Traces of violence:

Place: Adhikari Pada, Gokulnagar Village
28 Nov. '07
Our escort, Gautam Das Adhikari belonged to the same pada and village. This was the place where the first assault started in November. Two of the people who were taking refuge in the Nandigram shivir and who were active in the BUPC andolan belonged to this village: Swadesh Das Adhikari and Srikant Das Adhikari. We visited their houses in the villages that were attacked by the CPM people.

We went to Swadesh Das Adhikari’s house and were met by his 90 year old mother, Roshmoi Das Adhikari, sitting in front of her torched house. On 7^th November, 5 CPM people attacked her house, and looted and burnt her house in front of her own eyes; 3 of them torched the house while 2 others threatened her with big guns. The ‘Harmads’ (goons) manhandled her, pulled her hair and tried to strangle her. They beat her and blood came out of her mouth.

Her son and most of the other villagers had already run away and taken refuge in the Nandigram camp on 5^th-6^th Nov. Only she and her neighbors were left behind. Her son too had left because he was an active BUPC member. She knew the perpetrators by face. They were CPM workers and were from Adhikaripada only who very well knew her family. She knew their father’s name.

These people threatened her and kept on asking about her son’s whereabouts and where the arms were hidden in the house. They also threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone who had burnt her house.

The neighbors, Ashalata and Mahadeb Das Adhikari, were hiding and had witnessed the entire incident. Mahadeb had suffered burns on his chest and arm when a part of their house also caught fire from the neighboring house. The CPM people came to his house too and threatened to hurt him and his wife, daughter and son-in-law if told anybody the truth. They put a big gun on his chest and threatened him to give the statement that Swadesh Ahikari had torched his own home to claim compensation and then ran away.

We also visited Srikant Adhikari’s house which was as badly burnt up. In total 6 houses were torched and their houses were targeted because all were BUPC members. All these people have land and so joined the BUPC as active supporters. They had all ran away with the majority of the villagers to Nandigram camp when violence first broke out. Some villagers returned back to the village on 22^nd Nov from the camp with the CRPF escorting them.

The villagers felt safe and protected with the CRPF around. The CRPF patrolled the area incessantly and were the local saviors. It was seen as a non-partisan body on which the people had faith. They wanted the CRPF to stay on for longer period, and feared that as soon as CRPF left, the CPM harmads would again attack them. The pada CPM boys even then threatened them at night, but with the CRPF around they could not harm them openly. The villagers had returned back only because of the CRPF. They were scared that the looting and killing would start again once the CRPF is withdrawn.

We also met a woman, Taposhi Das Adhikari, who had suffered a bullet injury and multiple fractures in the 14^th March police firing incident. She still has not received any compensation from the government. In Nov., her family had taken her in her incapacitated state to the jungle and hidden her there as they couldn’t take her away to the camp in her condition.

Place: Mandal Pada, Sonachura Village
The first victim claimed by the Nandigram violence, Bharat Mandal, was from the Mandal Pada area of Sonachura village. Sonachura shares its borders with Khejuri[1]. It was across the Bhangabera Bridge that the firing continued for the 11 months, with Bhangabera Pada, Sonachura on one side, and Khejuri on the other.

Since the beginning of the November clashes most of the villagers had shifted to the Nandigram school camp. Three of the villagers are still missing after the November violence; they had gone to the 10^th November peace meeting called by the BUPC, which was attacked by CPM supporters.

Sheikh Suleiman from Jalpai area of Sonachura was one of the injured who had been taken to the PG Hospital in Calcutta. He had suffered from bomb injuries in his stomach. He had died in the hospital on 28^th Nov., increasing the official death toll to 3 persons.

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[1] Khejuri is a CPM stronghold and from January onwards a camp is being run in Khejuri high school for the CPM supporters who fled from Sonachura, Gokulnagar, Gorchakraberia and other BUPC barricaded villahges.

Place: Bhoota Mor, Gorchakraberia Village
Bhoota Mor in Gorchakraberia was the first place where the police firing took place on 14^th March. It is a mostly Muslim majority area. When we reached the village we went to see Yaseen Ali Shah’s house. He was staying at the Nandigram School camp and had said that his house was broken and burnt by CPM supporters in the village in early November. He was a TMC supporter. However, we found the story to be a little different when we reached there.

There were other houses that had suffered worse damages and more badly burnt up than Yaseen Ali’s house. We reached E.R. Ali Shah’s burnt house. His son Mehboob Alam told us that on 28^th October about 200 TMC supporters came and attacked their house and torched it up. His father was from CPM and many CPM supporters like him were driven away from the village.

