NANDIGRAM

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

NANDIGRAM
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

Based on the Report of the Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram 2628 May 2007

A NOTE ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book is based on the Report of the Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram, held from 2628 May 2007 at Nandigram and Kolkata and released in August 2007. The book updates the contents of the Report to include incidents and events in Nandigram upto December 2007. All attempts have been made to chronicle the developments in a factual and accurate manner. Any discrepancies found in the book however are the sole responsibility of the editors and not of the Tribunal or its Jury. Editorial Team

Nandigram: What Really Happened? was first published in India in December 2007 Daanish Books C-502, Taj Apartments, Gazipur Delhi-110 096 Tel: 011-2223 0812 email: [email protected] ISBN-10 81-89654-44-6 ISBN-10 81-89654-45-4 ISBN-13 978-81-89654-44-3 (with CD) ISBN-13 978-81-89654-45-0 (without CD)

Editorial assistance: Satya Sivaraman, Amit Sengupta, Jharna Jhaveri Production: Akhilesh Choudhary Cover design: Pravin Mishra Published by Dhruva Narayan for Daanish Books. Typeset in Minion 11/14 pt. Printed at Print-Ways, Delhi.

Shashoker proti
aapni jaa bolben aami thik taa-i korbo, taa-i khaabo, taa-i porbo, taa-i gaayey mekhey beraatey berobo. aamaar nijer jomi chherey diye choley jaabo kothati na-boley bolben, golaay dori diyey jhuley thako shaararaat. taa-i thaakbo. pordin jokhon bolben eybaar nemey esho tokhon kintu lok laagbey aamaakey naamaatey eka-eka naamtey paarbo na otuku paarini boley oporadh neben na jaeno

For the oppressor

Whatever you say, I shall do exactly that, Ill eat exactly that, wear exactly that, apply exactly that on my body And leave to go out. Ill abandon my own land and go away without a word. Tell me, put a rope around your neck and hang all night. Ill stay like that. But the next day when you say, now come down Youll need people to bring me down I wont be able to come down by myself Do not take offense that I couldnt do that bit Joy Goswami

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CONTENTS
Foreword Voices from Nandigram ................................................................................................................. ix Foreword ........................................................................................................................................ xi Postscript ...................................................................................................................................... xiv Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... xvii Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter One: Background ........................................................................................................... 3 Chapter Two: Chronology of Events ......................................................................................... 13 Chapter Three: Anatomy of a Massacre ................................................................................... 29 Chapter Four: The Dead, Missing and Injured ........................................................................ 35 Chapter Five: Administrative Failure: Some Instances ............................................................. 45 Chapter Six: Will Justice be Done?: Some Testimonies with Legal Implications ................... 49 Chapter Seven: Findings and Recommendations .................................................................... 61 Recapturing Nandigram: Chronology of Events in October/November 2007 ................... 67 Governors Statement, 9 November 2007 ................................................................................. 81 You Are Not What You Were by Ashok Mitra .......................................................................... 83 Calcutta High Court Judgment on 14 March Police Firing .................................................... 87 Notes ............................................................................................................................................ 93 Letter from Justice S.N. Bhargava to Governor, West Bengal .............................................. 109 Corrigendum ............................................................................................................................. 110 Reply ........................................................................................................................................... 111 Abbreviations............................................................................................................................. 112 Boxes What the Chemical Hub is All About? ...................................................................................... 10 The Salim and Suharto Duo ....................................................................................................... 14 The Singur Effect ......................................................................................................................... 16 Nayachar instead of Nandigram ................................................................................................. 27 Report of an Independent Citizens Team from Kolkata ........................................................... 89

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Annexures in CD-RoM Annexure-A-1: Depositions before Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram Annexure-A-2: Copies of the Affidavits submitted to the Balbir Ram Enquiry Commission Annexure-A-3: Copies of the Depositions at the Balbir Ram Enquiry Commission Annexure-A-4: Copies of Medical Documents Annexure-A-5: Statements of Eminent Persons and Organizations Annexure-A-6: Interim Report of the Peoples Tribunal Annexure-B: Annexure-C: Annexure-D: Annexure-E: Annexure-F: Annexure-G: Annexure-H: Annexure-I: Annexure-J: Annexure-K: Annexure-L: Annexure-M: Annexure-N: Annexure-O: Annexure-P: Annexure-Q: Annexure-R: Annexure-S: Annexure-T: Annexure-U: Annexure-V: Annexure-W: Annexure-X: Annexure-Y: Annexure-Z: Copies of the Documents for Endnotes Calcutta High Courts own Petition Petition of Bar Association of Calcutta High Court Affidavit submitted by the Government of West Bengal, Part-I Affidavit submitted by the Government of West Bengal, Part-II Shramajibi Swasthya Udyog Report APDR Report, Part-I APDR Report, Part-II MASUM Report Copy of the Names from Nandigram Hospital Register (1416 March 2007) Youth Volunteers of Child Rights and You (CRY) Report Forum of Artists, Cultural Activists and Intellectuals Citizens Solidarity Report Submission of Little Magazine Samanvay (Prosthuti) Committee Report of Amra Iekti Sachetan Prayaash Kunal Chattopadhyay and Others Submission Education Network Report Copies of Ahalya publications Dibakar Bhattacharyas Statement Abhijit Guhas Submission Background on Singur Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees Speech in the Assembly on 15.3.07 Documentary Film on Nandigram submitted by Pramod Gupta Full Text of Calcutta High Court Judgment Report on Nandigram Events, November 2007

Annexure-D-1: Petition of Sabyasachi Roychoudhary

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VOICES FROM NANDIGRAM

On the morning of 7 January it was announced over microphone that Bharat Mandal was shot dead. Bombing and firing took place at Bhangabera bridge, and I was near the bridge. Biswajit was at a distance of about 1 km from there. There was firing and we retreated. Mother asked me, Where is Biswajit? But I came back when firing started. Someone told me that Biswajit had been shot at with bullets. People took him to hospital. There, he was declared dead. They did a postmortem. He was brought back and cremated. In the post-mortem report his age is recorded as 18 (Biswajit was in fact just 14 years old). Arjun Maity, Jaydeb Paik, Lakshman Mandal were there in the operation from Khejuri side. Sheik Selim was shot dead and left at the side of the canal at Sonachura. The dead body was found in the afternoon. We cannot sleep in the night. Bombing and firing continues through the night. They are trying to gain control over Nandigram like they have done over Khejuri. My grandfather was a CPI worker. He was in the Tebhaga Movement. My father was a CPI(M) worker. I too was a CPI(M) worker.

Pabitra Maity

Saudkhali

My son was in the front line on 14 March when a bullet hit him and he fell on the ground. I ran towards him for help and was deterred from helping him. My son called me for water and I was in desperation. Soon after that, I was in a senseless condition. When I regained consciousness, I went to my son and fell on his body. I was crushed under the boots and put in a sack. Somebody then took me away. I do not know anything more.

Kamala Das
Keshpur

They entered our house while I was serving food to my father and brother. Anukul Sheet kicked my 8 month old child. They started beating my father and mother. I went to their rescue. Anukul Sheet started beating my husband and me. Then he dragged me by my hair to the cowshed and undressed me. Then he came over me and started beating me. He threatened my husband by saying that he will cut my child into pieces if he approaches towards me. Very soon I became unconscious. After an hour or so my husband came to me and helped me to mend my clothes. After abusing me, Anukul caught my younger sister and tortured her, like me, by scratching and biting her breast. Im still suffering from pain in my chest and back.

Kabita Das
Gokulnagar

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A bullet pierced through the elbow of my left hand. There was extreme pain and I somehow remained standing by holding a palm tree. Police came to me and started beating my back and waist with a rod. One among the two policemen had plastic chappals on his foot. Those who were coming behind me entered into a cowshed. I could see through the slits of the wall that police were beating the women indiscriminately and were trying to pull their saris.

Kamal Lata Das

Kalicharanpur

They hit me with lathi on my back and right neck. I fled to a nearby house along with about 1015 women. About 78 policemen came inside and started beating us. Among us there were two or three aged women of about 7080 years. Outside I saw a boy of 10 years shot with a bullet and his mother while coming to his rescue was being ruthlessly beaten by police. Later we saw there were two women lying dead. I saw through the slits of the wall that police were beating the women hiding inside a bathroom. I along with two or three women fled into the bamboo scaffolding of a betel leaves garden. But police traced us there and started poking with the barrel of the gun into our sex organs. Somehow I escaped from there and ran to my house and fell unconscious.

Rina Ari
Gokulnagar

[T]hey dragged me by my hair into a cowshed. I was left there for the night, unconscious. I am ashamed to show my face. How shall I arrange marriage for my daughter?

Kajol Majhi
Kalicharanpur

To cool the burning sensation of my eyes I descended to the nearby pond, on stepping out I saw that the police are chasing all. I ran back to my house. The next day some outsiders came to our house and threatened me and my husband to join a CPI(M) rally. But we refused.

Kamala Ari
Gokulnagar

Among the police were some persons clad in white with their faces covered looking like widows. They were indicating towards us with their fingers. I think they were CPI(M) cadres.

Alaka Mandal
Gokulnagar

Most of the policemen who came wore chappals, had their faces covered with a black cloth and had a red band on their hand.

Sindhubala Mandal
Gokulnagar

FOREWORD
t was the developments around the Tata Groups acquisitions at Singur that first began to draw national attention to the issue of land acquisition for industrial purposes in West Bengal. And it should have alerted us that this marked a drastic departure from earlier CPI(M) positions on acquisition of land for corporate interests. There were mixed messages emanating from the CPI(M) itself outside the State of West Bengalwhere they were raising their voices against SEZs in many areas. It was therefore with a sense of total disbelief and shock that we watched and listened and read reports of the unfolding tragedy of Nandigramespecially after 14 March 2007. We were flooded with emails, often with conflicting accounts of the death toll, of the missing and wounded and of sexual harassmentand the medias hyperintensive reportage did nothing to help or clarify our concerns and confusion. Several groups, at different times, have actually visited the area, reconstructed the sequence and chronology of events, and spoken to the affected people. Their reports have been painstakingly compiled by the Secretariat of the All India Citizens Initiative. However, given the complex nature of local politicsand the high profile stand-off between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the CPI(M)which subsumed many urgent issues affecting people and the violence, which was visited upon them, it was felt that it might be useful to hold an independent Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram. As part of this group I had the opportunity to spend three days in Kolkata and Gokulnagar and Sonachura in Nandigram.

THE DEPOSITIONS
Although the hearings were initially programmed to take place at the Gokulnagar Primary Schoolgiven the large number of witnesses who came forward to depose and the limitations of timeit was decided to divide the Jury into two groups on the second daywith one group continuing at Gokulnagar and the other at Sonachura near the now infamous Bhangabera bridge leading to Khejuri. During the course of the two days the members of the Jury had the opportunity to listen to depositions by a large number of men and women from the area. Due to shortage of time, a large number of depositions were also provided by the victims in writing.
xi

Here is a brief summary of the main issues that surfaced from the verbal and written depositions presented: 1. Continuing feeling of fear and insecurity and total mistrust of police, government officials, and above all, of the party cadresmany of whomaccording to almost all eyewitness had worn police uniform and participated in the violence of 14 March. 2. We were struck by the closeness between the two major communities from this regionnamely Hindus and Muslims. This was exemplified in the numerous accounts that described how both communities had jointly planned to hold the peace puja/namaaz upon hearing of the projected visit and clean-up action by the police in their area on 14 March. 3. While the actual number of deaths might have been limited to 14there were a very large number of wounded and injuredprimarily bullet wounds, iron rods and lathicharge injuries. Witness after witness spoke of merciless brutality of the policeand especially of people who were apparently party cadre dressed in police uniform whom they identified because they were in chappals as opposed to the boots worn by the regulars. 4. A significant number of bullet wounds seemed to have been caused by firing from the backwhile the crowd was running away. 5. We examined several medical/discharge slips from the local hospitals at Nandigram, Tamluk and Kolkatathere is not a single mention of injuries being caused by bullets, except in two cases. It was difficult not to draw conclusions as to the obvious linkages between the police and the district medical and other authoritiesall of whom apparently were covering up the true nature, cause and extent of the violence. 6. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the attacks on the villagers was the repeated allegations and accounts of the deliberate acts of sexual assault, including rape and other forms of unspeakable brutality. That women were prepared to speak in public about what they had been throughas in the case of 40-year old Chhabi Rani Mandal of Adhikaripara in Gokulnagar who had an iron rod pushed into her vagina after severe lathi beatingsis testimony to their anger and despair. 7. Missing childrenthis seems to be a grey area. Individual testimonies spoke of attacks on childrenand many children who had disappeared. But it was difficult to find hard evidenceand it would be useful if an independent fact-finding team could follow up on this more systematically.
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8. In response to questions regarding whether they had filed FIRs or any other form of complaintfor the most part there was a clear evidence of total lack of any faith or trust in the police, or indeed in the systemsince it would be tantamount to seeking help from the perpetrators. Many women referred to the police as man-eaters and challenged us on the Tribunal to answer the question: how could they ever be expected to go to register complaints against those who had tortured and abused them? 9. To date, from all accounts, there has been no government compensationand whatever little they have received has been from a few private parties. This is in itself inexplicable in a so-called democratic state where at least compensation for the families of those dead and injured is almost immediate. It appears that no formal visit was made, post the violence, by any senior ruling party members. 10. In response to questions inquiring whether any special groups representing the State Womens Commission or other specialist groups from the state set-up had visited the area or examined themthey answered in the negative. All of us, members of the Tribunal, were struck by the fact that not even the women leadership of the ruling partys womens wing had thought it necessary or important to pay a visit to the affected areas and conduct an independent inquiry or to bring the guilty to book purely on the issues of violence against women. 11. From a careful scrutiny of the testimonies we also realized that the absence of a woman doctor in the two hospitalsNandigram and Tamlukwas a further deterrent to women taking their problems to the authorities. 12. Widespread and powerful expressions of anger and a sense of betrayal was directed at the party to which the people of Nandigram had been loyal and had voted for over 25 yearsnamely the CPI(M). 13. Despite all the fear, insecurity, brutal treatment, loss of dear ones, their own physical and sexual violation, there was an amazing, fierce sense of determination that they would not part with one inch of their land. On the contrary, we heard the strong cry that they had already shed their bloodwere willing to shed more, but would not part with their land. 14. Their final plea was for peace and justicebut ending with a demand that both Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Lakshman Seth, the CPI(M) member of Parliament from Gokulnagar be sent to the gallows. Lakshman Seth, Buddhadeb ko Phansi do, phansi dosuch is the depth of their emotional outrage at this stage. Lalita Ramdas 15 July 2007
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POSTSCRIPT

