Having just returned from Calcutta, which is still shut down in protest of the ruling Communist Party's (CPM) hardline dealings in Nandigram, I am ashamed to say that this is nothing but a hard look in the mirror for those claiming West Bengal and Calcutta have meaningfully undergone political and economic liberalization.
The extent of the massacre last Saturday, in which CPM militias allegedly massacred suspected Maoist / Naxalite infiltrators in Nandigram, as well as innocent villagers, including women and children, is still unclear. Reports range from 20 to 200 dead, and may more wounded. Bodies were apparently burned and disposed off, and the media and central army peacekeepers are not being allowed in. Protesters in Calcutta, including leading social justice activists and intelligentsia, were arrested.
West Bengal's attempt to convert an erstwhile Communist machinery into a liberal, investment-friendly economy stutters to a halt at times like these. Worse, the Central Government has traded a blind eye for a loosening of the CPM's position on the nuclear deal.
If you want to read more, please check out the following links:
1) The latest spin on the CPM takeover:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071113/asp/frontpage/story_8542825.asphttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Red_terror_grips_Nandigram/articleshow/2536817.cms
2) What the CPM is saying:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Karat_blames_Trinamul_Maoists_for_violence/articleshow/2536814.cms
3) What Saturday was a reaction to:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Nandigram_turns_blood_red/articleshow/1764786.cms
By,
Anamitra Deb
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