Mehboob named Yaseen Ali as one of the TMC supporters who came that day to attack his house. He said that they had 15 beegha land and ready to sell it off for industrialization in the area. There were mane educated and unemployed youth in the village like him who wanted to sell of their land to get employment in the industry to be set up here. Since his family had not joined the TMC/BUPC against the sarkar, they were targeted at by the TMC.

We also met other CPM supporters whose houses were similarly burnt. Manjari Bibi’s house too was torched and broken by the TMC supporters. Her husband had to run away from the village to save his life. He stayed away for 11 months. She and many women left behind like her were ill-treated by the TMC/BUPC people. They were landless labourers; they were made to work in the fields with very meager wages. They were stranded there and treated very badly; and had to do BUPC’s bidding.

Manjari too had fled from the village and stayed in a camp. Mansur Mallik, another CPM person of the village, told us that there were about 3000 CPM people who had fled from the villages in Nandigram from Jan. onwards and taken refuge in Haldia Hathiberia Party Office Camp. He himself had been there for 11 months and worked in for providing relief to the people in the camp.

Those people who had run away or gone to the camps in the intervening months from Jan. to Oct., returned back to the village on 8^th Nov. They had no problem in returning back because by that time the TMC and BUPC supporters had fled the village.

Manjari told us that she has received compensation for her house from the government. Many like her support the land acquisition for SEZ as they were landless laborers, share croppers, unemployed youth, artisans who worked as tailors in towns, and believed that the industrialization drive of sarkar would benefit them.

Even the BUPC people who had fled in early Nov. are now returning back to the village. They had no problem in the others coming back as they only wanted to live in peace. The villagers there told us that they only want to live with harmony and without any more clashes.

Testimonies of Violence:

At the Shivir -:
On 4^th Nov., around 2.30-3 pm in the afternoon, 11 year old Gulmir was playing in the veranda at his home in Satengabari village, when a bullet hit him in the head. The bullet came from the Khejuri side. He was taken to the Kolkata PG Hospital.

Fortunately for Gulmir, the bullet entered through the right front of his forehead and came out through the left side. He is alive, but he has lost the quickness of mind. It takes him awhile to understand anything. We met him at the Nandigram shivir, he was slow in answering our questions and at times cannot comprehend anything easily.

Srikant Pike (Bhangabera Pada, Sonachura Village) -: Srikant is the person whose household was the first to be attacked in the January incident. He was part of the “Jomin Bachao Andolan” (Save the Land Movement). He had come to the shivir after the 14^th March police firing, but had gone back to his village on 16^th March when the CBI team first came for the enquiry. He gave his statement as well as the kartoos to the CBI, and reported that 10 CPM goons were holed up at the Janani Eet Bhata (Brick Kiln) with arms.

He told his story to us – The firing first started at Gokulnagar, Adikari Pada, Sonuchara across the Bhangabera bridge, with the CPM supporters firing from the Khejuri side. The CPM wanted area dakhal (capture) for SEZ and so had let loose its cadres on the andolan. After 16^th March, with the police staying away from the scene (after the High Court passed the order calling police firing unjustified), we had to hide and secure ourselves as ‘they’ kept on shooting at us.

“Ora Lokkhimondir teke gooli-bari korto” (They would shoot from the Lakshmi temple), and then would run away to the Eet Bhata to hide (the brick kilns were at the Khejuri side and on the border with Sonachura, giving CPM easy access to this side). The Janani Eet Bhata, Tekhali Bazaar, was the main base camp of CPM ‘goons’. The CPM also got other cadre goons from the 24 Parganas, and also some Bangladeshi miscreants.

Mahamaya Das Adhikari (Adhikari Pada, Gokulnagar Village) -: She was one of those who had gone back to her village from the shivir on 26^th Nov. But she returned back a day later because her parents were threatened by 5-7 CPM goons that either she support CPM or they will abduct her if she comes back. She had to return back as she did not want to tow the CPM line and she did not have faith in the police to protect her.

She had also received a rubber bullet on her leg in the 14^th March police firing incident.

These stories resonate many others in the shivir. The villagers in the camp say that the CPM and authorities want them to stop the land movement, co-opt themselves with the CPM led state administration and tow their line. They are threatened by the CPM cadres and supporters if they do not hoist the red flag of CPM.

The 11 months long discontent has led to much upheaval, displacement, loss of lives and livelihood. When asked how they foresee the future ahead, the people in the camp said that peace in the land will return only with “sampatti suraksha, jeevon jeevika” (security of land and property as well as livelihood). They want justice and an impartial inquiry into acts of violations against their people. Anything short of that would not pave the way ahead for any peaceful solution.