n early November the simmering ember of that hurt and discontent of those who suffer in Nandigram have once again flared up into an inferno which, like all infernos, will take more and more harsh action to quell it. We seem to learn nothing from history. When an elected government fails to act in time to bring even a message of assurance to its citizens that it will rise above its party loyalties and deliver justice and fair play to all its citizens, then violence and counter-violence is only to be expected. The deeper level of disillusionment, especially for many of us who have believed in a broad Left and socialist alternative in our polity, was with what has apparently happened in a bastion of the Left. I want to revisit the questions that we asked each other as we listened and observed and pondered over the brutality of 14 March in Nandigram. How could something like this have happened in a place like Bengal? This was not something any of us expected. How can the state and party become so insensitive to the real needs of the people? The virtual collapse of civil society in Bengal was perhaps one of the worst effects of 30 years of one-party rule in the State, but paradoxically, Nandigram and Singur seemed to have catalyzed something like a peoples protest movement after long years of slumber and silence, with a large section of artists, writers, intellectuals, academics and students coming out to protest. Why were all arms of the political and administrative structurefrom Governor, to Human Rights Commissions, virtually paralyzed? What does it say for the health of our structures of decision making? The ultimate corruption is of money power combined with political power. How do we, the people, challenge the trend whereby national parties of all hues become beholden to corporate interests and the seduction of the mantra of unbridled growth and GDP without paying any heed to the huge social costs to millions, not to mention the compromising of all notions of land, food, sovereignty. Perhaps our biggest challenge today is how to educate and create awareness at many levels about this lethal prescription for progress and development, which is being rammed down through neo-liberal policies. For the most part, these have been formulated globally, and are implemented nationally in close nexus with ever-willing politicians, the bureaucracy and corporates, who are eyeing the astronomical sums to be made in profits on land deals alone.
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IN CONCLUSION Not that this is any justification, but we need to face with honesty, the harsh and bitter truth, that this dehumanized political response is not peculiar to the CPI(M) in Bengal of 2007. We have seen it time and againDelhi 1984, Mumbai 1992/93, Gujarat 2002, Nandigram 2007. This is only the tip of the iceberg of an underlying brutal reality. What we need to understand, and not just mourn, is the increasingly terrifying face of not just politics, but the erosion and decay of a civilizational impulse which once beat so strong in this land of Buddha and Gandhi. The tragedy of human beings, in Nandigram and beyond, as real and as urgent as it is, can best be analyzed and addressed within a new and courageous philosophical, ethical, social and economic context. This is our more immediate and tougher challenge. Lalita Ramdas 30 November 2007

Justice S.N. Bhargava, Chairperson and Lalita Ramdas, Member of the Jury at the Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram.

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WEST BENGAL

NANDIGRAM

xvi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following persons were involved in different phases of work of the Tribunal: Sanjay Mitra, Satya Sivaraman, Subhasis Mukherjee, Tarun Basu, Shantanu Chakraborty, Nilanjan Dutta, Naba Dutta, Rabin Chakraborty, Dipanjan Rai Chaudhuri, Gautam Sen, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Partha Sen, Sujato Bhadra, Sadhan Roy Chowdhuri, Aditi Chaudhuri, Ruby Mukherjee, Debapriya Mallick, Saumen Guha, Santanu Tribedi, Ramen Saha, Uday Sen, Ashish, Soumitra (Nanu), Pramod Gupta, Gautam Sarkar, Sreyashi Bhaduri, Surasri Chaudhuri, Soma Ghosh, Ranjan Dutta, Punnyabrata Gun, Krishnendu Mukherjee, Sabyasachi Deb, Tarun Kanti Naskar, Premangshu Dasgupta, Anindya Bhattacharya, Amitava Bhattacharya, Manas Bhattacharya, Saswati Ghosh, Debal Kumar Deb, Gautam Chakraborty, Sanjay Prasad, Anindya Biswas, Kalpana Sen, Partha, Ashim, Swati, Prajyaparamita Dattaraichaudhuri, Meenakshmi Sen Bandyopadhyay, Sumita Samanta, Saurav Basu, Barnali Bhattacharya, Manidipa Nandi, Sandip Bandyopadhyay, Sitangshu Shekhar, Dr. Amita Dasgupta. Besides, there may be other persons whose names are omitted but who helped to make the Tribunal a success. All India Citizens Initiative is indebted to all of them. We acknowledge the help of The Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies as well as of Pramod Gupta for making video recordings of the proceedings of the Tribunal at Nandigram. The photograph on the cover was taken at Nandigram by Bijoy Chaudhuri. We are thankful to him for allowing us to use it on the cover of this report. We are indebted to Jana Swasthya Swadhikar Mancha for allowing us to use their office at 45, Beniatola Lane, Kolkata-700009 as the temporary office of the Tribunal. We would also like to acknowledge with a sense of gratitude the help we received as donations from various individuals and organizations. We have spent so far about Rs. 1,20,000 on the organising and conduct of the Peoples Tribunal. The major portion of the amount was raised as individual donations from Kolkata and Delhi. Some of the expenditures like plane fare and a portion of the transport cost were borne by friendly organizations, namely, Human Rights Law Network, Other Media and INSAF. We are indebted to Calcutta Ahead for their financial help. We thankfully acknowledge the help of the volunteers of the friendly organizations Shramajibi Swasthya Udyog, Jana Swasthya Swadhikar Mancha and Nagarik Mancha. We are especially indebted to those residents of Gokulnagar and Sonachura who helped us in organizing the sessions there.

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INTRODUCTION
he Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram was set up in April 2007 by a group of concerned citizens from around India who felt the need for an independent investigation into the violent events of 14 March 2007 that shocked West Bengal and indeed the entire nation. The initiative was inspired by a call given by Justice Krishna Iyer, Mahashweta Devi, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Rajendra Yadav and Ashok Vajpeyi for the restoration of peace in the disturbed area but a peace where justice is ensured to all those whose rights have been violated in any form.1 A sincere attempt has been made by the All India Citizens Initiative to conduct the Tribunal in as impartial a manner as possible. All efforts have also been made, within the constraints of resources available and prevailing circumstances, to collect all factual information regarding the situation in Nandigram and the recent incidents that have occurred there. We do not see our efforts as necessarily the final word on the violent incidents in Nandigram and hope there will be more such attempts at establishing the truth about what really happened in Nandigram. Following are details of the Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram: I. The members of the Tribunal 1. Justice S.N. Bhargava, Retd. Chief Justice, Sikkim High Court 2. Prabhash Joshi, Founder Editor, Jansatta 3. Lalita Ramdas, Social Activist 4. John Dayal, Journalist and Human Rights Activist 5. Dr. Jyotirmay Samajder, Psychiatrist

II. Venue and date of the Tribunal At Gokulnagar Gobindajiu Prathamic Bidyalay and at Sonachura, Post Nandigram, East Medinipur, West Bengal on 26 and 27 May 2007. At University Institute Library Hall, Kolkata on 28 May 2007. On each day, the Tribunal resumed at 10.30 a.m. and continued until 5 pm. III. The terms of reference of the Tribunal 1. To inquire into the background, causes, course, nature and motive, leading to the incident of 14 March; 2. To consider whether any organized group or groups of people or individual/individuals was/were involved in the incident and/or were behind the violence; 3. To ascertain whether the reported state violence, sexual abuse of women and alleged mass killings were done or purported to be done for restoration of public order and for establishment of the rule of law in the affected areas, and to ascertain the responsibility of the State authorities, administration as well as the law enforcing agencies; 1

4. To inquire into the nature of social, economic and medical consequences faced by the victims as well as the people of Nandigram and adjoining areas; 5. To examine whether there were any cases of disappearances/missing persons arising out of the police action/or state-supported actions and also to examine authenticity of allegations of lapse or failure on the part of police and medical practitioners towards the injured; 6. To consider such other matters relevant or incidental to the aforesaid terms of reference, as the Tribunal may deem fit and proper. IV. In organizing the Tribunal a forum named, All India Citizens Initiative was formed. A secretariat was then formed from among the persons involved in the said initiative.2 V. Procedures followed in holding the Tribunal: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Notification in newspapers;3 Press Conference; Circulating Leaflets inviting affected/concerned people to depose before the Tribunal;4 Campaign about the Tribunal in Nandigram and the adjoining areas through loudspeaker; Postering in Nandigram and Kolkata; Informing the village, Panchayat, district and State level administrative authorities via an invitation letter to partake and depose before the Tribunal;5 Letter inviting all political parties in the State and local level to depose; Letter of intimation to District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police regarding forthcoming Tribunal;6 Invitation letter to individuals, organizations, political parties, newspapers, electronic media persons to witness the proceedings of the Tribunal;7 To apprise Jury members of the Tribunal about the incidents in Nandigram and also to help them make sure that the formalities were followed, on arrival in Kolkata, they were provided with a book containing relevant information and documents like the terms of reference (TOR) and some investigation reports of groups, available at the time.8

VI. Response of State Authorities: It is to be noted that the District Magistrate (East Medinipur) wrote a letter dated 24.5.07 requiring the organizers to intimate the said DM as to the provisions of law by which he is required to appear before the Tribunal. The organizers in their reply, explained to the DM the Constitutional duty of all citizens to promote peace and brotherhood.9 VII. Tribunal Hearings: The Tribunal received 39 oral and 135 written depositions at the hearings held at primary schools in Gokulnagar and Sonachura and 20 depositions in Kolkata at the University Institute Library Hall. The final report of the Tribunal is based on prima facie evidence as well as a total of 194 depositions made before it. 2

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND
SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES
he basic idea of a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is to create a small geographical reserve a foreign territoryinside a country where a different set of rules will apply to businesses. By offering less restrictive regulations, less burdensome tax or tariff regimes and a blank slate for made-to-measure industrial parks, the zone is supposed to attract companies that might not otherwise consider opening operations in the countryproviding jobs and constructing an export base. In February 2005 the Indian Parliament passed the SEZ Act. Since then there has been a rush of applicationsover 400from both domestic and foreign companies seeking to establish SEZs all over the country. As of August 2007 a total of 234 SEZs have been approved,

Harvested paddy in a field in Nandigram Block 2

covering an area of 0.34 lakh hectares. Another 162 have been given in-principle approval, for which as much as 1.5 lakh hectaref land will be acquired. According to Indias Union Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, SEZs are expected to attract around US$5 billion in foreign direct investment by the end of 2007and also help develop infrastructure and provide mass employment. SEZs are however under fire on many fronts. The main allegation is that farmers are being forced to sell their land often at thorw away prices and lose their livelihoods, and that State governments and corporate developers are profiteering. Critics also say that many of the SEZs mooted may simply be property deals. Developers hope to acquire cheap land, put in a minimum of infrastructure and sell it. Only 35 percent of the land area of a SEZ needs to be used for industrial acivities as per the SEZ Act. Even some within the industry think the incentives given to units setting up SEZs are too generous. They include a 5-year holiday on profit tax, exemption from import and excise duties and fewer licensing requirements. The fear of many economists is that rather than promoting new business, the SEZs will merely attract investment that would have arrived anyway. Instead of finding fresh sources of money for its infrastructure, India would thereby have made things worse by depriving itself of tax revenue. While the CPI(M) has opposed it at the national level and sought several amendments to the SEZ Act it has been an enthusiastic champion of the concept in West Bengal, which became the first Indian State to adopt the Act at the State level with similar provisions. The proposed 10,000 acre SEZ in Nandigram was part of a larger plan to set up a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) around Haldia covering a total area of 62,500 acres.

WEST BENGAL
West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The State has a total area of 88,752 square kilometres.10 West Bengal has a population of over 80 million and a population density of 904 people/sq.km, making it the most densely populated State in India. The life expectancy in the State is 63.4 years, marginally lower than the national level of 64.8 years. The literacy rate is 69.22 percent. About 72 percent of people live in rural areas. During 19912001 the States growth rate of 17.84 percent was slightly lower than the national rate of 21.34 percent. The main players in the States politics are the political alliance known as the Left Front led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) and includes the Communist Party of India (CPI), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) and the Forward Bloc (FB) while the opposition consists of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Indian National Congress (INC), and other parties. Following the West Bengal State Assembly Elections in 2006, the Left Front coalition under Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee of the CPI(M) was elected to power with an overwhelming majority. West Bengal has been ruled by the Left Front for the past 30 years, making it the worlds longest serving, democratically elected communist government. 4

NANDIGRAM
Nandigram is a rural area in East Medinipur district of West Bengal, which has been the centre of peasant resistance against an attempt by the government to acquire agricultural land for setting up a Special Economic Zone, as part of a larger plan for a chemical hub in the area. It is located around 150 km from Kolkata, on the south bank of the Haldi River, opposite the industrial city of Haldia. The area comes under the jurisdiction of the Haldia Development Authority (HDA) for purposes of industrial development. Nandigram is divided into three adminstrative blocks Block 1, Block 2, Block 3of which Nandigram Block 1 will be most affected if the West Bengal governments proposed SEZ project becomes a reality. The total area of Nandigram (all 3 blocks) is 413.74 sq.km. while the population is 439,077.11 The total area earmarked for land acquisition as part of the proposed SEZ project is 10,000 acres. However this land is spread over an area of about 60 sq.km.,

Benny Santoso, Director, Salim Group, with the West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee

Agriculture and fishing are the main source of livelihood in Nandigram

which is home to a population of about 95,000 covering five Gram Panchayats. The main villages in this area are Bhangabera, Sonachura, Saudhkhali, Maheshpur, Gokulnagar, Adhikaripara. Muslims and lower caste Hindus dominate the population. Apart from agriculture, the people of Nandigram are engaged as labourers in the garment industry and estuarine fishing. Betel leaves represent the only commercial crop and brick kilns constitute the only industrial activity. Nandigram also had a ship-repairing factory, Jellingham Project, set up in 1977, occupying over 400 acres of land. Although 142 farming families lost their livelihood during the land acquisition process at that time, only five got jobs in the factory but not for long as the project stopped functioning just after five years. Most villages here have no electricity, few pucca houses, and landholders subsist on three crops of rice and vegetables. Annual incomes vary between Rs. 18,000 and Rs. 20,000. Many of Nandigrams youth travel up the river to the industrial hub of Metiaburz to work in low-paid jobs in the garment and other industries. Literacy rates here are 70 percent, though in some pockets they are as low as 27 percent, against West Bengals average of 69 percent.12

Politics
The CPI, which is a constituent of the Left Front government in West Bengal, had a strong presence in the area. It not only holds the Nandigram State Assembly constituency but also neighbouring Patashpur, Panskura (West) and Tamluk. CPIs Illias Mohammad Sheikh is a member of the State Legislative Assembly from Nandigram. Lakshman Seth of the CPI(M), who is also the Chairman of the Haldia Development Authority, represents the area in Parliament as part of Tamluk constituency. The CPI(M) also controls five out of six Panchayats in the area earmarked for land acquisition while the Trinamool Congress controls one.

