[Onthebarricades] INDIA: Singur protests continue over corporate land grab

Wed Aug 8 00:25:41 PDT 2007

http://www.hindu.com/2006/12/29/stories/2006122907861400.htm

Singur: Medha joins protest 
Staff Reporter 

      "Depriving farmers of their resources not acceptable"  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a.. "Will continue struggle against anti-farmer policies of State Government" 
a.. Against law to displace people without proper rehabilitation: Rajinder Sachar 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW DELHI: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, along with several activists of trade unions and civil society organisations, staged a sit-in outside the Banga Bhavan here on Thursday against alleged forcible acquisition of agriculture land for the Tatas to set up a car factory in Singur. 

Ms. Patkar said the West Bengal Government should initiate a dialogue with the Singur farmers. "The gram sabhas should have been taken into confidence before initiating any project on agricultural land. The farmers have the right to know what is being done with their land. If the State Government has any faith left in democracy, it should talk to them," she said. 

Farmers were united in the struggle against creation of Special Economic Zones or setting up of industries on agricultural land in any part of the country, she said. 

Why such projects could not be set up on wastelands, she asked. 

"Depriving the farmers of their resources and means of livelihood by invoking colonial laws is not acceptable to us. We will continue our struggle against the anti-farmer policies of the State Government and win it," she said. 

Expressing solidarity with Trinamool Congress leader Mamta Banerjee, who has been on hunger strike on the Singur issue, Ms. Patkar said the Government should talk to Ms. Banerjee. 

Human rights campaigner and former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar said: "It is not a question of giving right value of land to the farmers. The more important question is what purpose does such a project serve? In India, where one-fourth of the population is living below the poverty line, who will benefit from the small car project?" 

Mr. Justice Sachar said it was against the law to displace people without proper rehabilitation. "It is against human rights. The West Bengal Government should admit it." 

New Trade Union Initiative, All-India Federation of Trade Unions, Bharat Jan Andolan, All-India Central Council of Trade Unions and Samajwadi Jan Parishad activists, besides students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, took part in the protest. 

A memorandum was handed over to the Resident Commissioner of Banga Bhavan. Singur riots won't upset plans: Tatas

            BS Reporter in Kolkata  

                        Top Emailed Features 

                              . Dhirubhai Ambani's words of wisdom
                              . What if you still haven't filed your tax return?
                              . 4 key qualities of a true professional

                        Tell us
                        . Ask a question 

                        Advertisements
                        . Free adspot for Industries
                        . Promote ur event here
                        . Investmart

                        Moneywiz 
                        . Stocks & MFs 

                 Get Business updates: What's this?  

           Advertisement 

                        5Rediff P4C Classifieds 

      February 06, 2007 10:33 IST
      Prohibitory order under Section 144 CrPC was reimposed at the Tata Motors small car project site in Singur following fresh violence in the area, even as Tata group chief Ratan Tata flew into Kolkata late on Monday evening for a meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya at an out-of-the-way office of the state government.

      After a marathon meet (lasting over two and half hours) with Bhattacharya and state Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen, Tata and the chief minister fielded questions from the media.

      Ratan Tata said given the pace of work at Singur, he was confident the small car would be rolled out by 2008.

      Tata was accompanied by R K Krishna Kumar, director of Tata Sons.

      Reiterating his position on West Bengal, he said it was a right move to select the state as an investment destination, adding, "We appreciate very much the kind of support we got from West Bengal."

      The Singur project would create jobs and improve livelihoods of people, Tata said. More than 1,000 villagers were now working on the project site, Bhattacharya said.

      Responding to queries whether Tata would talk to political parties to bring about a consensus, Tata said, "I am not a politician, but I am ready to talk to any reasonable party...as an industrialist, we should not be involved in the process."

      Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool chief, is back to protests after her marathon 25-day hunger strike against land acquisition in Singur. Her proposed visit to Singur stood cancelled after Section 144 CrPC was imposed on Sunday night. However, her party ensured that the area remained on the boil.

      Tata had earlier said Singur was being fuelled by competitors. The group would make this conspiracy public at an appropriate time, he said on Monday. 

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/06tata.htm

http://asianfoodworker.net/india/070517singur.htm

      "Is Singur A Lost Cause? Should We Now Forget About Singur?"

                  Part of the armed 24-hour security contingent which patrols the agricultural lands seized for corporate giant Tata Motors. 

      We are often asked this question these days. Our answer is - No, Singur is not a lost game, and we cannot forget it .
      Though there is now a 10 foot brick and mortar wall around 997 acres of land, the future of the project is still uncertain. The State Government continues to use a heavy police presence along with the special riot police Rapid Action Force to guard the wall that has been forcibly put up around farmers' lands. It has put up watch towers that are manned round the clock by the police. The Government knows that the wall will only last as long as the police protect it- the project affected people have sworn to break the wall the moment the police is moved out. 

      The farmers of Singur (owning about 400 acres) have refused to take cheques even now and have refused to part with their land. The wall's legitimacy, both in legal terms and in ethical terms is therefore questionable.

      The Government has...[repeatedly misinformed the public]..about the number of farmers who have accepted cheques and given consent, as the table below shows:

            Date Place Statement issued by Amount of land (consent given) 
            23rd November 2006 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Chief Minister  913 acres 
            23rd November 2006 Letter to Ms. Mamta Banerjee, Opposition leader Chief Minister  954 acres 
            8th January 2007 Letter to Partha Chattarjee, Leader of the Opposition Party Chief Minister  958 acres 
            23rd February 2007 Affidavit in Kolkata High Court Advocate General  305 acres 
            27th March 2007 Affidavit in Kolkata High Court Joint Secretary, Land Department  287 acres 

      The farmers of Singur continue to struggle. Camps have been set up in two places near the wall that are constantly occupied by protesting farmers and others who support them. They are also waiting for the Court order. They are ready to build up greater movement in future depending on the Court order. 
      Every time there is heavy rain and therefore a problem for the police to move around, the people of Singur take advantage of the situation and "attack" the wall. The last attack took place on 8th May 2007 when the people of Bajemelya were in a pitched battle with the police for over an hour and broke the wall.

      Agricultural workers, who were not owners of land but got their living from the land have been the first group to face destitution after the building of the wall. PBKMS organised a health check up for them recently along with measurement of Body Mass Index and examination for other signs of nutrition. Many of the workers and their families complained of hunger, fall in wages, greater indebtedness, loss of food sources etc. this year as compared to last year. They have also been visited in the past week by high officials from the district and from the West Bengal Industrial Development Industrial Corporation (the Government body responsible for facilitating the Tata Motors project). These people have tried to bribe the agricultural workers with promises of free houses, better roads etc. The workers have so far rejected their promises, asking them instead to guarantee them work for 11 months in the year, the amount of work they used to get on the land taken over for the Tata Motors Project.

      When workers on the brink of starvation and farmers faced by mounting debts can resist short term inducements like free houses and cheques in order to struggle against the long term effects of the Tata Motors project, should we also not join them in their struggle?

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: trans.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: new2.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 111 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0001.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: at_newsl.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 280 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0002.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: at_xml.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 197 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0003.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: at_js.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 151 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0004.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: at_sms.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 308 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0005.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: arrow.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 48 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0006.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: creative_1325255.jpeg?(null)
Type: application/octet-stream
Size: 1550 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment.obj>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: singur-07-05.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 48537 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0007.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: singur-07-05-2.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 46282 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/onthebarricades/attachments/20070808/57f9f34b/attachment-0008.gif>