Place: Brindavan Chowk
The people of Brindawan Chowk had a different story tell. Like the people of other villagers, they had also fled their village when the conflict started and stayed at the Nandigram School shivir. These people were landless labourers and belonged to the Scheduled Caste. They earned their living as drummers at festivals. Since they did not own any land, they were not active in the BUPC andolan. They were mainly CPM voters.

When the shooting started, these villagers were caught between the two sides and so had to go to the relief camp. On 25^th Nov they returned back to their village escorted by the CRPF. Since they were CPM voters, their houses were burnt by the BUPC. They even named Vimal Chandra Hajra, a BUPC leader, who intimidated them when the CRPF was not around.

The police and CID had made enquiries, but no compensation has yet been paid to anyone whose house has been burnt.

At the Shivir: Relief Camp

The team arrived at Nandigram town on 28^th Nov. at 11 am, amidst a mass CPM rally / meeting held at the Sitananda College Maath (Grounds). This was the first “Jana Sabha” called by the CPM after the first instances of violence erupted in Nandigram.

We witnessed a mass of villagers thronging to the College Ground to attend the CPM meeting. The narrow town roads were blocked by thousand of villagers flagging the red CPM ‘jhanda’, who were called upon to attend the meeting to show the support base of the party. We asked them which villages they belonged to. There were villagers walking all the way from interior villages like Keshavpur, Gokulnagar, Kalicharanpur, Sonachura, Khejuri, etc.

We had trouble wading through the mass of people even with a police pilot escort clearing the way in front of us. Nevertheless, we managed to reach our first destination to collect testimonies and facts, a school that has been converted into a makeshift relief camps.

Place: Brij Mohan Tiwari Siksha Niketan
28 Nov. 2007
Brij Mohan Tiwari Siksha Niketan in Nandigram Block-I has been acting as the shivir or relief camp, whereby those fleeing away from the villages in the wake of the violence that has rocked Nandigram since January of this year as well as the recent spate in November again, has been taking refuge in.

The camp initially had reported 3000 people taking refuge in it since January. But the number had dwindled to around 250 the day we visited the camp. Fresh influx had occurred again from 6^th Nov. onwards after the re-eruption of violence in November.

The shivir acted as relief-cum-medical camp for the villagers driven away by the fighting between Bhoomi Ucched Pratishod Committee supporters and the CPM supporters. This camp mainly had BUPC supporters or those fighting for the “andolan” to save their land being acquisitioned under the SEZ. At the shivir, relief and medical aid was provided. The Nandigram Bazaar Committee, Bharat Sevashram, NGOs gave us rice, food materials and blankets.

A similar high school has been turned into a relief camp at Khejuri village, which is a CPM strong-hold, where most of the villagers who support CPM had taken refuge.

The battle lines are drawn between BUPC and CPM cadre across the Bhangabera Bridge, with the CPM dominated Khejuri at one side, and the BUPC taking hold on the other side from Bhangabera Pada, Sonachura onwards. This was the bridge where continuous firing and shooting continued for the past 11 months, ever since the first discontent arose in January. We came to know the stories through various testimonies of the people in the camp.

Place: Brij Mohan Tiwari Siksha Niketan
29 Nov. 2007
On the morning of 29^th Nov, we went back to collect some papers at the relief camp, and interviewed a young man named Sunil Prabhat who was claimed by the government to be a Maoist. The CPM backed TV channels ran the story as well as the newspapers reported the CPM fed lines the next day, of CPM supporters of catching 2 Maoists, Sunil Prabhat and Prabir Ganguly, and handing them over to the CRPF, who in turn let them go. We found Sunil Prabhat holed up at the shivir and got his side of the story.

Sunil was accompanying a group of young activists who had come to Nandigram on Medha Patkar’s call to document cases of violations in the villages in the aftermath of the Nov. clashes. He was an environmental activist involved with the Yamuna Bachao Movement in New Delhi, and believed in the Gandhian way of Satyagrah.

He had gone to Jambari Village with four others to gather case documentation by getting testimonites from villagers. When they started asking questions, the villagers shared their dismay with them at being forced to join the CPM meeting on 28^th Nov. at the Nandigram College Ground.

The local CPM supporters their got agitated with their line of questioning and started asking them aggressively what was their business there. The others got scared and left the village. But Sunil and his interpreter, Prabir Ganguly, were determined to stay behind to interview the villagers further. Seeing only the two of them, the CPM people got more abusive and started threatening the villagers who were helping Sunil. Prabir also got scared and fled from the village.