History
The modern history of Nandigram is the history of struggle for freedom since the days of the British Rule in India. The Civil Disobedience Movement (1930) of the Indian National Congress gained a new momentum in Medinipur. In spite of torture and assault, the movement spread like fire. Women played a very important role in the movement. The SDO, Medinipur wrote I was informed that all the villages had been converted to good forts, cutting up village roads, filling them with loose earth, thorn and rough sharp shells barricades with large bamboo trees and houses barricaded with thorns, removal of bamboo bridges and trenches dug into the middle of the fields. In 1942, a parallel government was formed in Tamluk. The Jatiya Sarkar came into existence on 17 December 1942 and lasted till September 1944. The parallel government was disbanded at the request of Mahatma Gandhi. 6

Tebhaga Movement (1946-47)

In 1946, Krishak Sabhas, the peasant front of the undivided Communist Party of India, began to be established in Medinipur i.e., in Tamluk, Mahishadal, Sutahata, Kharagpur, Ghatal, Kanthi, Bhagabanpur, Keshpur and Nandigram. In late 1946, the sharecroppers (Bargadars, Bhag chashis, Adhyars) of Bengal began to assert that they would no longer pay half the share of their crop to the jotedars or landlords but only onethird. Further, they insisted that before division, the grain would be stored in their godowns, not in those of the jotedars. This came to be known as the Tebhaga movement, a precursor to many of the radical peasant uprisings like Naxalbari in postIndependence India. The movement received a great boost in January 1947 when the Muslim League ministry in Bengal introduced a legislation which limited the share of the harvest given to the landlords to one-third of the total. One of the main centres of the movement was Medinipur. Bhupal Panda, Ananta Majhi, Pandit Jana led the movement. Many areas were converted to Muktanchal (liberated zones). Women came forward and joined the movement as members of the Krishak Sabhas. After the famine of 1943, the Mahila

The tradition of digging up roads in protest against government policy goes back a long way in Nandigram

Atmaraksha Samity or Women Self-Protection Committee was formed. The new modes of resistance and forms of participation of the peasant women of Mohammadpur and Nandigram spread like fire. Women took up whatever they had in their domestic confinesbroomstick, sickle, chopper, stickto protect themsevels from the police and to save their men folk and their crops. The women helped to develop surreptitious communication, guarded secret meetings, protected crops in the field, guarded villages, kept vigil on police, they blew conch shells and beat kansar (the bell metal gong) and shouted Bande Mataram to warn people about the police. In Nandigram, Bimala Majhi organized the women to resist the police and administrative attacks. When a Jotedar of Kendumari brought armed police, Bimala Majhi came forward with her Nari Raksha Bahini armed with sickles, bantis (a sharp instrument to cut vegetables), brooms in their hands and dust, chilly powder and salt tied in their clothes and hurled them at

The market area inside Nandigram town

Though poor in terms of cash income, Nandigram villagers have reasonably good access to food resources

the police. The poor peasant womens resistance in the movement was mostly spontaneous and autonomous. Many of the demands of the sharecroppers were finally met in 1977, when the Left Front government launched Operation Barga, which gave sharecroppers legal protection against eviction by the landlords. In addition, it also ensured them a due share of the produce.

WHAT THE CHEMICAL HUB IS ALL ABOUT?

Adapted from a note by Nirupam Sen, Minister of Industry, West Bengal, on the New Kolkata International Development (NKID) Project: n 2005, a group of Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in the USA, holding senior professional and business positions, showed interest in facilitating American foreign direct investment into India, and selected chemicals and petrochemicals as a sector, which could attract such investment. Following discussions with them, the Government of India accepted their suggestion that the best way to attract foreign investment was to create high quality infrastructure. It was felt that it was not enough to create modern infrastructure only within mega industrial estates, and instead a whole region, comprising the industrial estates and the surrounding non-industrial area, should be treated as an Investment Region. The PCPIR Policy Accordingly, Government of India adopted a policy to create Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Regions (PCPIRs) in selected locations in India. In June 2006, the NRI group arranged for presentations to be made by Government of India to American chemical and petrochemical companies in the USA. The Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal made a presentation to the American companies highlighting investment opportunities in West Bengal and the advantages that the State offers as a location for chemicals and petrochemicals industries. Main features of the PCPIRs include: The area of the overall Investment Region should be about 250 sq. kms., i.e., about 62,500 acres. Out of this, only 40 percent, i.e., about 25,000 acres should be meant for industries. The rest of the area will consist of existing towns, villages, settlements, agricultural land etc. which will not come under industries. Government of India will contribute to the infrastructure through construction of roads and highways, railway links, port facilities, and telecommunications. State government will contribute by facilitating power and water linkages. The development of infrastructure inside the industrial areas, i.e., land development, internal roads, effluent treatment, drainage and sewerage etc. will be done by private sector investment. Response of West Bengal The state government felt that selection of the Haldia region as a PCPIR and setting up industrial estates in the form of SEZs within the PCPIR will attract significant manufacturing investments and bring about growth and development in that area. Moreover there will be major investment by Government of India for road and rail connectivity, port facilities, and telecommunications. Therefore the State government decided to develop a PCPIR around Haldia, with two SEZs, one fully dedicated to the chemicals industry, and the other to be multi-product, i.e. chemicals as well as other industries. Given the essential requirement of port facilities, it was felt that it is not possible to consider establishment of the PCPIR in the interior parts of the State. Location of the PCPIR Given the large area required for the PCPIR it was seen that the areas around Haldia town already had many industries and there were also natural constraints in developing additional port facilities in Haldia. The choice of Nandigram Block 1 area therefore was felt to be suitable because it also has the waterfront along the Hooghly River, and thus would provide scope for extension of the port facilities on the riverside. Based on the above factors, the State government decided to breakup the approximately 25,000 acres required to be earmarked as manufacturing zones under the PCPIR policy in two large SEZs, one of 12,500 acres in the Haldia side of Haldi River, and another of 10,000 acres in the Nandigram side of Haldi River. This decision covered only the general location of the mega industrial estates, and the exact quantum of land available was to be ascertained after local field level study and local consultations. Agreement for an Anchor Developer In order to develop the industrial infrastructure inside the SEZs, the State government has entered

10

into an agreement with New Kolkata International Development Private Limited (NKID) in July 2006. The NKID is a Consortium of the following companies: (i) Bright Equity Group Limited, a company of the Salim Group of Indonesia; (ii) Universal Success Enterprise Limited; and (iii) Unitech Limited of India.

Agreement for an Anchor Investor The State government has also signed an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation Limited to be an anchor investor in the PCPIR. IOC has signed an agreement for setting up a 15 million ton refinery, a paraxylene unit and other units in the downstream sectors.

Source: http://www.ganashakti.com/old/2007/071126/note.htm

The farmers of Nandigram are ready to give their lives but not their land to anyone

11

12

CHAPTER TWO

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Around August 2006

he Nandigram land acquisition controversy started when the West Bengal government decided that the Salim Group13 of Indonesia would set up a chemical hub at Nandigram as part of the proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR). 15 November 2006 Nandigram Gets Singur Jitters, said a report in The Statesman14 referring to the way the agitation against State acquisition of agricultural land in Singur had provoked apprehensions about the fate of their own land among the people of Nandigram. 16 November 2006 A confidential message of the Superintendent of Police (District Intelligence Bureau), East Medinipur, to the Special Superintendent of Police (Intelligence) gives a detailed account of how the people of Nandigram cutting across party lines, including the Left Front constituent CPI, were mobilizing people against the land acquisition plan of the government. It gives the date, time and places where the street corner meetings of different parties were held. The report contains a detailed account of the various meetings of the CPI where leaders like Illias Mohammad, MLA (Nandigram) and others spoke with a demand not to allow their lands for acquisition by the government. They have even reported the holding of a karmi sabha of the CPI in the house of Illias Mohammad in this connection on 16.11.06 noon, where their leader Prabodh Panda, MP (Medinipur) was also present. Some of the dates specified of street corner meetings of the CPI are 16, 17, 18 November 2006.15 The supporters of CPI(M) in the locality were also against such land acquisition. The aforementioned intelligence report says,
On 20.11.06 at 15.00 hrs CPI(M) held a street corner meeting (3,000 people attended) under the leadership of Shri Sunirmal Giri, Zonal Committee secretary and other local leaders at Nandigram Bus Stand under the banner of Krishi Bachao O Desh Bachao. Shri Giri, in his speeches, said that agriculture would be given priority but industries would also be set up. The meeting continued for near about two and half hours. Information revealed that due to adverse comments and protest from local people the speakers remained mum and avoided [speaking] on Nandigram [land acquisition] issue.16

13

Thus the build-up of the anti-land acquisition mood of the people of Nandigram cut across party lines and was not confined to those groups already opposed to the Left Front government. 27 December 2006 In a speech delivered at a meeting at Nandigram market Lakshman Seth, MP of Tamluk and district CPI(M) leader said that agricultural land would be required for the proposed chemical hub covering 27 mouzas in Nandigram and 2 mouzas in Khejuri. 28 December 2006 A notice dated 28.12.2007 was issued by the Haldia Development Authority (HDA) (Nandigram Block 1 Office). The notice stated that land in 27 mouzas of Nandigram Block 1 and 2 mouzas of Khejuri would be acquired for a proposed chemical hub.17

FIRST SPARKS OF CONFLICT

03 January 2007 According to local people, a crowd gathered at Kalicharanpur Panchayat Samity office to demonstrate against the HDA notice on land acquisition. Samiran Bibi, the Panchayat Pradhan, sought police help. According to a deposition made by Nabadwip Das Adhikari of Gokulnagar, without any provocation, police lathicharged and fired to disperse the crowd. Some persons were injured, including Jahangir Shah, who lost a finger due to a bullet injury. The police jeep, while retreating, collided with a lamp post and caught fire. People dug up roads and broke several bridges to prevent the police from entering their villages.18 However, according to the police version, violence was initiated by an angry mob, which attacked the Kalicharanpur Gram Panchayat office and started brickbatting and ransacking the office.

THE SALIM AND SUHARTO DUO

he Salim Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Asia, owes its success to the close relations between Liem Sioe Liong (Sudono Salim), the founder of the Group and General Suharto, who ran a brutal dictatorship in Indonesia for over three decades. Suharto is particularly notorious for organising the massacre of an estimated half a million communists, soon after taking over power in the mid-1960s. With more than 300 companies and 135,000 employees, the Salim Groups tentacles extend to virtually every part of the Indonesian economy as well as the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong and China. Concentrating on cereals and many other

foods and beverages, its interests span cement and building materials, motor vehicles, commodity trading, property, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, banking and financial services, distribution, media and telecommunications. Following the ouster of Suharto, due to a popular democratic uprising against his rule in 1998, the Salim Group lost its political clout and faced losses in many of its businesses. In recent years it has targeted investments in India, particularly West Bengal. At least some of Salim Groups companies are known to be fronts for the vast business empire of General Suhartos family members also.

14

On receipt of this information, the Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram Police Station (PS), rushed to the spot with some forces but found that the mob had left the Panchayat office. As the policemen were returning to the police station they were allegedly intercepted by a mob of about 3,000 people armed with deadly weapons. The mob turned violent and attacked the police party with brickbats, injuring some police personnel. They also set fire to a police jeep and damaged two other vehicles and snatched one service rifle with 10 rounds of ammunition from the injured constable, Srikanta Murmu of Nandigram PS. Seven rounds were fired from service rifles of the police party. Eighteen police personnel including the Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram police station, sustained injuries in this incident and two of the injured policemen had to be admitted to Tamluk Sadar Hospital, Nandigram. Another police party from Khejuri side was allegedly intercepted by a 2,000 strong mob, armed with weapons near Sonachura bazaar. The mob set the police jeep on fire, detained the police personnel in a room and snatched two rifles with 60 rounds of ammunitions. The injured police personnel were treated in Janka Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC).19 On the same day as these incidents of violence in Nandigram, the Chief Minister of West Bengal told the Press that no notification for acquiring land for the SEZ project had as yet been issued.20
Remarks: There are conflicting reports on what actually happened on 3 January 2007. Different government agencies contradict each other. This much is certain that there was a confrontation between the police and the demonstrators and several people were injured.

