People's Democracy

Jyoti Basu Critical Of PM’s Comments On Nandigram

FORMER Bengal chief minister and Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) Jyoti Basu has been sharply critical of the recent comments made by the prime minister on Nandigram. Central committee member of the CPI(M) Benoy Konar, too, came down heavily upon the PM’s comments.

Some days back, the Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee met the PM on Nandigram and Singur issues. When afterwards speaking to the media, the PM said that the feelings of pain that ‘Mamata has felt is also felt by me.’ He went on to say that many people had been killed at Nandigram and many women raped.

Jyoti Basu wondered if the PM was at all aware of the fact that more than two thousand families who supported the CPI(M) and the Left Front at Nandigram over the industrialisation issue were eking out a miserable living in relief camps as rain swept the state. They are not allowed to go back to the villages. PM did not tell this to Mamata Banerjee; the latter, too, would not expectedly say anything on this in the PM’s presence.

Benoy Konar said that the prime minister had described the Nandigram incident as ‘unfortunate.’ Nevertheless, the PM would not bother to elaborate further to identify what was ‘unfortunate.’ More than four thousand CPI(M) supporters were forced to leave their hearth-and-home, their houses were looted and then torched, 15 CPI(M) workers were killed, and very many others left with severe injuries. Women belonging to the CPI(M) households too were raped and publicly humiliated. Two women were killed in a gruesome manner. The PM apparently has no feelings in his heart for these unfortunate people.

There, however, would be no impact, assured Benoy Konar, of these comments by the PM on the people of Bengal since their political consciousness is high and they can easily see through such manoeuvres. He said everybody knows how small a percentage of the total vote-share belonged to the Congress here, come the elections. (B P)