The CPM people soon gheraoed Sunil, and he was only saved when Chandan Pal, one of the helpful villagers, got him onto a bike and rushed off to the Gokulnagar CRPF camp. They were chased by about 20-25 CPM supporters. On reaching the CRPF base, the CRPF escorted him till the Nandigram School shivir where we later found Sunil. We got the news that Chandan Pal, who had returned to his village after dropping Sunil at Gokulnagar, was beaten up by the CPM people for helping Sunil.

Soon the dubious story of two Maoists started running on the TV. Sunil was scooted away from Nandigram by hiding him amongst a TV channel crew leaving for Calcutta.

Teaching a lesson through violence.....

An atmosphere of fear and uncertainty shrouded the relief camps and hospitals in Nandigram where most of the victims and survivors of the November violence were taking refuge in. What went on in Nandigram could be considered as crimes against humanity, constituting some of the gravest abuses of concern to the national and international community. The abuses were part of a widespread attack on the villagers of Nandigram opposing the state policy of land acquisition for industrialization, and the perpetrators had impunity from the state as they were part of the ruling party in power.

The November violence was more in the nature of teaching a lesson to the errant villagers who dared to rebel against the state policy. The CPI-M supporters and cadres had free impunity in November with the administration clearing the way by removing the police camps. The agenda was simple – gram dakhal (village capture) by hook or by crook.

The firing first started at Gokulnagar, Adikari Pada, satengabari, Sonuchara across the Bhangabera bridge, with the CPI-M supporters firing from the Khejuri side. The armed cadres entered shooting and bombing and torched up the houses of the BUPC supporters after looting them. Many were villagers were beaten up brutally and tortured for supporting the BUPC cause. The most heinous act was that of putting up human shields in front of the charging armed cadres to subdue the core BUPC areas on 11 November, after which the BUPC had no choice but to either give in or flee the area. The villagers who were forcibly formed into the human shield were supporters of BUPC who were abducted earlier from a peace meeting of BUPC on 10 November that was attacked by the CPI-M harmad. By 12 November, the CPI-M had been able to squash the rebellion and recapture their lost grounds.

On 4 November, around 2.30-3 pm in the afternoon, 11 year old Gulmir was playing in the veranda at his home in Satengabari village, when a bullet hit him in the head. The bullet came from the Khejuri side. He was taken to the Kolkata PG Hospital. Fortunately for Gulmir, the bullet entered through the right front of his forehead and came out through the left side. He is alive, but he has lost the quickness of mind. It takes him awhile to understand anything. The team met him at the Nandigram school relief camp.

Another victim, Sheikhat Fath Hussien from Kanchannagar Village, told the team that on 4 November, after the bombing night over, the BUPC called for a meeting at Takapura…”We went in groups for the meeting, but about 700 CPI-M supporters attacked the meeting and shot at us. At Takapura, Kamalpur and Ranichowk, 43 houses were looted and torched, and many animals were shot at”.

Ashok Korom of Jambari Village said the BUPC decided to continue the movement even in the face of such attacks and called for a peace meeting on 10 November at Sonachura, notifying the SP, DM and BDO of the East Medinipore district. The meeting was attacked by the CPM cadres. Many died in that assault. About 300-350 BUPC supporters were kidnapped to Khejuri. “They took the dead and our people away. The district administration, even after being notified about the peace meeting, did not take any step to stop the assault. In fact, the police even lathi-charged on us. It was clear that the police supported the CPM goons.”

He also told us that…“On 11 November they (CPI-M supporters) based camp at Maheshpur, put our people who were abducted in front, and infiltrated into the villages by shooting their guns. Villagers could not attack them as their own people were being used as shields.”

The stories of the victims mostly resonate each other in the relief camps. The villagers in the camp say that the CPI-M and authorities want them to stop the land movement, co-opt themselves with the CPI-M led state administration and tow their line. They are threatened by the CPI-M cadres and supporters if they do not hoist the red flag of CPM, and made to join in party processions shouting CPI-M slogans.

In the villages like Adikaripada, Sonachura and Satengabari, where most of the violence took place, the team found most of the BUPC supported houses burnt up. Those who had come back escorted by the CRPF quivered at the thought of more horrors unleashed on them by the CPI-M harmad, who threatened them at night to quietly fall in line.