Burnt police jeep near Bhuta More at Garchakraberia

04 January 2007 To protest against the notice issued by the Haldia Development Authority thousands of people gathered in front of Garchakraberia under the banner of Gana Unnayan O Jana Adhikar Sangram Samity and Nandigram Jami Uchhed Birodhi O Jana Shakti Raksha Committee. But the crowd turned violent when they mistook Health Department officials, who had arrived to carry out an inspection of public toilet and sanitation facilities, for officials related to the proposed land acquisition process. 15

Bhangabera bridge at Sonachura

The angry mob smashed windowpanes and pelted stones at the officials vehicle and then ransacked the Kalicharanpur Panchayat office. Police rushed to the spot and protestors clashed with the police. After the mob dispersed at around 2.30 p.m. some residents blocked the roads leading to Garhchakraberia and also demolished a bridge at Bankim More.21 A 12-hour bandh, called by the Indian National Congress (INC) and Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) and supported by the Trinamool Congress (TMC), was observed in Nanadigram. The bandh passed off peacefully. The CPI(M) party office at Rajaramchak was set on fire and Nandigram PS Case No. 05/07 was initiated. On the same day a trekker owned by a resident of Kendamari was damaged and PS Case No. 14/07 was filed.22 In another incident, on the same day, the police arrested 12 persons.23 Dibakar Bhattacharya, in his deposition (Annexure T) narrated how police detained their team of five social activists while going to Nandigram on 4 January 2007. They were arrested at Tekhali Bazaar and several police cases were filed against them. Bhattacharya said he was a member of the CPI(ML)-Liberation group.24

THE SINGUR EFFECT

he events, during 2006, in Singur, 40 kms out of Kolkata, where a factory for low-budget cars is being set up by the Tata Group, had a big influence on the villagers of Nandigram. What they saw happening in Singur was the forcible takeover of around 1000 acres of highly fertile farming land by the Left Front government on behalf of one of Indias largest corporate houses. The Tata Motors site is the most fertile one in the whole of Singur, and the Singur block, in turn, is among the most fertile in West Bengal. Consequently, almost the entire local population depends on agriculture with approximately 150,000 making their livelihood directly from it. With the number of direct jobs to be created by the Tata factory no more than about 1,000, many of which are expected to go to outsiders, the local populace feel understandably threatened for their livelihood. Environmental degradation is also feared. Around 30 percent of the landowners, mostly absentee landlords living in Kolkata, had consented to sell their land voluntarily. Another 20 percent of these seem to have relented once the takeover, using the colonial-era Land Acquisition Act of 1894, became a fait accompli, and out of fear of retribution by state and ruling party bosses. The law

has provisions for the state taking over privately held land for public purposes but not for developing private businesses. The illegality of the acquistion has been challenged in the Calcutta High Court. Despite all the state pressure, a sizeable section of farmers and sharecroppers in the area, however, refused to acquiesce. They were joined in the agitation that ensued against land acquisition by large numbers of agricultural labour, many of them migrants, whose livelihood was also threatened. In response, the West Bengal authorities occupied and fenced the Singur land, imposing section 144 of the Indian Penal Code to prohibit public protests. Now, a four metre high wall has come up to prevent its original owners from raiding the land for cultivation. A contingent of several hundred heavily armed policemen, complete with high watch towers, guard the property on a 24x7 basis while company excavators dig the land to prepare the foundation for the new factory. Following the highly publicized farmers movement in Singur, when State ministers and CPI(M) leaders started talking of setting up a huge chemical hub in Nandigram, local folk there started getting agitated that they might also lose their land.

16

05 January 2007 Nandigram continued to remain cut off from the rest of the State. According to the residents they resorted to such action as they had learnt the lesson from Singur. 25 A large number of people, around 10,000, proceeded to the Nandigram Police Station to demand release of the people arrested on 3 January. The villagers were advised by the leaders to maintain peace and tranquillity in the area. In the meantime several roads had been dug up and some bridges and culverts also were damaged.26 In Kolkata, State Home Secretary, Prasad Ranjan Roy said that deadly weapons had been dumped in Nandigram. A combing operation will be done first. Police can enter the place and take action but as the situation is still tense, such entry and invoking prohibitory orders under Section 144 are not being considered.27 The Chief Minister held a high level meeting with the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, Director General of Police, Inspector General (Law and Order) and Industry Secretary to review the situation in Singur and Nandigram.28 In Nandigram, Arun Gupta, Inspector General, Western Range, held a meeting at the local police station with opposition parties and organizations who are opposing land acquisition. The representatives of the TMC, SUCI, INC and Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind attended the meeting and decided to do their best to diffuse the crisis. During the peace meeting convened by government officials with the agitating leaders, the leaders were assured by the IG that those arrested would be released if found not guilty. It was reported that CPI(M) has started a camp at the frontiers of Khejuri and Nandigram.29 In the meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court directed the Government of West Bengal to file an affidavit stating its policy with regard to land acquisition including its Master Plan for Industrialization of the State. 30 06 January 2007 The people of the locality gathered around Bhuta More to attend a general meeting on 5 January convened by TMC, SUCI, INC, Gana Unnayan O Jana Adhikar Samity and collectively announced their decision to form a new anti-land acquisition forum in Nandigram called Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC). In the meeting people burnt effigies of the 17

Bharat Mandal's mother

Bharat Mandal's wife

Chief Minister and Lakshman Seth, while the TMC leaders and MLAs warned thatIf the government and the police do not desist from using violence we shall not remain silent. Peace meetings were held at several places, such as Basanti Bazaar, Garchakraberia and Sonachura by the leaders of BUPC urging the people to remain peaceful and to restore road transport. BUPC, along with a large number of people, went to the police station to protest against the illegal activities, allegedly by cadres of the CPI(M). Bomb attacks and clashes between BUPC activists in Nandigram and CPI(M) cadre in Khejuri started from midnight.31

THE VIOLENCE OF 7 JANUARY

07 January 2007 At least five persons from Nandigram were killed as armed men, allegedly backed by the CPI(M) cadre, hurled bombs and fired bullets. The five dead were Biswajit Maity, Bharat Mandal, Sheik Selim, Badal Mandal and Anukul Patra. The injured persons Nakul Mandal and Nishikanta Barman were transferred to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. According to the deposition made by the mother of slain Bharat Mandal, the bombs and bullets were fired from the house of Shankar Samanta, a local CPI(M) leader. In retaliation the villagers set fire to a CPI(M) camp at Baratole in Khejuri and the house of Shankar Samanta, who was burnt to death in the incident.32 On 8 January 2007, Farida Bibi, sister of Sheik Selim lodged a complaint before the Officerin-Charge, Nandigram Police Station against 17 persons with full details and against 25 persons with varying degree of details.33 According to the deposition made by Pabitra Kumar Mandal, Sheik Selims body was taken away and buried by the CPI(M) cadre and the BUPC later retrieved the body and handed it over to the dead mans relatives.34 According to the deposition made by Gokulnagar Chandra Das, BUPC members also beat up a few policemen.35 According to the deposition made by Tapas Kumar Kar, his mother Basanti Kar saw a bullet pierce Bharat Mandals abdomen and also saw Biswajit Maity fall with a bullet injury. Basanti Kar herself was killed in the police firing of 14 March 2007.36 While this violence was going on, the police and the administrative officials confined themselves to Nandigram police station. Not a single officer visited the scene of the carnage. Nearly 500 policemen were camping at the police station. An eyewitness said that the CPI(M) backed miscreants started throwing bombs and bullets from automatic firearms at Bhangabera from a position near a bridge over the Talpati canal. Police said they had no clue about the attack. An officer said: We generally manage to get information of such political attacks beforehand, but this time, we did not catch a whiff. Asked to explain their absence, Arun Gupta, IG (Western Range), pointed to the inaccessibility of the area due to dug up roads, and said that the presence of policemen in Nandigram would only add fuel to the fire, 18

We generally depend on political parties to appropriately influence the people. But this time, influence has been wielded disregarding political and religious consideration.

DG of Police (Medinipur Range), N.R. Babu told reporters that Armed villagers are patrolling the fringes and we feared violence in case police try to move in. The DIG, IG (Western Range) and the East Medinipur SP met at 9 p.m. to chalk out plans for the next day. Gupta said that an additional 300 paramilitary personnel from Durgapur and Kolkata were expected that night.37 The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, held Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, a Muslim social organization and one of the constituents of the BUPC, responsible by saying Jamiat, in particular, started an ugly communal campaign. This is an unfortunate incident, no matter activists of which party perished in the clashes.38 Addressing a rally of the youth in Kolkata the Chief Minister said, Since our people were cornered last night, they defended themselves. Virtually admitting his partys role in the violence the Chief Minister said, I am not calling for retaliation. The administration and political parties together should take the initiative for peace. Benoy Konar, State Secretariat member, CPI(M) said We took up weapons in Keshpur39 to resist Trinamool. It will happen here if Trinamool continues its attack.40 The hint of teaching the agitators a lesson was clear from the speech of Benoy Konar: But if they want to make things difficult for us, we are prepared to make life hell for them.41 08 January 2007 A meeting was convened by the DM, East Medinipur, at Tamluk, for restoration of peace in Nandigram Block 1 and Khejuri. The representatives of the CPI(M), RSP, FB, CPI, SUCI, BJP, NCP, TMC, Samajwadi Party and officials of the district administration and police attended the meeting. In the meeting it was unanimously resolved that all parties must cooperate with the administration to restore peace in the disturbed areas, damaged roads and bridges should be repaired and police camps set up wherever required. It was further clarified that no land acquisition process has yet been started and before starting any such process, all political parties would be consulted.42 19

Jahangir Shah lost his ring finger of left hand in the 3 January firing

Sheikh Sattar was shot on his left leg by a police bullet on 3 January

As per one report locals set a CPI(M) office at Basulichak ablaze at around 6 a.m. On 8 January a police party on night patrolling duty at Basilica was gheraoed and pelted with stones and the police had to open one round of fire. Over this incident, Nandigram PS Case No. 08/07 was filed.43 Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee conceded that It was a mistake on the part of HDA to have issued notice for the acquisition of land at Nandigram for the chemical hub project and instructed the District Magistrate to tear it up. Bhattacharjee said that the HDA notice created all confusions even before land acquisition could start at Nandigram.
Our first task is to restore normalcy in the area. Villagers have already started cooperating with the administration. Nothing will be done in haste. A micro study of land available would be undertaken keeping in mind the interest of all concerned.44

09 January 2007 It was suspected that arms and ammunitions were being stored in Khejuri camp. The camp was the operating area for CPI(M) toughs. Locals burnt one of the camps in Khejuri.45 10 January 2007 Mamata Banerjee, MP and TMC leader, said that it was not enough to tear up the notice of land acquisition, it would be better to scrap the Land Acquisition Act.46 At the same time, the Land and Land Revenue Minister, Abdur Rezzak Molla, pleaded ignorance about the acquisition notice issued by the HDA. 13 January 2007 Another meeting was held at the instance of the SDO, Haldia at Nandigram Block 1 Office on 13 January. It was resolved that restoration of roads would start from that very day and an All Party Peace Committee would be set up at 16 places of the affected area. Unfortunately, even after these initiatives, the tension in the locality continued to mount. The administration complained that no political party submitted the names of their representatives to the SDO as decided in the meeting on 13 January. As a result the peace committees could not start functioning and the road restoration work also could not be taken up.47 14 January 2007 The Peasants Conference of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), one of the Left Front constituents, was held at Chandipur where the leaders said, CPI(M) is responsible for the terror and there should be a full fledged enquiry. The RSP leaders felt that if HDA is responsible for the violence they should also be punished. RSP would lend all possible support for the establishment of peace in the area. CPI State Secretary, Manju Kumar Majumdar, after returning from Nandigram said, People are highly aggrieved. They are united on the question of land.48 Meanwhile, the CPI(M) State secretariat clipped the wings of Lakshman Seth by handing over the charge of East Medinipur to Dipak Sarkar. 20

CPI(M) State Secretary, Biman Bose said, We cannot disown our responsibility. If our activists and our leaders were cautious, last Sundays (07/01/07) tragedy could have been averted.49 31 January 2007 The local ferry service connecting Satkhand and Kachuberia was suspended causing an economic blockade and hindering free movement in the area.50 A public hearing organized by 26 peoples organizations heard depositions about the incidents of Singur and Nandigram. The jury comprising of ex-justice V.S. Dave, J.C. Verma, P.C. Jain and Malay Sengupta recommended (a) No land should be acquired from the peasants without their consent, (b) That human rights have been violated in the incident of firing, and (c) That the State government must initiate steps to normalize the situation.51 04 February 2007 At a public meeting the Chief Minister of West Bengal said, No industry in Nandigram if people dont want it.52 07 February 2007 A sub-inspector of police, Sadhu Chatterjee, was waylaid by an unruly mob, dragged away, assaulted and killed. His dead body was recovered subsequently on 10.2.07 after dredging parts of the adjoining river.53 The Sahebnagar Mouza in Khejuri witnessed a mass unrest. On the same day, the Home Secretary, Prasad Ranjan Roy said,
Till now the police were instructed not to enter the villages in Nandigram, but in view of the prevailing situation, we have to think of taking different measures.54

Boatmen were affected by the economic blockade

12 February 2007 The Chief Minister addressed a public meeting in Haldia and assured that no land would be taken from those unwilling to give it.55 13 February 2007 At a press conference in Tamluk, Lakshman Seth, MP, said that the land mentioned in the notice issued by the Haldia Development Authority would be acquired.56 21
Lakshman Seth, Chairman, Haldia Development Authority and CPI(M) Member of Parliament from Tamluk Constituency

17 February 2007 The ferry service between Nandigram and Haldia was suspended. The Madhyamik (Middle School) examinees were badly affected due to the closure of the ferry service. About 16,000 examinees from and around Mohammadpur, Kendemari, Hossainpur, Sonachura, Kalicharanpur, Purusattampur and several other adjoining villages faced enormous difficulty in reaching Haldia and getting to the examination centre. People who used to go to Metiaburz for tailoring work as daily labourers also could not attend their duties thereby losing their livelihood. It was alleged that Lakshman Seth, MP and his wife Tamalika Panda-Seth, Chairperson, Haldia Municipality, imposed an economic blockade on Nandigram by suspending the ferry services to Haldia, where on an average 10,000 people from Nandigram go daily to sell fish, vegetables and milk products. However, CPI(M) State Secretary, Biman Bose and the Chief Minister earlier held commuters responsible for the trouble. Bose said that ferry services would be stopped until BUPC restores normalcy in the area.57 19 February 2007 The District Magistrate, East Medinipur, convened a meeting of all political parties and it was decided in the meeting that restoration of peace is required, particularly during the middle school examinations in the State. The Principal Secretary of the States Industries Department, Sabyasachi Sen, said that the mega chemical hub originally planned to be set up on nearly 22,500 acres of land, may be scaled down and set up at Haldia, which has a strong chemical industry base. 01 March 2007 The Chief Minister, in a written reply to the Left Front partners admitted,
We have made a mistake in Nandigram. We wont proceed a step further. But we want a chemical hub. Haldia is our future.

