[Onthebarricades] INDIA: Nandigram solidarity protest rocks Kolkata

[Andy]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1B0080A4-28E3-40DA-9E79-1DAEF91DFE47.htm

Indian troops quell land protest

Central Kolkata is under a night curfew [AFP]

One person has been killed and 36 injured after Indian soldiers were called 
onto the streets of the eastern city of Kolkata after violent protests in an 
ongoing land dispute.

The demonstration on Wednesday came after weeks of protests over the killing 
of villagers allegedly at the hands of government-backed gangs.

It is the first time in years that troops have been called in to put down 
unrest in a major Indian city.

A night curfew was imposed in the city centre after about 5,000 protesters 
attacked offices of the state ruling party and battled police, Gautam Mohan 
Chakraborty, a police chief, said.

Police in riot gear used batons and tear gas to disperse the protesters, who 
were called to march by the All India Minority Forum.

VK Goyal, the city deputy police commissioner, said: "There is tension. 
Right now we have an uneasy calm."

Prasad Ranjan Roy, the state home secretary, said: "The three-hour 
demonstration was more or less peaceful, but a large number of unorganised 
people gathered."

Region in turmoil

The region in eastern India has been in turmoil for months after the local 
government proposed building a chemical plant on fields around Kolkata.

Protesting farmers have been fired on by police and there have been months 
of clashes leaving dozens dead.

The farmers, many of whom are Muslim, say the communist controlled regional 
government has been waging a campaign of brutality against them for refusing 
to give up their land.

The latest protests brought the city to a standstill, with residents forced 
to walk to work with their hands on their heads.

Schools were closed and police said at least 40 vehicles were damaged, 
including about a dozen set on fire.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2917297.ece

November 22, 2007
Chemical plant protest rocks cities
Jeremy Page
CALCUTTA A protester was killed and 27 others injured as troops enforced a 
curfew on central Calcutta after a day of riots over the killing of farmers 
who had refused to give up their land for industry.
The communist rulers of West Bengal, who are allies of India's coalition 
Government, have drawn up plans for several Chinese-style special economic 
zones. Their efforts were thrown into crisis in March when police in 
Nandigram shot dead several villagers who refused to sell their land for the 
chemical complex.
Local opposition parties and Maoist rebels moved in, forcing the government 
to ditch its plan and making the area a no-go zone for police and government 
officials.
There have been almost daily protests since, including a two-day strike this 
week in West Bengal and neighbouring Bihar, during which Maoist rebels blew 
up railway track and blocked highways.
The crisis has also spread to New Delhi, where angry MPs yesterday shouted 
down their communist counterparts on the opening day of a debate on 
Nandigram.

http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-30614720071122

Army deployed in Kolkata to quell riots over Nandigram
Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:07am IST

By Tamajit Pain
KOLKATA (Reuters) - The army was called out to quell violent protests in 
Kolkata on Wednesday as new trouble broke out in a political row over the 
killing of villagers opposed to surrendering land for industry in Nandigram.
Soldiers with automatic rifles patrolled the heart of the usually bustling 
city after protesters hurled stones, shattered car and bus windscreens, 
burned vehicles and blocked traffic.
A night curfew was imposed in parts of central and eastern Kolkata as a 
precaution, authorities said.
It was the first time in years that the army had been ordered to bring peace 
to a major city, in what some analysts said was a major embarrassment to the 
state's communist rulers who have been accused of failing to stop violence 
by their cadres.
The trouble began after a protest march called by the All India Minority 
Forum turned violent. Hundreds of demonstrators hurled stones and bottles at 
riot police in the narrow streets of central Kolkata.
Riot police retaliated by firing tear gas at the protesters and cordoned off 
the area to prevent the trouble from spreading, witnesses said.
"People were allowed to move in the streets with their hands on their heads. 
Many have been held up in offices," Swati Ghosh, who works in the area, told 
Reuters by phone. "We hope the situation improves by evening."
Parents said schools had been closed and children had been held back until 
peace returned to the streets.
Police said at least 40 vehicles had been damaged, including about a dozen 
set on fire, and about 50 protesters and policemen injured.
"The three-hour demonstration was more or less peaceful but a large number 
of unorganised people gathered," said state Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan 
Roy. "We will have to see whether there was a call to create trouble."
COMMUNISTS UNDER PRESSURE
West Bengal has been roiled by weeks of protests against the killing of 
villagers in Nandigram by suspected communist cadres in a turf battle that 
began earlier this year.
West Bengal's ruling communists, who are allies of the coalition government 
at the centre, lost control of Nandigram earlier this year after trying, 
unsuccessfully, to get villagers to vacate their land to make way for a 
chemicals complex.
Local opposition parties and Maoist rebels moved in, and the area became a 
no-go zone for communists and police alike.
This month, communist party cadres forced their way back in. At least six 
villagers were killed in the violence, bringing the death toll so far this 
year to at least 34. Several women alleged they had been raped by communist 
cadres.
The latest trouble followed a two-day strike this week over the issue in 
West Bengal and the neighbouring state of Bihar, during which Maoist rebels 
blew up railway tracks, disrupted train services and blocked highways.
The All India Minority Forum said the demonstration was also aimed against 
West Bengal giving refuge to a controversial Bangladeshi Muslim woman author 
accused of criticising Islam in her books.
"It was a peaceful protest. I don't know how this turned violent. We are 
clueless," said Idris Ali, chief of the forum, adding that some protesters 
had said police provoked them.
The Kolkata violence disrupted the national parliament in New Delhi as angry 
lawmakers shouted their communist counterparts down in the Rajya Sabha, 
forcing an adjournment for the day.
The trouble coincided with a Lok Sabha debate on the violence in Nandigram.
"The ruling left front has failed to protect the people of Nandigram, the 
people are terrorised by the left parties," said opposition leader L.K. 
Advani, referring to the government of West Bengal, the world's 
longest-serving democratically elected communist government.
"We are witnessing the end of communist rule world over and Nandigram will 
be a turning point in the politics of West Bengal," he added.
(Additional reporting by Bappa Majumdar and Nigam Prusty)