While coming back from Khejuri to Bhangabera, the team met Narmada Shit near the Sonachura Bazaar. Narmada had become the public face of the people of Nandigram struggling against the land acquisition by the government for SEZ. Her accusing raised finger at the perpetrators had become a media symbol. We found her crying on the road and very disturbed. She had returned back to her village after the November violence had subsided. But on returning she was continuously threatened by the CPM harmads whenever the CRPF was not patrolling the area.[1]

The 11 months long discontent has led to much upheaval, displacement, loss of lives and livelihood. Across both the sides of the Bhangabera bridge, which saw incessant firing between the factions all these months, the shops and dhabas have been closed shut ever since the first incidences of violence in January. The bridge was an important link between Nandigram and Khejuri and was an important economic hub where the buses made its regular stops. Shaktipad Mandal had his shop near the bridge for the past 20 years. However, with the clashes starting from January he had no choice but to close his shop and run away. He had been staying in the Khejuri High School Camp since March without any avenue of income.[2] He, like many other common villagers caught between the two sides, has lost any hope of peace and normalcy after the November incident.

Though the state government insists that peace and order has been restored, yet the team found a deep sense of insecurity particularly amongst women who were not only victims of assault and sexual violence, but continue to be threatened with more such violence if they went back to their villages. The security of common villager’s life and livelihood is still in jeopardy even with the CRPF patrolling the areas. There were reports of young men who were BUPC supporters being picked up at night by groups of 6-7 men on motorcycles and of their being taken to the CPI (M) party office, even after the CRPF deployment.

Many of the refugees who had gone back to their villages from the relief camps after the coming of the CRPF were returning back to the camps because of intimidation and threat of further abuses by the CPI-M cadres who visited their families at night. One of the victims staying at the relief camps, Shyamsundari Chak from Sonachura, told the team, “Those who have taken shelter at relatives’ places are also not safe. The party people come and ask which village they are from; what their names are; what party they belong to, etc. They are pressurizing the relatives to send the refugees back to their own homes. And when one goes home, one gets beaten there.”[3]

The grave human rights violations and the continuing intimidation of the villagers to forcibly fall in line with CPI-M party dictates, has left a deep scar on the psyche of the villagers at Nandigram. The silence that engulfs Nandigram is not that of peace and harmony, but the quietness of a cemetery.

When asked how they foresee the future ahead, the villagers affected by the violence there said that peace in the land will return only with “sampatti suraksha, jeevon jeevika” (security of land and property as well as livelihood). They want justice and an impartial enquiry into acts of violations against their people. Anything short of that is not going to pave the way ahead for any peaceful solution.

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[1] Sonachura, though a heavily violence-affected area, did not have a CRPF base camp. Only CRPF mobile units patrolled the area, leaving the villagers vulnerable to threats.
[2] Interview with Shaktipada Mandal at Khejuri on November 29, 2007.
[3] Interview with the victims at the Nandigram School camp on November 28, 2007 at Nandigram.

The November Incident:

A fresh round of violence again errupted in November 2007 as the villagers (CPI-M sympathizers), who had fled Nandigram when the BUPC took over the villages, returned back home. Though the firing and clashes between the two factions had continued ever since the 14 March incident, the intensity was however low. The situation worsened when police pickets were withdrawn in late October, and the CPI-M supporters had the area free for gram dakhal (village capturing).

The villagers claim that the police camps that were posted from March were withdrawn from six points on 1 November.[1] Even the permanent police outpost at Tekhali Bazaar, which had been there for 84 years, was withdrawn.

According to the Superintendent of Police, East Medinipore, Satya Prakash Panda, the order came from his superiors in Kolkata. A sanctioned post, he said, can only be withdrawn with orders from the superior officers.[2] Senior government officials admit that this occurred. The Chief Secretary explained: “After the judgement of the High Court we were a little handicapped. We knew there would be resistance which could result in firing.”

With the police camps withdrawn, in early November the CPI-M supporters closed in on the villages held by the BUPC. The return of the CPI-M supporting villagers was marred by violence unleashed by the ruling party cadre over the resisting BUPC cadre. In villages that were seen as BUPC strongholds such as Sonachura, Adhikaripara, Satengabari, Gokulnagar, CPI-M vigilantes, in vicious acts of political vendetta, looted and burnt down homes of BUPC leaders, beat up supporters and even killed some of them, assaulted and raped their women.

Though there were further meetings held by the district administration with the parties involved, they came to naught. In a meeting held with the District Magistrate, East Medinipore, on 8 November, the BUPC issued a list of 6-Point demands which included, among other things, the prosecution of those responsible for the March 14 violence, compensation for those killed, and the withdrawal of cases against political activists.[4] BUPC also demanded the arrest of CPI-M supporters who were known as common harmads.[5] Once again, the district authorities failed to convincingly address these demands. This lapse too played a significant part in the November violence.