05 March 2007 Nirupam Sen, Industry Minister, stressed the need for setting up a chemical hub at Nandigram. He said, The project was needed to remove the economic backwardness of the minority population in the area, otherwise this segment of the population would remain steeped in poverty.58

THE BUILD UP TO 14 MARCH

07 March 2007 In the afternoon, police fired two rounds in the air to disperse warring crowds at Tekhali and Sonachura. Police had to open fire when CPI(M) supporters allegedly stormed Adhikaripara in Gokulnagar. The SP, East Medinipur, Anil Srinivasan said More police personnel will be sent to the area to ease tension.59 22

08 March 2007 It was alleged that between 12 noon and 4 p.m. in the afternoon, at Tulaghata area under Khejuri police station, the cadres of CPI(M) started firing. Two persons, Nilima Das, a housewife and Jharna Kajali, a student of Class V of Sonachura High School, were injured and admitted to Nandigram Block Health Centre and both were subsequently transferred to SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. As a result of this incident Jharna Kajali lost two fingers of her right hand.60 10 March 2007 The District Magistrate, East Medinipur, convened a meeting of all political parties to take up the issue of repairing the roads. The opposition parties boycotted the meeting on the basis that no steps were taken on the previous resolutions. It was decided in the same meeting that the roads will be repaired and if any individual or any group of people or any organization created any disturbance steps would be taken against such persons according to law.61 11 March 2007 Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in a meeting at Brigade Parade Ground, Kolkata, reiterated the promise of a chemical hub at Nandigram and warned the opposition with dire consequences.62 12 March 2007 Bullets were fired allegedly by the CPI(M) workers from Khejuri while a police contingent stood by watching.63 At Kolaghat Thermal Power Guest House, a meeting was held by Arun Gupta, IG (Western Range), for impending action in Nandigram by the police force. More than 3000 police personnel were brought from outside the district.64 Superintendent of Police, East Medinipur wrote to DM, East Medinipur (Memo No.72/c): It is expected that on 13.3.07 police will enter Nandigram. 13 March 2007 Subhendu Adhikari, MLA, TMC sent a fax message to the Chief Minister of West Bengal that the Police authorities have created panic among the common people of Nandigram. 23
Rasbehari Khanra, injured in the 14 March violence

Wounded people in Nandigram Hospital

The TMC office at Fulni in Chandipur was ransacked by CPI(M) cadre. A huge contingent of police was posted near the Talpati canal in Sonachura, Tekhali and Bhangabera.65 On the same day the District Magistrate, East Medinipur issued an order stating that Superintendent of Police, East Medinipur has informed that the police will be moving into the areas where the roads are dug up and the bridge is breached in Nandigram Block 1 from different points. He also requested to deploy sufficient Executive Magistrates to accompany the police teams. (Annexure-F: 243)66

THE INCIDENTS OF 14 MARCH

14 March 2007 On 14 March 2007, around 9.30 a.m. 300 police personnel with arms and ammunitions along with local CPI(M) leaders entered the Nandigram area from the side of Tekhali Bridge near Gokulnagar. The police contingent was led by Debasish Boral, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Tamluk, Shyamal Bhattacharya, ASP, Headquarters, and Swapan Sarkar, SubDivisional Police Officer, Haldia. At the same time from the Khejuri side of Bhangabera Bridge the police forces were led by Arun Gupta, Inspector General of Police (Western Range), Tanmoy Roychowdhury, ASP, Haldia, Amit Hati, Officer-in-Charge, Khejuri Police Station and Sandip Singha Roy, the then Officer-inCharge, Sutahata Police Station. The forces consisted of 500 police personnel along with local leaders and 500 cadres of CPI(M), some of whom were clothed in khaki police dress, sandals in their feet and caps with a logo of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.67 Police fired on women and children, followed by sexual assault and violence.68 Due to police action, 14 persons died, one person went missing and hundreds were injured, of which a majority were women. A large number of women and girls were sexually assaulted and raped by the police and their associates. It is not surprising that the local police did not record any FIR or report any of this to the Magistrate.

IN RESPONSE TO 14 MARCH
15 March 2007 Following the incident of 14 March 2007, a statement was issued by the Governor of West Bengal, in which he said, among other things, that the news of deaths by police firing in Nandigram this morning has filled me with a sense of cold horror.69 Following this the Calcutta High Court passed an order on its own motion to initiate a Public Interest Litigation. The order said, Prima facie we are satisfied that this action of the police department is wholly unconstitutional and cannot be justified under any provision of law and called for a special inquiry into the incident by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).70 There were reports that human rights groups, while moving towards Nandigram for fact finding, faced obstruction on the way from CPI(M) cadre. It was also found that there was 24

urgent need for medical and material help for the people of Nandigram. The Calcutta High Court came out with an order allowing free movement of the people for the purpose of relief work. So, the relief teams carried copies of the HC order during their journey to Nandigram. The Times of India reported that media persons trying to get to Nandigram were roughed up by CPI(M) activists:
In a brazen display of muscle power, thousands of CPI(M) men sealed off all access points along a 30-km radius around Nandigram and prevented journalists from entering the area, while the police carried out a bloodbath on Wednesday morning. In a carefully orchestrated plan, the administration stayed away from Digha Roadthe highway from which several roads meander into Nandigram. Instead, the CPI(M) supporters took positions, setting up checkposts at strategic points to flush out mediapersons from vehicles headed towards Nandigram (Source: Subhro Niyogi, The Times of India News Service, 15 March 07)

The Statesman, 10 January 2007

SOME HEADLINES AFTER 15 MARCH 2007

16 March 2007 Healing touch, shaky handThe Statesman 71 CPI(M) blames outsidersThe Telegraph 72 HC seeks Nandigram details- The Times of India 73 17 March 2007 Buddha BendsThe Statesman 74 Response of Calcutta High Court High Court orders CBI probeThe Statesman 75 Shoot-to-kill shockerOne bullet for every four The Telegraph 76 Lathis, then rape: women point finger at copsThe Telegraph 77 Historian returns awardThe Telegraph 78 18 March 2007 Stockpile with CPI(M) flagsThe Telegraph 79 25
The Statesman, 16 March 2007

Nandigram: CBI finds guns, booksThe Statesman 80 Stockpile of armsDainik Statesman81 FIR salve on raped duoThe Telegraph82 19 March 2007 The damning report that went ignoredThe Statesman83 20 March 2007 Missing badges cop it allThe Statesman84 DM halts land acquisitionThe Statesman85 29 March 2007 Nandigram was a mistake: CMThe Statesman86 4 April 2007 What actually happenedwrites SM Murshed, a retired IAS officialThe Statesman87 12 April 2007 State files affidavits on Nandigram No need for CBI inquiryThe Statesman88 14 April 2007 Holes in Nandigram claimThe Telegraph89 16 April 2007 State-sponsored terrorism: RSPThe Statesman90 1 May 2007 Nandigram, live bombsThe Telegraph91 Revenge Brigade beats a retreatThe Telegraph92

Arun Gupta, IG, Western Range (right) and Tanmay Roy Chowdhury, ASP, Haldia supervise preparedness

CPI(M) Cadre in white dress taking part in the 14 March operation

Police taking away body and A protester, dead with a gaping bullet hole in his chest a man in black dress in foreground

Source: Bengal Slaughter Machine at Work, Mail Today, 20 December 2007 (video images).

26

NAYACHAR INSTEAD OF NANDIGRAM

ayachar, a flat, 21 km strip of land in the middle of the Haldi river, three metres above sea level has been proposed as the alternative to Nandigram for setting up a major chemical hub. As the land belongs to the State government and the area is largely uninhabited it will neither entail land acquisition nor require population displacement. The land bar (geologists say Nayachar doesnt qualify for island status) lies about 3 km east of Haldia in East Medinipur district and 11 km from Nandigram. The chemical hub would be set up as a joint venture project of West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. and New Kolkata International Development. The NKID comprises three companies including the Salim Group of Indonesia. Pitfalls However, Nayachar comes under the coastal regulation zone where industries are not permitted under

the existing environment rules. Nayachar falls under the core area of Coastal Regulation Zone-I (CRZ-1), where no development is permitted as per the CRZ Act of 1991. The State fisheries department had sought the opinion of the Geological Survey of India regarding the new location. GSI had said that the soft land, apart from being vulnerable to earthquake, cyclone and tsunami, is also young, not more than 60 years. The State Industries Minister, Nirupam Sen, has said that there was no geological data after 1985 and further studies would have to be carried out. Nayachar is located in a dynamic geological zone and it is difficult to predict what may happen to the island in future. Ghoramara island, close to Nayachar island has gradually reduced in size over the past few years. Source: Wikipedia.

27

28

CHAPTER THREE

ANATOMY OF A MASSACRE
THE INCIDENTS OF 1416 MARCH 2007

IMPENDING POLICE ASSAULT93

eople in Nandigram knew police would enter their area on 14 March. According to several depositions before the Tribunal, the BUPC met on the night of 13 March and decided:

1. To mobilize people to come for a Puja and Namaz at the two sites, in Sonachura and Gokulnagar, where the police would have to cross the ditches or bund made by protesting villagers; 2. To put women and children in the forefront, on the assumption that police would not open fire on them. 94

PUJA AND NAMAZ CEREMONIES ON THE MORNING OF 14 MARCH

From the depositions, two kinds of narratives emerge about how people were mobilized: In one group, people say, A. No one forced us, no one brought us. The leaders called us, so we came. B. It is our land which we dont want to give up, naturally we came. The implication of these statements is that they knew the dangers of participating in the mobilization. In another group, people say, A. The leaders called us, so we came; they told us to bring water and a piece of cloth to soothe our eyes as tear-gas might be used. B. We assumed the police wouldnt fire on women. C. We were taken aback when firing started. In a few depositions of this group there is a complaint that the BUPC leaders assured them that no harm would come to them, but after the carnage they did not take responsibility. 29

In all depositions, even in the critical ones, there is the general feelingit is our land, and we had to save it. But many people were not taken into confidence regarding the full danger and the BUPC leaders also could not gauge the extent to which the administration would go. There is no evidence of coercion but there was a definite tendency to bring people to the appointed place by playing down the dangers. The collective resistance of women was a part of the plan to stop the police from firing.95

HOW THE POLICE FIRING STARTED

On 14 March 2007 around 9.30 a.m. hundreds of policemen gathered at two entry points into Nandigramone from the Tekhali Bridge, Gokulnagar, Adhikaripara side and the other from the side of Bhangabera Bridge near Sonachura. Apart from policemen, local leaders and cadres of CPI(M) were also present. According to the fact finding report submitted by the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (Annexure-H) police officials under whom the 14 March operation took place were as follows : 1. IG, Western Range, Arun Gupta 2. DIG, N. Ramesh Babu 3. SP, East Medinipur, Anil Srininvasan 4. OC, Khejuri PS, Amit Hati 5. SDPO, Swapan Sinha The deponents claim that the people were peaceful. Only one deponent says there was stone throwing by boys and girls.96 There is no evidence of any arms carried by the villagers. There was an announcement by the police party asking the villagers to allow them to repair the bund. People replied that they would undertake this work themselves. There was very little dialogue over this issue and very soon the police became offensive.97 Police fired tear-gas, chased people, many among them women and children, hitting out with lathis, iron rods followed by firing. Many were caught and mercilessly beaten, a few weresexually assaulted and raped. The lack of parleying seems to suggest that the carnage caused by police firing on the retreating masses, mainly of women and children, was pre-planned.98 The depositions also clearly bring out that police went on firing after the people started to flee and that they were not firing below the waist. The police behaviour was brutal. According to one deposition99 Uttam Pal, after being shot down, was asking for water, and it is alleged that the policemen spat on his face and beat up those trying to give him water. Several depositions before the Tribunal accused policemen of rape.100 There are other such depositions and there is the obvious possibility that shame or fear has kept many more from making open accusations. Apart from rape, many women have deposed about being stripped, molested, indecent exposure and use of filthy language. 30

One deponent101 accused policemen of having slashed her breasts. The most shocking were several102 accusations of policemen forcing rod/lathi/gun barrel into sex organs of women. The evidence definitely points towards serious sexual assault and rape by policemen. The testimony of only one deponent,103 says that a few policemen came and asked other policemen who were shooting and beating people up to stop and asked the people to run away.104

The lack of parleying seems to suggest that the carnage caused by police firing on the retreating masses, mainly of women and children, was pre-planned.

CPI(M) CADRES ALLEGEDLY IN POLICE UNIFORM

The deponents charge the presence of strangers in police uniform but without boots among the regular policemen, most in black masks and with red arm/wrist bands. There is also reference to strangers in white dress (sari) and ghomta (veil) pointing out people. These persons were also firing guns and assaulting people with iron rods. They were even more vicious than the policemen. A large number of deponents agree that they were cadres of the CPI(M) and some of them identify and name the cadres too.105 There were non-police personnel with arms in the police contingent who participated in gunfire, lathicharge and assault. There is evidence that there were CPI(M) cadres among them.106 These cadres allegedly belong to the Harmad Bahini, a sort of private army of youth controlled by the CPI(M) MP, Lakshman Seth. The name Harmad, used for goons of all kinds, comes from armada or fleet of ships that Portugese pirates used to attack the Nandigram area in the 16th and 17th century.

