After yesterday’s police action at Nandigram that resulted into death of several people, there have been many condemnations. Most notable of them was from the governor. He did not condemn as such, but was pained that the police opened fire on protesters who clearly were not militants or extremists or anti-national elements.
He may be right in his assessment of what actually transpired at Nandigram, because after all many information that are available to him and the political class are not known to common people. It is therefore necessary for us to go by various TV and newspaper reports and form an opinion.
Today’s TT has 2 specific accounts about the situation in Nandigram – first a picture of a road neatly dug to completely prevent vehicles to ply, and second a report that says that Maoists are arming the Nandigram villagers.
Going by the two, it becomes very clear how and why the entire stretch of Nandigram became a Muktanchal or liberated zone for more than 2 months. Liberated from whom? And, liberated by whom? If the concept of Azad Kashmir or Khalistan or similar such in the North East cannot be tolerated in a democratic India despite many people there wanting so, there is no reason why Mukta Nandigram can be.
It is unfortunate that the poor and mostly illiterate people of Nandigram have been misled by self-serving political activists into believing that the place would become an independent area if they maintain their ‘struggle’. The result of this is the unfortunate death of many people yesterday.
There is no doubt there cannot be any Muktanchal. There just cannot be any, industry or no industry, land or no land.
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