By 11 November, the entire BUPC guarded area had been ‘recaptured’ by the CPI-M cadres and supporters. Many villagers had to flee their homes to escape from the ensued violence. The official death toll is 5, but authorities admit that at least 42 people have been reported missing.[6] The Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram Police Station agreed that several of them may have been killed and their bodies disposed of.

The paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force was eventually deployed on November 12, and although this brought an end to overt violence, threats and intimidation still continue. The security of common villager’s life and livelihood is still in jeopardy even with the CRPF patrolling the areas. There has been little effort to arrest the perpetrators who are roaming free, warning BUPC supporters against filing complaints, demanding their attendance at CPI-M meetings and suggesting that they admit to looting and burning their own homes.[7]

Alok Raj, the DIG of CRPF, said that the police have little interest in arresting the perpetrators of violence. The CRPF was given a list of 180 people against whom there are registered cases of murder. But criminals arrested by the CRPF have all been released by the police. Alok Raj sent an official notice on November 21, saying that a complete list of criminals or wanted persons was yet to be submitted by the local police, and that if those arrested by the CRPF were promptly released by the police, it “will not allow normalcy to return in the area.”[8]

The testimonies of the victims at the relief camps and hospitals, and interviews of the villagers collected by the team suggest that there had been rampant cases of human rights violations, and that the villagers are even now intimidated and scared to go back to their homes as the threat of violence from the CPI-M harmads is still very real to them.

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[1] The 6 points were –
- Takapura Basic School - Kamalpur Tekia High school - Ranichowk High school - Gokulnagar High school - Satengabari Bazaar- Bhangabera, Sonachura Bridge bunker.
[2] Interview with Satya Prakash Panda, Superintendent of Police, East Medinipore, November 29, 2007.
[4] The District Magistrate in an interview on 28^th Nov. told us that the BUPC made six demands: 1) Take action against persons responsible for firing on14^th March. 2) Compensation for those killed. 3) Withdrawal of cases against political persons. 4) Withdrawal of Nandigram from HDA (Haldia Development Authority). 5) Stop the continued firing. 6) Start development projects.
[5] Harmad is a Benglai term used by the local villagers to describe goons.
[6] BUPC activists say that many more are missing but police complaints have not been registered properly since so many are still in hiding. This number was given by the OC of Nandigram P.S.
[7] Interview with villagers at Adhikari Pada on November 29, 2007.
[8] Interview with Alok Raj, DIG of CRPF, at Khejuri, November 29, 2007.

Background of the Battleground

Nandigram has become the battleground for clash of interests between the neo-liberal industrialization policy of the West Bengal state government and the large peasantry residing in the region, ever since the announcement of the implementation of the SEZ policy in the region. On 28 December 2006, the Chairman of HDA and the CPI-M MP from Tamluk, Laxman Seth, announced plans to set up a chemical hub in Nandigram under Government of India’s PCPIR (Petro-Chemical Petroleum Investment Region) Scheme. The project was further confirmed by the HDA on 2 January 2007 when a notice was circulated earmarking 27 mouzas of land in Nandigram for the chemical hub.

The villagers of Nandigram soon after formed the Bhoomi Uchced Protirodh Committee (Anti displacement front - BUPC)[1] to oppose the forced acquisition of land to set up the chemical hub. The battle lines were thereafter drawn between factions identified as those that backed the government’s SEZ plan, who were all supporters of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI-M, and those that opposed it, including both supporters of the CPI-M as well as other political parties.

At least seven people were killed and about 20 others injured in clashes between CPI-M and BUPC members on 7 January 2007. Among those killed was a 14-year-old boy. Many parts of Nandigram are inaccessible and there were reports of bodies lying around unattended on the fields, till late in the evening. Some reports hinted that bodies were thrown into the river Haldi that flows through the village.

After the firing, the BUPC in order to safeguard their land, livelihood and way of life, dug trenches and broke bridges to prevent the access of government agents into several villages in the area.[2] The villagers took over the administration of the area and all the roads to the villages were cut off. Nandigram was declared as a liberated zone from government interference.

Following these clashes and bloodshed, the West Bengal government announced it would shelve the plan to create an SEZ in Nandigram. However, without any clear indication that the idea had been shelved permanently and not simply until the controversy had died down, the blockade by the BUPC continued.