IMPACT ON WOMEN
A mother and daughter deposed that they were raped and named the culprits as being CPI(M) cadres.107 The mother and elder sister of a minor girl who was raped also deposed before the Tribunal.108 A 33-year-old woman from Kalicharanpur also alleges rape.109 From the depositions of another three women it is clear that they were raped, and it is shame that does not allow them to utter the word.110 The following deposition is typical:
Three policemen pulled me away, I then fell unconscious. Consciousness returned in Tamluk hospital, a saline drip was running. My sex organ was intensely painful and was bleeding. There was pain in my breasts and scratch marks. There was

Torn clothes, found inside an abandoned building in Sonachura. They allegedly belong to women from Nandigram who were abducted on 14 March 2007 by police and CPI(M) cadre and sexually abused

31

pain in my abdomen, so much pain that I could not urinate. I heard from a neighbour that I was unconscious in the jungle, village people took me to the hospital.111

Rajashri Dasgupta of the Citizens Solidarity Organization who deposed as a witness before the Tribunal observed, Women were traumatized and unwilling to talk due to shame.112 At Nandigram hospital, on 16 March, Dr. Subrata Sarkar113 examined two women, who complained of rape by men in police dress, chappals and black masks. She found haematoma on the buttocks, thighs and breasts. Dr. Debapriya Mallick deposed114 that in the medical camps in the Nandigram area he found women victims with injuries in the pelvic region, the back, the breasts and the vaginal region. Apart from rape there was sadistic sexual assault. Rods/lathis/gunbarrels were inserted into the sex organs of women.115 Undressing, molestation, assault on their bodies, indecent exposure and filthy abuse was common. Assaults on the breasts were serious for the rape victims, and one of them had her breasts slashed.116 Sexual violence and the threat thereof was used as intimidation by CPI(M) cadres, Tell your women we are coming. There was indiscriminate and widespread sadistic sexual violence against women. Both policemen and CPI(M) cadres have been accused by the victims, some of the cadres were even named.117

IMPACT ON CHILDREN
Children were not spared. Fracture cases due to police lathicharge have been treated by doctors. The rape of a 12-year-old girl by a named CPI(M) cadre has the mother and sister as eyewitnesses. There are persistent reports of cruelty on very young children by the policemen. Eyewitness depositions accuse policemen of shooting and killing boys. While no close relative of such victims deposed before the Tribunal, from the eyewitness accounts it is clear that further investigation of these charges must be undertaken by relevant authorities. Dr. Debapriya Mallick encountered many cases of injury among children of 912 years. He found two cases of brutal injury infliction on children in the medical camps attended by him. The youngest was 11-year-old. A medical team, which ran camps at Nandigram, reports nine injured children. Among them were fracture cases due to lathicharge. Even after 14 March 2007 the presence of police camps in the area, located mostly in the local schools, has a negative impact on the education and welfare of children. As youth volunteers of Child Rights and You (CRY), an NGO working among children in Nandigram and surrounding areas, said in its deposition before the Tribunal at Kolkata:118
Maheshpur High School (763 on the rolls) found 80 percent absent after 14 March. Those who were coming were tense and fearful. The annual examinations were postponed twice. Still, many could not appear, and were subsequently examined orally and half-yearly results are also taken into account to decide (their) promotion. Teachers felt that 70 percent of examinees were affected by the unrest. Gokulnagar High School is a police camp. Policemen occupy 11 out of 22 classrooms. The school has been forced to operate in two shifts. Science practical classes are taken in the open ground as policemen occupy the labs.

32

The policemen naturally smoke, sing, move about in a state of undress. Lessons are disturbed and girl students are uncomfortable. The policemen are not worried about sanitation and the toilets stink. There is scarcity of water because so many are consuming it. This is the only high school in the locality and pupils travel long distances. This is considered unsafe. Also, fares have shot up from Rs. 78 each way to Rs. 15. Attendance suffers. The volunteers spoke to children, among them Bharat Mandals children (810), Biswajit Maitis brother (7/8), Sankar Samantas niece (17), all of them close relatives of murdered people. Sushanta Pal (12), says he saw a child taken from the mother and killed. They are traumatized, suffer sleepless nights, and suffer from nightmares. Sushanta has dropped out. Sivaprasad Mandal (16) has to stay in other peoples houses for safety. The volunteers found overcrowding in the camps on the Khejuri side. One girl said that she was afraid of bad men in her house, and added that there were bad men in the camp too. She was talking of molestation. Some mothers tried to send daughters away at night to sleep with village women instead of sleeping in the camps among men. The unrest is taking a huge toll on the mental health of the young and on their studies. 119

The unrest in Nandigram brought normal economic activity to a standstill

PEOPLE WHO FLED NANDIGRAM

It is alleged that people who did not take part in the movement against land acquisition were forced to leave their villages in the Nandigram area and live in camps on the Khejuri side. None of the people who left their villages appeared before the Tribunal to narrate their plight and the Tribunal jury also could not visit them due to lack of response from the administration or CPI(M) party officials for assistance. However, Kunal Chattopadhyay,120 Professor at Jadavpur University, in his written submission to the Tribunal asksHow about the several thousand ousted from Nandigram? According to him the number of such refugees is over three thousand, as claimed to have fled the area by both the CPI(M) and the State administration are contested and need to be independently verified. However, it is acknowledged that some people had left the area. Women in Sonachura remarked that CPI(M) leader Joydeb Paik, who was once trusted by them, had assured them even on the evening of 6 January that there would be no violence, but he too had left the area. According to them, only five families of their locality had left. 33

A woman victim of CPI(M) brutality

Abdul Samad of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind (also Convenor of the BUPC) asserted that the total number of people who had left would be around 200250. He challenged the CPI(M) to produce a list of names of those who had taken refuge in Khejuri. Occasionally, a different voice emerged. Some of the Tribunal members visited the house of a CPI(M) sympathiser in Adhikaripara who had fled. The villagers themselves identified the house. When asked a lady living in the house said that her husband had gone away to the CPI(M) camp in Tekhali Bazaar ever since terror had been unleashed from both sides. He had a shop in the market and fled out of fear after the first procession of the Bachao Committee. Though initially she said that she was not under any pressure from the opposition party as she stayed with her in-laws, but later deposed that she did not leave her house fearing that it might be damaged in her absence. She had sent her daughter to her natal home for safety. In another case, Rekha Das, former member of the Adhikaripara Panchayat and wife of a CPI(M) member who had fled, was urged to leave the village since her husband was not coming back. This was evidently a form of pressure on pro-CPI(M) people to leave Nandigram. Prof. Chattopadhyay raised an issue that needs to be investigated further,
What will be the situation of the people, whatever their exact number, who are in the camps at Khejuri? Given the threats uttered by some people at least, it seems to be a difficult proposition to enable these people to return to Nandigram. Accordingly, investigation is needed in Khejuri as well, instead of depending solely on information given in Nandigram.121

Another point of view was raised by Abhijit Sengupta in his written deposition122 in Kolkata. He suggested that a door-to-door survey should be conducted before making any conclusion regarding the number of missing persons from Nandigram. There is no point in assuming that the members of all the vacant houses in Nandigram have fled to Khejuri. He writes that, Any house found locked requires careful investigation as it could be possible that all members have died in the action and there is nobody to report missing persons.123

ROLE OF CPI(M) CADRES AFTER 14 MARCH

There is a general complaint of open intimidation by CPI(M) cadres on the night of 14 and 15 March, until the CBI team, sent on the orders of the Calcutta High Court, arrived. The night of 14 and the morning of 15 March were used by the CPI(M) cadres to threaten the people into submission and to force them to join CPI(M) peace march. The police accompanied them in some cases. There was arson and general looting. The intimidation continued outside the zone of influence of the BUPC. One deponent, Nilima Das,124 complained that her husband, who plies a van-rickshaw, was prevented from even going to the market and thus their livelihood is threatened. One mother and her daughter125 complained of rape by cadres whom they named. The shop of Ganapati Mandal126 was looted. Namita Das Adhikari127 named CPI(M) cadres who looted and torched their shop. Fish was looted from the pond of another deponent.128
Rape, indecent exposure, looting of shops and houses, arson and general intimidation, including beating up people, especially on the night of 14 March and the morning of 15 March, indicate the level of criminalization of the CPI(M) cadres in this area. There was an attempt at forcing people to join a peace march organized by the CPI(M).129

34

CHAPTER FOUR

THE DEAD, MISSING AND INJURED

DEAD
1. Basanti Kar (F), 50, of Kallicharanpur.130 An eyewitness saw her being shot.131 2. Panchanan Das (M) was shot in front of a close relative. Another deponent also witnessed his murder. 3. Imadul Khan (M), 16, of No. 7 Jalpai, was shot in front of eyewitnesses. 4. Badal Mandal (M), of No. 7 Jalpai, was killed by bullets, witnessed by his wife. 5. Shambhu (Uttam) Pal (M), 30, s/o Rabin Pal, Keshabpur, Sonachura, was shot in front of a close relative. She tried to save him but police assaulted her. Shooting witnessed by a neighbour. Shambhu died later. 6. Gobinda Das (M), 30, of No. 7 Jalpai. One deponent described his death by bullets. He was his sons friend.132 These are the 6 names one can gather from the depositions before the Tribunal. At Tamluk hospital, on 15 March, Dr. Subrata Sarkar saw seven severely mutilated dead bodies in the morgue. In the dark inner chamber there could be seen another three or four bodies. The copy of the 14 March case register at Nandigram hospital submitted to the Tribunal on 28 May 2007 at Kolkata133 shows that Gobinda Das was brought dead with a stab injury in the chest. The Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), which deposed before the Tribunal on 28 May 2007 at Kolkata, had the following 7 names in addition to the list of dead persons: Sakila Bibi (F) of Garchakraberia; Imdadul Islam (M) of Jaadubari Chak; Sk Raja M (M) of Garchakraberia; Raja Ram Das (M) of Garchakraberia; Praloy Giri (M) of Soudhkhali; Ratan Das (M) of Gangra; and Supriya Jana (F) of Sonachura. 35

It was clarified later that Sakila Bibi was wrongly identified among the dead. At the same time one Jaidev Das (24 years s/o Smt. Bindubala Das of Sonachura), who was killed in the 14 March violence, was left out of the initial list. The West Bengal Education Network in its deposition134 on 28 May 2007 at Kolkata cites Krishnendu Mandal, who informed them of the death of his brother Pushpendu Mandal of Gangrapara. Thus a total of fourteen persons were recorded to have died.135

MISSING
As per the deposition of Pushparani Mandal (27) of village No. 7, Jalpai,136 she and another person tried to remove Subrata Samanta, who had been shot in the firing on 14 March. But the police assaulted them and took him away; he is still missing. His wife is in dire straits with a one-month old baby. Ekti Sachetan Prayas137 in their deposition before the Tribunal on 28 May 2007 at Kolkata said that they spoke to Subratas father Pranab Samanta, who claimed that a close relative also saw Subrata being shot. This is the only clear cut case of a missing person to emerge from the depositions though claims of several persons still missing need to be further investigated.

INJURED
From among the deponents at the Tribunal bullet injuries were suffered by: Moni Rana Kanchan Mal (she had 7 bullets in her body) Sukumar Das Salil Das Adhikari Dilip Das Adhikari Banasree Acharya Pushparani Mandal Tublu Samanta Pranati Maity Sonali Das Parixit Maity Sreemanta Mandal Minoti Das Renuka Bala Kar Prithwis Das Shyamoli Mahato Bhabani Giri. 36

From the type of injuries it is to be concluded that: The police fired, without any provocation, on retreating and fleeing people; There was firing on the upper part of the body with intention to wound or kill. Not satisfied with one or two shots but pumping as many as seven bullets, as observed in one case; There are several cases of sexual assault including rape; The tear-gas had persistent effect well beyond normal limits; There was severe trauma and panic among people due to the massacre. 1. There were bullet injuries in the upper part of the body: On 15 March, Dr. Subrata Sarkar visited the victims brought to SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. She speaks of fractures on the upper part of the body. She saw Kanchan Mal, who said she had been shot seven times in the shoulder and chest while trying to help a friend who had been injured. Dr. Subrata Sarkar submitted to the Tribunal138 a xerox copy of the 1416 March case register of Nandigram Block Hospital.139 The case register shows 26 bullet injuries of which 15 or 16 were in the upper part of the body, including head, chest and abdomen. Of the four brought dead, two were shot in the abdomen and one in the head, the fourth had a stab injury in the chest. In seven cases the seat of injury was mentioned as the head, and in two cases, the chest. Laxmi Barman, 30 (F), of No. 7 Jalpai was admitted with a bullet injury on the right shoulder. Kajal Gharai was admitted with a bullet injury in the back of her right shoulder. A bullet was still lodged in the abdomen of one of the deponents at the Tribunal.140 He was discharged from SSKM Hospital, Kolkata without the bullet being removed. According to the SSKM discharge certificate, a metallic foreign body was removed from the left arm of another deponent.141 It should be noted that the term 37

A child injured in the 14 March police firing and violence

The police and CPI(M) cadres specifically targeted women

a metallic foreign body was used and not the term bullet. There is no reason to believe that a doctor cannot distinguish between a bullet and a metallic foreign body. The motive is clear. Dr. D. Mallick142 saw Kanchan Mal at SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. She had three bullet injuries in the hands and four bullet injuries in the chest. At the SSKM he also saw Salil Das Adhikari, who had a bullet injury on his nose, Swarnomoyee Das who had bullet injury (fracture) on the humerus bone in the arm. Haimabati Halder was discharged with bullets still lodged in his abdomen and diaphragm. Swapan Giri, Swapan Adhikari and Bhabani Giri too had bullet injuries. 2. Almost all deponents were victims of the lathicharge, iron rods and boots: Fourteen cases of lathi injuries were serious, six of these were head injuries. One iron rod injury case143 necessitated plaster on the left hand and surgery in the right foot with insertion of a steel rod near the knee. 3. Fall injuries were common: People who ran for shelter and fell, among them some of the cases were serious. 4. Most of the deponents complain of eye trouble due to tear-gas, a condition persisting even after 45 days: The composition of the chemical used in the tear-gas shells demands investigation. 5. There are quite a few cases of injuries typical of sexual assault including rape: There were four victims who alleged rape, three victims indicate rape. Injuries are typical of rape. There are five cases of sadistic sexual assault on the private organs, leading to severe injuries. The details are discussed in Chapter 3 on Impact on Women. In a case of wanton sadism a tear-gas shell was thrust into the mouth of one of the injured patients. 6. Mental trauma was common with a few cases of severe anxiety and depression: On 16 March, at Nandigram hospital, Dr. Subrata Sarkar found Sabitri Bijali from Sonachura who was mute for 48 hours and did not know the whereabouts of her family. She was brought in by the police who picked her up in a state of shock from near her house. Dr. Chandana Mitra also made similar comments in her deposition in Kolkata144 that she found many seriously injured cases even one month after the incident, men and women were suffering from tremendous anxiety. The medical team of the Shramajibi Swasthya Udyog (Annexure-G) says:
We have seen patients with bullet injuries, patients not properly treated by the Government Hospital, children with fracture due to lathicharge, people with tear-gas affected eyes that did not heal even after 6 weeks. We have seen women who have lost their husband or child. We have seen people injured when trying to save his/her neighbour. We have seen people with deep anxiety and terror; we have seen women assaulted by police and cadres, men and women with acute

38

mental stress and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We have seen a woman who tried to commit suicide.