http://www.khabrein.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8978&Itemid=1

What happened in Kolkata that riot scarred Wednesday?

By Sujoy Dhar
Kolkata, Nov 22: Flaming vehicles, children scampering in fear and raging 
crowds roaming the streets attacking police with bricks and soda water 
bottles. How did fabled poetry-loving Kolkata degenerate to riots more 
reminiscent of cities like Ramallah, people asked themselves Thursday but 
came up with few answers.
A directionless protest that found a volatile mix in atrocities in Nandigram 
and the extended stay of Bangladeshi writer Taslim Nasreen turned central 
Kolkata into a battle zone Wednesday in scenes straight from a strife-torn 
West Asian city.
There were lots of theories but no real answers about how and when things 
spun so out of control that the army had to be called in as youth living 
peacefully in rundown Muslim ghettos of central Kolkata surfaced in frenzied 
rage.
For the world outside, Kolkata had for the last few years been a story of 
upcoming townships, flyovers, swanky shopping malls, forays into the IT 
sector or the communists' ideological somersault.
But Wednesday was different and even Idris Ali, the man whose nondescript 
All India Minority Forum (AIMF) is held responsible for the sordid episode, 
said he was nonplussed.
"Trust me I have no idea how it spun out of control. But the immediate 
trigger could be the suppressed anger of the Muslims against Nasreen's stay 
in Kolkata," Ali told IANS after he was pilloried for the flare-up.
"We had assembled peacefully at around 9 a.m. at the Park Circus seven-point 
crossing. We wanted to block the road in protest against Nasreen who has 
defiled the Prophet and hurt the sentiments of about 2.5 million Muslims 
living in West Bengal," said Ali.
"We were only about 60 in number," said Ali, known to journalists for years 
as a small-time Congress leader who would call up every evening to publicise 
programmes backed by him and his AIMF.
According to Ali, police refused them permission to block the road and 
arrested the AIMF activists at 9.40 a.m. "Soon the news spread and I think 
Muslims in the area were so angry on the Taslima issue and the dillydallying 
of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government that they spontaneously led a 
people's agitation."
He added, however, that he wasn't sure. "There can be something else behind 
it as well."
Park Circus, the area where it all began and a two km radius around it, is a 
jarring split image of wide avenues, some of the best English schools in the 
city and the grimy quarters where the huge Muslim population lives in 
poverty and filth.
This part of central Kolkata represents a rich mosaic of cosmopolitanism 
though it is also known for notorious criminal bases.
"What I saw was unbelievable. I saw a peaceful assembly first and then some 
youths came out of the meeting and started abusing all. Then they went about 
ransacking shops, looting and hurling abuses at whom no one knows," said a 
resident of Padmapukur on CIT Road, one of the worst affected areas.
"All I can say is that there was no provocation from police as they tried to 
deal with the situation with utmost restraint," he said, adding that he saw 
youths targeting shops and looting could have been a reason for starting the 
riot.
Deputy Commissioner (South) Jawed Shamim, who was injured while tackling the 
mob, said: "There was no provocation from us. We were busy with our law and 
order duty and then it all happened. I cannot say what is the trigger behind 
it."
According to one resident of the area, however, a prominent Muslim leader 
had held a meeting in the area a week back and incited people.
"During the meeting the shops were closed and the youths were present," he 
said on condition of anonymity.
Besides AIMF, the other organisations in the protest were the Jamait 
Ulema-i-Hind and Furfura Sarif Muzadeedia Anath Foundation.
The role of Jamait leader Siddiquallah Chowdhury in the Singur and Nandigram 
flare-ups has been widely discussed. He has admitted to helping organise the 
Muslim youths Wednesday.
"It is a warning for the (ruling) Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). 
The party would feel the heat soon and lose its Muslim base," Chowdhury 
said.
But Ali said he had no idea about the presence of the Jamait.
While Kolkata introspects for an answer on what went wrong Wednesday, the 
events are portents of a gathering storm that the ruling communists need to 
take note of - and take preventive action. (IANS)