The administration was directed to break the BUPC resistance at Nandigram and a massive operation by the district police authority was launched on March 14, 2007. At least 3,000 heavily armed police personnel, along with cadres of the CPI-M party, forcibly entered the BUPC guarded villages to end the blockade. The villagers alleged that the police had fired indiscriminately on the peacefully assembled crowd without any provocation, and that the police and CPI-M cadres were the ones who resorted to force first.[3] In the resulting mayhem, at least 14 people were killed.

Though the official claim is that 14 people died in firing by the police that day, the villagers however, say that many more were killed, and allege that CPI-M supporters, wearing khakis and pretending to be policemen, were also among those who fired upon them. The police admit that forensic tests show that some of the ammunitions used had not been sanctioned to the police. The Calcutta High Court described the police firing as “wholly unconstitutional and cannot be justifiable under any provision of law” in its order of 15 March.[4]

On 19 March, the state government issued written notice of withdrawal of SEZ from Nandigram, but the BUPC had lost confidence in the state and district administration as no guilty was punished and no perpetrators were arrested even after being named by the victims. The inability of the district administration to contain the violence and bring justice to the victim, as well as hold any government official accountable for the March violence, has eroded the villagers’ faith in the administration. Chief Secretary, Amit Kiran Deb, agreed that there was an administrative lapse because “we could not create an atmosphere of confidence in the administration… We failed to persuade them to allow the police to enter. They saw the police as partisan and against them.”[5]

The state government failed to reassure the BUPC that the proposed SEZ plan had been put on hold. By then the BUPC had lost trust in the administration to take any step in their support. Sudhin Bijoli, a BUPC activist, explained: “The Chief Minister may have said that he would not force us to leave, but he was saying so many things and there was nothing in writing. How could we trust him?”[6]

Meanwhile, the BUPC kept up its blockade, and in retaliation to the violence wrecked on them attacked homes of CPI-M supporters, forcing many of them to leave the area.[7] The common villager was caught between the two sides, and many supporters from both the sides had to flee their homes and took refuge in the relief camps. The CPI-M claimed that about 3,500 of its members and supporters had been forced to flee in this period.

Police camps were established inside Nandigram at the periphery of the affected villages, but stood by idly justifying their inaction on the basis of the High Court order on 15 March. Incessant firing across the Bhangabera Bridge, with the CPI-M dominated Khejuri on one side, and the BUPC on the other, has continued ever since then.

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[1] The Bhoomi Uchced Protirodh Committee (BUPC) is formed by people across the villages of Nandigram, to represent the people’s concerns against the West Bengal state government’s move to acquire land for setting up an SEZ. The BUPC consists of sympathizers and/or members of different political parties like, TMC, BJP, SUCI, and CPI-M. [2] According to East Midnapore District Magistrate, Anoop Kumar Agrawal, an area containing a population of up to 60-70,000 people were inaccessible to police from March till October end. About 25 villages were affected in the stand off. [3] As cited in High Court of Calcutta in Association for Protection of Democratic Rights & ors. v. State of West Bengal & ors.(pg 23-24) Decided on 16 November 2007. [4] High Court of Calcutta in Association for Protection of Democratic Rights & ors. v. State of West Bengal & ors. Decided on 16 November 2007. [5] Interview with Amit Kiran Deb, Chief Secretary, West Bengal, in Kolkata, November 30, 2007. [6] Interview with Sudhin Bijoli, Nandigram, November 28, 2007. [7] At Bhoota Mor in Gorchakraberia, the team met families who had been attacked because they were CPI-M supporters. This was the first place where the police firing took place on 14^th March. Soon after, members of the BUPC, many of them supporters of the opposition Trinamool Congress attacked the settlement, forcing the CPI-M supporters to leave the village. On October 28, four houses of prominent CPI-M supporters were vandalized by BUPC members.

Chronology of Events

28 December 2006: Chairman of Haldia Development Authority (HDA), and the CPI-M MP from Tamluk, Laxman Seth, announces the determination to establish a chemical hub in Nandigram.

2 January 2007: HDA issues a notice identifying 27 mouzas of land in Nandigram and 2 mouzas of land in Khejuri, comprising 25,000 acres of land for acquisition.

3 January 2007: Anti Land Acquisition Protestors demanded clarifications regarding the SEZ from the Kalicharanpur Panchayat Samity office. Police were called in and in the police lathi charge that followed several people were injured, and a police jeep met with accident. Roads begin to be cut and barricades are put up to prevent entry of police.

5 January 2007: Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee was formed by anti-acquisition groups like the Trinamool Congress, Congress and Socialist Unity Center of India (SUCI), and even some CPI-M people.