Premangshu Dasgupta145 in his deposition observed, On 17 April we visited the house of Imadul, a 16 year old boy, who was shot dead by police on 14 March. His mother was crying inconsolably and the entire family was fuming with rage, anger and fury. No peace process can be successful unless the people responsible for the murder are punished.146

A bullet victim in Nandigram Hospital

MEDICAL RESPONSES147
The victims of the 14 March violence were taken to Nandigram hospital, Tamluk hospital and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, usually in that order. The medical attention was inadequate and there was a definite tendency of hiding facts and tampering with the records. 1. Discrepancies in Post Mortem reports: The case of Imadul Khan The post-mortem (P/M) report of the deceased revealed several discrepancies amounting to tampering and improper reporting in complete violation of accepted legal and medical protocol. a. The impression of the physician performing the postmortem of the deceased says, inter alia, In my opinion, the cause of death is due to the effect of gunshot injury ante-mortem and homicidal in nature. b. In the report, the time since death was not mentioned, although one of the objects of medico-legal autopsy is to find out the time since death.149 This was all the more important because at the end of the official autopsy report it was mentioned that the death was homicidal in nature. c. The report mentioned that there were dried blood marks all over the body of the deceased. The source of the blood was not mentioned anywhere in the report, but it definitely required explanation from the forensic point of view. Again, a number of bruises were found all over the body, but it was not clearly mentioned 39

Gauri Pradhan, Age 25 years W/o Joydeep Pradhan Mother of three children Residence: Gokulnagar

whether these bruises were ante-mortem or post-mortem in nature. However, vital reaction was positive in the lacerated wounds found over toes of both feet, which confirmed their ante-mortem nature. Again, fractures of the body of L3-L4 were found. So, it might be suggested that the deceased was hit by a blunt instrument on the back from behind at the level of the L3-L4 vertebrae and then the deceased was dragged towards the front side. d. Sub-scalp haemorrhage over the frontal area was found which also suggests that the victim fell on the ground with the face downwards. e. According to the Post-Mortem (P/M) report, one bullet entry wound was present in the epigastria with abrasion and grease collar and one bullet exit wound was present at the lower part of the back about 4.5 inches left and above L3-L4 vertebrae. Again, both walls of the stomach were found to be perforated. Thus, the trajectory of the bullet can be described as follows: abdominal wall over epigastria penetrated upper part of the anterior wall of stomach penetrated lower part of the posterior wall of stomach exited through the back. It is rather strange that although the bullet entered the body of the deceased from the frontal side, as reported in the P/M report, other P/M findings suggest that the deceased fell on the ground with face downwards, instead of leaning backwards. Analysis of the bullet wound According to P/M report, one bullet entry wound (2cm x 1.8 cm) was found over epigastria surrounded by abrasion and grease collar. It is well known in forensic practice that abrasion collar of an entry wound may be developed in a very close shot (even as close as 6 to 12 inches, irrespective of the length of the barrel of the rifle gun). 150

f.

g. A few words on the findings in the thorax According to the P/M report, it was observed that: 1) The thoracic cavity contained blood; 2) Both pleurae were ruptured; 3) Both lungs were ruptured and blood mopped; 4) Pericardiumblood mopped; 5) Heartwithin normal limit. It is interesting to note that no injury to rib cage or diaphragm was mentioned in the P/M report. It is rather difficult to explain the cause of rupture of both lungs and pleurae and the presence of blood in the thoracic cavity as the information available from the existing P/M report did not point to or suggest any possible cause of rupture of lungs and presence of blood in the thoracic cavity. It is well-known in forensic practice that
Blunt force applied to the chest may cause abrasions and concussions of chest wall and injuries to the lungs, heart, blood vessels or the oesophagus which may or may not be accompanied by external wounds of the chest wall or fracture of the ribs Severe blows on the chest wall may produce concussion of the chest, shock and death even when the viscera are not injured.151

40

Therefore, it can be strongly argued that the victim might have suffered from compression injury by a heavy blunt force over the thorax that was not clearly mentioned in the P/M report. It cannot be ruled out that the death, to say the least, was precipitated by the blunt injury over the thorax resulting in the rupture of both the lungs. This hypothesis might be tenable as there was no contrary indication in the existing P/M report. As it was documented and well known from the press reports and other administrative disclosures that firearms of the nature of SLR were used by the police forces on the date of the incident and as such it might well be possible that multiple tandem bullets entered the body of the deceased. No X-ray was done before the P/M examination, even when it was known that the deceased might have had multiple bullet injuries. 2. Fraud in the discharge certificates:152 Renuka Kar The date of discharge has been overwritten and changed from 23.3.07 to 2.4.07. She was admitted on 17.3.07. The diagnosis mentioned was injury. However, it was mentioned in the advice that crepe bandaging and splinting were done (though the site was not mentioned). It is customary to treat a patient with splint who does not suffer from a fracture. Gitanjali Bijali The date of discharge has been overwritten and changed from 26.3.07 to 31.3.07. She was admitted on 16.3.07. The diagnosis mentioned was multiple injury and the sites were not mentioned. CT scan of brain was done, but there was no mention of the indication. Probably the patient was suffering from a head injury. Angurbala Dolui, Sandhyarani Singh and Chhabirani Mandal The date of discharge has been changed and overwritten. 41

Children in Nandigram show signs of trauma

A mother deposing before the Tribunal

3. Deliberate Negligence Tapasi Das In the final diagnosis it is mentioned that there was lacerated injury in the right buttock with fracture of Ischiopubic Ramus. CT scan of pelvis also revealed fracture of Ischiopubic Ramus. it also mentions that debridement of extensive necrotic tissue was performed. However nowhere is the cause of fracture of Ischropubic Ramus mentioned. This type of fracture can happen when efforts are made to separate both legs forcefully. It may be argued that the patient suffered from sexual assault keeping in mind the reports of sexual assault on the day of incident. It is to be mentioned that No treatment needed was the opinion of the gynaecologists. 4. Violation of Basic Medical Norms Dr. Subrata Sarkar makes the following comments regarding the medical response at Nandigram hospital. Two of the women, had said that they had been raped. But for 72 to 80 hours they were not treated as rape victims, neither of them was examined for rape and nothing was recorded medically following accepted medical protocol. Scores of dead bodies and injured persons were taken to the hospital, but the attending physicians were not recording the cause and nature of the injuries. It may be mentioned here that according to medico-legal viewpoint, the attending physicians are legally bound to record and report the cause and nature of the injury to the police. The record keeping was not proper; rather it was illegal according to the law of the land. The medical people told Dr. Subrata Sarkar that they had not received any complaint of rape; hence no question of tests for rape arises. This is going to be their official response. Dr. Debapriya Mallick, who was active in medical camps at Nandigram, says that according to the statements of the patients of the hospitals, basic norms were violated everywhere and basic facilities were absent. Operations were done in torchlight. The Government has its own Hospital Establishment Act 2004. None of the clauses of the Act were in force there. No separate facilities for men and women exist. Nurse to doctor ratio is inadequate. Dr. Mallick says that at SSKM Hospital too there was insufficient care and unethical medical response. For instance, Haimabati Halder was forcibly discharged with two bullets still in her body. The patients were denied adequate food in the hospital. There were 6 patients in a room. The doctors and the administration refused to give any information and, on insistence, advised the protestor to go to court. Discharge certificates were incomplete. Type of injury (bullet injury, head injury, fracture etc) was not clearly mentioned. Police case number was not given. The aim was to underrate severity of the injury and thus obstruct possible legal action. 42

MEDICAL SITUATION AS OF AUGUST 2007

There is only one block level hospital at Nandigram and there is no other medical service provider in the area. Infrastructure of Nandigram Block Medical Hospital is also inadequate. Except for the endeavours made by certain NGOs, the government has rendered no medical help whatsoever to the villagers in general and the victims of the incident of 14 March in particular. A good number of victims were still confined to their huts in their respective villages and could not even go to Nandigram Block Medical Hospital due to various reasons as already indicated. Due to lack of medical assistance the villagers in general and the victims in particular have been made to suffer serious consequences. Victims injured due to indiscriminately firing of tear-gas shells were complaining of permanent irritation in their eyes, occasional blindness and various other visual disorders. Women and children at large were the victims of injury due to firing of tear-gas shells. A large number of victims received burn injury from those tear-gas shells. There is no arrangement in the Nandigram Block Hospital for taking care of these burn injury victims. There are cases where the victims of burn injury required advanced medical treatment, but the government has not given/extended any medical assistance to the victims. As of August 2007, due to the situation prevalent in or around Nandigram it was not advisable for the villagers nor did they dare to go to Tamluk or to Kolkata for their treatment. This

Poor medical facilities meant some patients had to lie on the floor of the hospital

Subrata Samanta

Supriya Jana

Gobinda Das

43

situation is in the knowledge of the local administration, but the governmental authorities have not taken any step to provide the required medical assistance to the villagers. It must be concluded that the government has shown callous indifference to its constitutional obligations in the matter of providing medical help to the victims of the carnage of 14 March. On the part of government medical personnel, at best there was helplessness due to the magnitude of the task faced by them. At worst, medical negligence, improper record-keeping and inconsistencies amount to tampering of vital medical records of the victims of Nandigram firing. All these are symptoms of wilful or forced participation in the attempted cover-up of the carnage, rape, and the role of the police and their accomplices in slippers and masks.

The People's Tribunal on Nandigram in progress

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CHAPTER FIVE

ADMINISTRATIVE FAILURE
SOME INSTANCES
ALL-PARTY MEETINGS
istrict Magistrate, East Medinipur convened a meeting of all political parties on 7 January 2007. It was attended by DM, ADM, ASP, SDO from the administrations side and representatives of political parties like CPI(M) (4 representatives), RSP (1), FB (1), CPI (2), SUCI (2), BJP (1), NCP (2), TMC (3) and Samajwadi Party (1). The following unanimous decisions were arrived at: a. Peace needs to be restored in the localityall political parties will cooperate with the State administration towards this end. b. To restore peace, free movement of police and administration is urgently required. Thus the roads and bridges need to be repaired on an urgent basis. If the local people take up the initiative towards this end, then the administration will not have any objection. Otherwise, these tasks will be done by the administration. All the political parties will cooperate towards this end. c. Police camps in the locality be placed at specific locations. It is not desirable that camps organized by the political parties be within 5 km of one another. d. The acquisition of land in the concerned area has not yet been started officially. Before such a process commences, an all-party meeting be convened at the district level. However, the TMC objected to this proposal. The administration did not implement any of these decisions. On 10 January 2007, DM, East Medinipur convened a second all-party meeting where a single agenda of repairing roads was taken up. This meeting was not attended by TMC, INC, SUCI and BUPC on the grounds that no steps were taken by the administration on resolutions taken in the earlier meetings.

FILING OF FIRST INFORMATION REPORT

7 January 2007 Following the violent incidents of 7 January 2007, in which Sheik Selim, Bharat Mandal, Biswajit Maity and Shankar Samanta died. On 8 January 2007 Farida Bibi, sister of Sheik Selim 45

Kanchan Mal, who sustained 7 bullets in the 14 March police firing and still survived

lodged a complaint to the Officer-in-Charge, Nandigram Police Station, against 17 persons with full details and against 25 persons with varied degree of details. Following is an excerpt from the complaint:153
On 7.1.2007, in the early hours at around 4.30 in the morning, [a mob] under the leadership of Rabiul Islam, village Kholabad, crossed the Bhangabera bridge and entered the Jalpai-Sonachura village with deadly arms. They started exploding bombs and also opened fire from rifles and pistols A lot of villagers gathered in the meantime. Then Anup Mandal S/o Dhiren, Naba Kumar Samanta S/o Sudhansu, Arjun Maity S/o Sudhakrishna, started identifying people and the remaining accused persons started firing towards the identified persons... Bharat Mandal S/o Dhananjay, died in the bullet fired by Anup Mandal. Rabin Giri S/o Hrishikesh and Rabiul Badal identified Sheik Selim S/o Sk Fajal Rahaman, Village Jadubarichak, Nandigram. Soon after Rabin, Pratap Sahu (S/o Atul), Rabiul, Prajapati Das, Pasupati Das, started firing towards Sheik Selim, aiming at his head and his entire body, as a result of which he died Rabin Giri and Rabiul fired towards Biswajit Maity, as a result he died They started indiscriminate firing as a result of which Nakul Mandal and Nishikanta Barman were injured and were admitted to SSKM Hospital at Kolkata. Several other persons were injured and died, whose bodies could not be traced. I pray to your good self to institute appropriate punishments to the persons mentioned in my complaint letter.

