Khejuri. It was claimed that on seeing the Marxist mob close in on the village, the BUPC members “selectively set fire to the houses of the communists” at Satengabari and Barman Pally. Frowning, he asked, “Don’t believe me?” Without bothering to wait for a reply, he got a lone BUPC member, Abdul Hannan, called from his house. Hannan a landless labourer, perhaps did not have time to flee. Clad in a green half sleeve shirt, torn in places, Hannan appeared with a nervous smile fixed on his lips. “Didn’t BUPC members burn our houses?” Ali asked in a firm tone. Hannan slowly nodded his head and kept waiting as the CPI(M) supporter went on with the “macabre deeds of the BUPC.” When Ali paused for breath, Hannan meekly sought the permission to leave. He was allowed to.

As the TSI team was leaving Satengabari, it spotted CRPF officials surveying the area. Eastern Commander of CRPF, B.C.Roy, told TSI that his unit was planning to set up a transit camp in the area to facilitate the return of the victims. When asked, Ali, the CPI(M) activist, had said: “We want the BUPC members to return. We want to forget the past and live in peace.” The CRPF officer disclosed: “We need to provide protection. It’s not yet safe for those returning to their homes.” Another senior police official, standing outside the village revealed that the “CPI(M) members were demanding Rs 5,000 from all those returning back and coercing them to join the party.” It was also learnt that on November 10, when the red brigades were “liberating” Nandigram, he received information that hordes of arms were stacked in a local primary school at Satengabari. When he sought permission to raid the premises, he was promptly told to ignore.

On November 24, the CRPF, Eastern Command shot a letter to the director general, West Bengal police, Anupbhushan Bhora, accusing the police of “not arresting members of a particular political outfit (read CPI-M) and releasing them, even when they were being apprehended and handed over to the police by the CRPF.” Inspector General, CRPF Subhash Goswami went on record saying: “We are not arresting people on the basis of political affiliations.”

Talking about the minorities in the state, a senior police official in Kolkata told TSI : “Look, the Muslim anger against the government was waiting to erupt.” That the minorities had turned against the Marxists became evident, when for the first time in 30 years, they ransacked the CPI(M) party offices during the November 24 violence in Kolkata. The minorities were also seething against the CPI(M) over the mysterious death of Rizwanur Rahman. The main trigger was, however, the initial police firing in Nandigram and subsequent red terror. Muslims comprise over 70% of the population in Nandigram and majority of the murdered, raped and those rendered homeless were from the minority community. In West Bengal, Muslims comprise 27% of the total population and have been a traditional vote bank of the Left parties. As the minorities seethed against the government, Muslim leaders, like Idrisl Ali, Siddikullah Chawdhury, who had faded into oblivion rushed to Nandigram to take advantage of the situation.

Moreover the raging battle in Nandigram is not for land but to capture territories. Nandigram falling under the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency is one of the main strongholds of the CPI(M). The party MP, Lakkhan Seth, draws maximum number of votes from Nandigram assembly segments. Therefore, if the Trinamul led BUPC had managed to retain its grip over Nandigram, not only could the party have won the forthcoming Panchayat polls in eastern Midnapore, but might even have been able to snatch this Lok Sabha berth from the CPI(M). Nandigram could also have been Trinamul’s gateway to the rural bastion of the Left Front. The first round had gone to Trinamul, when it successfully drove out the reds from the area. But then in this Marxist capital it had always been difficult to withstand the red retaliation.

For now the Mamatas and Siddikullahs have been pushed back by Buddha’s red army. But these political generals will wait their turn. As they play and plan their war moves, it’s these tillers, women and children, who will continue to be killed, raped and slaughtered, sometimes in the name of land and at times in the name of religion. And standing in front of the national media, the Bengal chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee could proclaim once again: “They have been paid back in the same coin.” ‘We dont believe in Gandhigiri’

Hannan Mollah, CPI(M), MP

Is the CPI(M) losing the support of minorities in the state?

There had been a consistent effort to instigate the Muslims against the CPI(M). The Opposition wants to destroy this large chunk of our vote bank. We are organising rallies to assure them. I describe the development as Bimochan Samaram, the 1950s event, when the Church, Muslim organisations and the Congress got together to dislodge the first elected government of the Left in Kerala.

The left leaning intellectuals have now turned against the CPI(M)?

The so-called intellectuals have no leanings. They are basically pro-US and are in the hands of a particular media house in the state.

What about the red terror in Nandigram?

What about the BUPC terror? What about when the CPI(M) members were driven out of their homes? We don’t believe in Gandhigiri. And the rapes…

Those who have committed this ghastly crime must be punished. But there should not be any trial by the media. Chronology of red terror

November 5: Meeting of CPI(M) cadre at Heria. Armed red squads come by waterway from Haldia

November 6: Attack begins from canal way. First target Satengabari

November 7: Reds move in to re-capture other Nandigram villages

November 9: Sonachura falls to the CPI(M)

November 11: All 30 villages in Nandigram taken over by the CPI(M)

November 12: CPI(M) holds victory rally with captured women and children in the front of the rally “People should return now ”

Md. Salim, CPI(M), MP

How do you describe the violence in Nandigram?

I think it’s a socio-politico-religious issue.

What about the people rendered homeless?

The government wants them to return to their base. They are being misled by some people. They are being told that by staying in relief camps, they could get a better compensation.

Is CPI(M) targeting the Muslim community ?

This is a campaign against the Left parties. “Muslims are suffering”

Siddikullah chawdhury, leader, jamaiat-e-ulema

Do you think that CPM is losing the support of the Muslim community in West Bengal?

Yes Muslims are turning against Left parties.

Are you trying to gain political mileage?

No. Muslims in Bengal are being deprived and misguided by CPM. Same is the plight of the Hindus.

Do you support the violence over Taslima Nasrin?

Not at all . We do not support violence. The demand is justified , no doubt , but this is not the way . CPM is behind the conspiracy .