6 January 2007: Police camp at Bhangabera Bridge is established. But villagers see CPI-M harmad sneak into the barricaded villages.

7 January 2007: 4 BUPC supporters were killed in firing by CPI-M harmad from the house of Shankar Samanta, a CPI-M leader. In retaliation the villagers set fire to Samanta’s house and a CPI (M) camp at Baratole in Khejuri.

12 February 2007: Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in a public meeting at Haldia stated that no land would be taken from those unwilling to give it. But the next day at a Press Conference in Tamluk Lakshman Seth said that the land mentioned in the “notice” issued by the HDA “would be acquired”.

Till 13 march 2007: BUPC barricaded villages to stop the police and CPI-M supporters from accessing them. CPI-M supporters ran away from these villages and took shelter in CPI-M party relief camp in Khejuri. Government stated that the HDA notice was a mistake, but does not give anything in writing. People get mixed signals - an economic blockade is tried on Nandigram by the CPI-M. BUPC leaders including TMC MLA, Subhendu Adhikari, sent a fax message to the Chief Minister on 13 March saying that “Police authorities have created panic among the common people of Nandigram.”

14 March 2007: BUPC supporters gathered in a peaceful assembly to show solidarity against the land acquisition for SEZ on the northern side of the Bhangabera Bridge. The district administration decided to forcibly end the BUPC blockade, and in a police action entered the barricaded villages from the Khejuri side. The police were heavily armed and as alleged by the villagers, were accompanied by at least 300 armed CPI-M cadres. They attacked the crowd without any provocation, first with tear gas and rubber bullets, then immediately following by firearms.

The police were accused of firing at the villagers indiscriminately. 14 people died, at least 85 people were hospitalized, and 200-300 were injured. Cases of rape and sexual abuse on women also were reported.

15 March 2007: Calcutta High Court passed an order on its own motion to initiate Public Interest Litigation on the 14 March police firing and called for a special inquiry into the incident by the CBI.

March 2007 to October 2007: Stalemate continued between the BUPC and CPI-M supporters. On 19^th March, the state government issued written notice of withdrawal SEZ from Nandigram, but the BUPC had lost confidence in the state and district administration as no guilty was punished and no perpetrators were arrested even after being named by the victims.

The BUPC kept up its blockade. The CPI-M claimed that about 3500 of its members and supporters had been forced to flee in this period. Police camps were established inside Nandigram at the periphery of the affected villages, but stood by idly justifying their inaction on the basis of the High Court order on 15 March.

The situation worsened when police pickets were withdrawn in late October from the peripheries and it became a free for all between the two warring factions. In the absence of police presence, CPI-M supporters closed in on the areas held by the BUPC. They fired from the Khejuri side at a rally of BUPC supporters who were on their way from Nandigram to Tekhali on 30^th Octber.

1 to 5 November 2007: The CPI-M continued its barrage on the BUPC held villages in the attempt to ‘recapture’ them. Huge arms were amassed at Bhangabera, Tulaghata, Tekhali Bazaar, Takapura, Kamalpur, and Reyapara. The first barrage started from the Khejuri side BUPC also took to arms to defend their areas from the onslaught.

6 November 2007: Nine villages were torched by the CPI-M harmad. Armed cadres entered Satengabari, Ranichowk, Brindabanchowk, Bhangabera, Sonachura, Jambari, Rainagar, Simol Kundu and Kanungo Chowk. The villagers fled their homes and amassed into relief camps at Nandigram town.

7 November 2007: Permanent police picket on the strategic Tekhali Bridge in Nandigram removed. Armed CPI-M harmad crossed the Talpati canal and stormed several villages. The CPI-M formed camps at Reyapara, Mograjpur, Sashigunge Bazaar, and several other places on both sides of the Chandipur-Nandigram Road to seal off Nandigram.

9 November 2007: The SP, DM and BDO of the East Medinipore district were notified about a peace meeting to be held by the BUPC on November 10 at Sonachura.

10 November 2007: The meeting by the BUPC was attacked by the CPI-M cadres. Many BUPC supporters were kidnapped to Khejuri. The district administration, even after being notified about the peace meeting, did not take any step to stop the assault. In fact, the police even lathi-charged on the assemblers.

11 November 2007: The CPI-M based camps at Maheshpur and subdued the last few vestiges of struggle by the villagers, and ‘liberated’ the area. The villagers called it “gram dakhal”.

12 November 2007: With the villages ‘recaptured’ by the CPI-M, overt violence ceases in the area. The CRPF was deployed and established camps at Nandigram.