THE SPARTANS OF NANDIGRAM

 

 

The ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) is apparently feeling good in West Bengal. Billboards proclaim that the Left Front has completed 30 'glorious years' in the State. Congratulations! Except that there's a serious problem. For the past two-and-a-half months, 2,000 people have been working tirelessly in groups, arming themselves with swords and sickles, and standing guard at night around their land. These are residents of Nandigram, the scene of probably the most serious battle over land in recent times in India. Indonesia's Salim Group was earmarked land in Nandigram, much like what the Tatas were given in Singur for their small car project. It would seem as if the Left Front government is treating these as return gifts at its '30th year in power' party. Reports said Nandigram could be heading for war. TSI journeyed there to check things out. The first response is anger: Villagers heatedly tell us that the media has been distorting things. Slowly, however, they open up. Says Rafiq, a resident, as he shows us the way to his village from Chandipur, “It’s our fault. We have voted for the Left Front as our destiny for the past 30 years. This is how they repay our loyalty.”

Till 3 January 2007, when trouble first erupted, Nandigram, 150 km southwest from Kolkata, existed only on the map. Now, they don't want to let the Singur story be replicated in Nandigram (of land being cordoned off etc). There's the Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee (committee to resist eviction from land). And if you thought it was just another committee, you're wrong. The 2,000 vigilantes are backed by more than 80,000 residents from 38 mouzas (blocks of villages). After nearly every 500 metres, they have either dug up trenches or have built walls of logs and bricks to make sure that the police and activists of the Left Front are kept at bay. “What will the police do? They are nothing but puppets in the hands of the CPI(M). The party workers have come and killed our people ruthlessly and the police were silent and shameless spectators. Presently, as we talk, firing is going on the other side of this bridge, in Sona Chura, near Khejuri, where there is a police station as well. If the police did their job, the firing would not have taken place,” an agitated Faizul says as he stands on the bridge at Rajaramchowk with his followers ready to fight if the CPI(M) squad reaches. “These blockages are nothing that. Come tomorrow and you will see double the size. The next day we will treble it. We know how to take care of our land”, says a local shopkeeper while guarding the land in front of his shop. As we proceed further, a woman resident says, “You go and tell the people that we don’t need the government. We can take care of ourselves. Go and convey to those brutes that if they think they are the only ones willing to fight, they are wrong. We will fight as well”. The villagers say they are not against industrialisation, they say there is plenty of unused infertile land, ready for starting an industrial hub. Residents of Nandigram say there's no reason why fertile land should be given. With the small compensation amount that is being provided to the villagers (without proper rehabilitation), how is it possible to survive for long, they ask. “We are not educated enough to secure a job. Now if they grab our land where do we go? Farming is the only source of income for the majority of our people”, says, Moijash, a labourer working in Kolkata, who has rushed back to guard his land.

The villagers are not alone in their crusade. Since the trouble broke, local CPI MLA Mohammed Illyas has been the government (and his party leadership) to be with the agitators. Saying that there is no other way out, Illyas states, "I am in the party but I can’t accept the decision to acquire farmland for industries without a proper rehabilitation package. Where will these people go and what will they do once they part with their land," asks Illyas. He is busy organising a movement. For obvious reasons, the CPI has distanced itself from Illyas. In the local CPI office, no one is willing to talk about Illyas or his whereabouts. But he is not worried. He doesn't sit in the party office anymore. He says for him people are more important than the party.

With the Panchayat elections in 2008, people are in a mood to take revenge. They feel that if they were the ones who voted for the Left Front for 30 years, they can vote against as well. That is worrying the CPI(M), which has so far enjoyed power.

Nandigram believes that attack is the best form of defence, especially if people have been attacking them. Nandigram is no longer just a village, but a symbol where people don't want to give up their freedom. They are honest and candid. They will bear the hardship but won't allow the police to enter their villages, they say. The nights, it appears, will be long in Nandigram for a while. That should make the Left rethink.