It may be noted that no arrests or any other action was taken against the accused. 16 January 2007 Sreekanta Paik lodged a complaint against 13 accused persons for loot, arson and physical injuries. 46

Following is an excerpt from the complaint:

On 7.1.2007, Sunday, at around 7 oclock, all accused persons were assembled with lethal weapons and gathered in front of my tailoring shop, which also had a STD booth. Accused number 1, Anup Mandal instructed the other accused persons to break open my shopsome persons threw bombs inside the shop. I was injured (on my right hand) and goods worth Rs. 55,000/- were taken away by the accused persons154

BUPC protestors at a rally against land acquisition

No action has been taken so far. Subsequently, Gaur Hari Pal (17 January 2007), Khokan Maity (17 January 2007), Bijoy Krishna Jana (17 January 2007), Ashoke Maity (17 January 2007), Gautam Kumar Bera (25 January 2007), Bablu Das (26 January 2007) lodged complaints with the police against several miscreants, apparently belonging to CPI(M). No action was taken against any of the above mentioned accused either. 8 March 2007 Cadres of CPI(M) at Tulaghata area under Khejuri police station attacked Nilima Das and Jharna Kajali (a student of Class V). They were severely injured and were subsequently admitted in Nandigram PHC. Finally, they were transferred from Nandigram PHC to SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. As a result of this episode, Jharna Kajali lost two fingers of her right hand. Complaints were lodged against the miscreants but no action was taken. 14 March 2007 Arun Gupta, IG (Western Range) used a microphone and declared that assembly of persons in the northern side of Bhangbera Bridge was illegal. However, no order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was imposed. There was no unlawful assembly in the area warranting action under Regulation 153(ii) of the Police Regulation Act, Bengal, 1943. There was no attempt to arrest at any point of time; therefore no ground exists for invoking power under Regulation 153(iii). No warning was given by the police authorities under Regulation 154(a) and there was no compliance with Regulation 154(b), (c) and (d) of the Police Regulation Act. 47

Police in Kolkata caning protestors against the 14 March violence

Despite lodging of complaints by various members of the BUPC, no step was taken by the police personnel on the basis of the said complaints and there was no arrest of the miscreants who are members of the CPI(M). The evidence on hand clearly suggests that the police have resorted to action on 14 March 2007 in complete breach of Article 21 of the Constitution, which says no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. 14 March: CBI Enquiry The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) started an enquiry into the matter in terms of the order passed by the Calcutta High Court. On 17 March 2007, the CBI raided the Janani Brick Field under the leadership of D.K. Thakur, SP, CBI, and their team recovered arms and ammunition and other documentary evidence from the office room of the Janani Brick Field and arrested 10 persons. On the basis of the arrest made by the CBI, the local SI started a criminal case at Khejuri Police Station, Case No. 20/07, U/S 25/27/35 of Arms Act and 120B of IPC against the said ten persons.155 No chargesheet was framed by the State police within 90 days as a result of which all ten persons were let off on bail.

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CHAPTER SIX

WILL JUSTICE BE DONE?

SOME TESTIMONIES WITH LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
CRY OF THE BEREAVED
Kamala Das,156 Keshpur Kamala is the mother of Panchanan Das who died in the police firing on 14 March 2007.
My son was in the front line when a bullet hit him and he fell on the ground. I ran towards him for help and was deterred from helping him. My son called me for water and I was in desperation. After that, I was in a senseless condition. When I regained my consciousness, I went to my son and fell on his body. I was crushed under the boots and put in a sack in a senseless condition. Somebody then took me away. I do not know anything more.

Panchanan Das left behind his wife and a one-year old daughter. Kabita Mandal,157 37, No. 7 Jalpai158 Kabita is the wife of Badal Mandal, a farm labourer, who died in the police firing.
My husband Badal Mandal went to Bhangabera on 14 March. He was shot in the leg at about 1 pm. On 17 March his body was found in the Tamluk morgue. The police did not inform us. I have four children, the eldest daughter is married. Our neighbours brought the dead body of my husband and he was cremated.

Abdul Dayian Khan,159 58, No.7 Jalpai Abdul Dayian Khan, a farmer, is the father of Imadul Khan, 16, who died in police firing on 14 March 2007. He has three sons and three daughters. Imadul studied in Class IX. But for his eldest son who works in a tailoring shop, all his children are of school going age.
On 14 March there was arrangement for puja near Talpati. I walked 10 km to attend the same. The Muslims were offering Namaz. We saw about 30 police cars arrive followed by 20 jeeps. They talked among themselves. They asked people to leave the place and allow the police to do their work. Police immediately started firing tear-gas shells. Imadul was among us. Suddenly firing started and Imadul was shot with a bullet. He was shot in the back when he was washing his eyes with water in the pond. He was taken to Nandigram hospital in a van where he was declared dead on arrival. The post mortem report could not be collected.

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Pabitra Maity,160 Saudkhali Pabitra, a rikshawpuller, is the brother of Biswajit Maity who died on 7 January 2007 at the hands of CPI(M) cadre. He mentions a few names of those who allegedly took part in the killings:
On the morning of 7 January it was announced over microphone that Bharat Mandal was shot dead. Bombing and firing took place at Bhangabera bridge, and I was near the bridge. Biswajit was at a distance of about 1 km from there. There was firing and we retreated. Mother asked me, Where is Biswajit? But I came back when firing started. Someone told me that Biswajit had been shot at with a bullet. People took him to hospital where he was declared dead. In the post mortem report his age is recorded as 18. (Biswajit was in fact just 14 years old.) He was brought back to the village and was cremated. Arjun Maity, Jaydeb Paik, Lakshman Mandal were part of the offensive from Khejuri side. Sheik Selim was shot dead and left at the side of the canal at Sonachura. The dead body was found in the afternoon. We cannot sleep in the night as the bombing and firing continues through the night. They are trying to gain control over Nandigram like they have done over Khejuri. My grandfather was a CPI worker. He was in the Tebhaga Movement. My father was a CPI(M) worker. I too was a CPI(M) worker.

Tapas Kumar Kar,161 40, Kalicharanpur Tapas, an agricultural worker, learnt about his mother Basanti Kars death only on the 16 March and found her in the hospital morgue:
I heard the news of the police operation in the radio news. Police came around 10.20 in the morning. I suddenly saw smoke and also saw that two men were carrying a woman. I then started searching for my mother. I didnt find her either at home or in Nandigram hospital till evening. I saw bodies being brought on motorcycle and by van. I then went to the house of my maternal uncle at Haripur. The next day was a bandh day. I enquired about my mother at Khejuri thana and Kamardah hospital over phone. There was no news. I enquired at SSKM Hospital as well. On 16 March from the Nandigram hospital I came to know that her body is there in the morgue. The body was brought from Janka. Post-mortem of the body of my mother was done on the same day.

CASES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE

Written Deposition Number 13,162 33, Kalicharanpur
She was beaten with lathi on hands and legs, the signs of which are still there. While she ran into a house where many other women took shelter, the police broke open the door and started beating all. They used abusive language. One of them took her to a corner. She was first tortured and then raped. She fell unconscious. Got treated at Maheshpur primary health centre but didnt divulge this incident there.

Written Deposition Number 19,163 40, Gokulnagar

One of the policemen twisted my left breast with all force. Another one came and forced a rod into my vagina and started twisting.

Written Deposition Number 20,164 25, Gokulnagar

She lost consciousness while three policemen dragged her to some secluded place. She only regained consciousness at Nandigram Hospital, where she was given saline. Having pain in abdomen, vaginal

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area and breasts. She was told by others that she was found in the jungle and brought to the hospital by the villagers.

Angurbala Das,165 45, Adhikaripara, Gokulnagar Angurbala Das deposed before the Balbir Singh Administrative Enquiry set up by the West Bengal government and filed an affidavit regarding the atrocities she and her family underwent on 14 March 2007 and subsequent days.
On 15 March around 1/1:30 p.m. about 10/12 men in plain dress came to our house and started beating me and my eldest son severely. They turned a deaf ear to all our entreaties. I still have pain in my chest and abdomen and carry nail marks on my breasts. I turned unconscious. They then dragged Kabita Das (age 20) and Ganga Das (age 12) to the cowshed, beating and torturing them all the time. Kabita was raped by two cadres and Ganga was raped by one. Kabita has a daughter of 8 months whom she cannot breastfeed even now. Ganga was held forcibly by the throat during the rape. As a result she still has pain in the throat. Kabita has identified some of the miscreants who were her acquaintance; among them she identified Badal Garu and his son Khokan Garu, Sudarshan Garu (elder brother of Badal) and his son Kalipada Garu. Also Gopal Garu, Raju Garu, Dulal Garu, Ratan Garu, Sunil Bar, Rabin Das, Anukul Sheet. Kabita was raped by Anukul Sheet and Sunil Bar while Ganga was raped by Anukul. The daughters arm was broken and has still not healed.

One of the policemen twisted my left breast with all force. Another one came and forced a rod into my vagina and started twisting.
Written Deposition Number 19

Kabita Das,166 20, daughter of Angurbala Das Kabita Das deposed before the Balbir Singh Administrative Enquiry set up by the West Bengal government and filed an affidavit there regarding the atrocities she and her family underwent on 14 March 2007 and subsequent days.
They entered our house while I was serving food to my father and brother. Anukul Sheet kicked my 8 month old child. They started beating my father and mother. I went to their rescue. Anukul Sheet started beating my husband and me. Then he dragged me by holding my hair to the cowshed and undressed me. Then he started beating me. He threatened my husband by saying that he will cut my child into pieces if he approaches towards me. Very soon I became unconscious. After an hour or so my husband came to me to help to mend my clothes. After that Anukul Sheet caught my younger sister and tortured her, like me, he scratched and bit her breasts too. Im still suffering from pain in my chest and back.

Kabita was raped by two cadres and Ganga was raped by one. Kabita has a daughter of 8 months whom she cannot breastfeed even now.
Angurbala Das, Mother of Kabita and Ganga

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A few days after the incident, Kabita identified one of the rapists in Meshpur bazaar and made some hue and cry. The people surrounding her helped to get hold of him and took him to the local police station (Thana) where he confessed his crime. Later police released him from the Thana. The women of her locality are regularly threatened with sexual assault by the goons in the bazaar area who say that each one of them would be raped by five men. Ganga Das,167 12, daughter of Angurbala Das Ganga Das also deposed before the Balbir Singh Administrative Enquiry. Written deposition Number 40,168 35, Saudkhali
Police chased and beat her up throughout the body. Then they beat her on the waist and in the vaginal area. She fell unconscious. Later, on regaining consciousness, she found herself in a betel field.

CASES OF SEVERE INJURY

Porikkhit Maity,169 Kalicharanpur Bullet remains in the abdomen. Hospital certificate and X-ray can be the evidence.
They chased people and started beating them with bamboo sticks. Suddenly a bullet hit his abdomen and he fell down. He was taken to Nandigram first, then to Tamluk Hospital and finally to SSKM Hospital at Kolkata. He was released after 1 month and 14 days. But the bullet could not be operated out, because of deep penetration.

Tapasi Das,170 30, Gokulnagar A mother of three children. She was shot at from the back and suffered severe injury, incapacitating her for life. Her relative witnessed that she was shot at from the back. 171 Her discharge certificate may be critical evidence.
We thought that if the women and children are in front the police would not attack. The women entreated the police not to enter. The police burst tear-gas shells; everybody started running. Suddenly I felt intense pain in the back and blood started flowing; I was hit in the back, there were lacerations. I could not lift my legs. I was transferred from Nandigram to Tamluk and finally to SSKM Hospital, Kolkata. Admitted on 15 March and operated upon three times; once in Tamluk and twice in SSKM. On 20 May, I was released from SSKM Hospital. It took so long because the injury was serious. I will have to go back for review in four weeks. A single tube of ointment costs Rs. 1,400. I was granted Rs. 25,000 from the Governors relief fund but the authorities at SSKM did not receive the money. The Governor came to see us; also the lawyers. We have written to the Governors office about the money but so far received no reply.

Kabita Das Adhikari,172 55, Gokulnagar

Police started firing tear-gas and bullets. My eyes were affected. I ran away and hid in a nearby room. There were many other women hiding too. From a distance I could see police beating up everybody. Many girls and women were bleeding from head injuries. Two persons were hung from bamboo poles.

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Then three policemen came to the room and by force opened the door and started beating us up. I was hit all over the body. I fell unconscious. When I regained consciousness I returned home. Nandigram Hospital gave first aid and released me. Later I remained in Tamluk Hospital for two months. Police broke my arm and leg. My left arm was in plaster. My right leg had to be operated upon. A steel plate had to be inserted. My vision is still hazy. I have not received any government aid or any other help.

Moni Rana,173 22, Gokulnagar She suffered a bullet injury. She also saw how Kanchan Mal was shot with several bullets when she came out of her home to help her.
Police came after sometime. They chased us with lathis. We started fleeing. Police started firing tear-gas shells. Felt burning sensation in the eyes. Suddenly heard the sound of firing and a bullet struck my leg. I fell down. There were others surrounding me who also fell down with injury in hand, leg or other parts of the body. I was having severe pain in my leg and it was in a pool of blood. After sometime we were loaded on three vans by some policemen and taken towards Tekhali bridge. They were taking us towards Janka on a trekker. After receiving a phone call from Choto babu, we were taken to Tamluk Hospital. Later on some of us were transferred to Kolkata Hospital. While carrying us by trekker they abused us in filthy language. Later, I heard that many among us died. When I fell down after being hit by bullet, our neighbour Kanchan didi came to give me water. I could not see anything. Kanchan didi was shot at with many bullets. She also fell down adjacent to me. She is still lying in bed at PG Hospital.

He threatened my husband by saying that he will cut my child into pieces if he approaches towards me. Very soon I fell unconscious. After an hour or so my husband came to help me to mend my clothes.
Tapasi Das

Lata Mandal,174 32, Gokulnagar Saw others who were shot and named CPI(M) cadre who threatened her sons for her participation in the movement. She also deposed before the Balbir Singh Administrative Enquiry set up by the West Bengal government.175
They beat us with batons. Then they beat me so severely on my legs that I couldnt walk. Then they threw me into the dug out section of the road. They abused me by saying, let the ditch be filled over the body of this bitch. Many police in boots and slippers walked over me. My whole body was badly bruised. My sister-in-law and some of my neighbours picked me up from the ditch. They washed my eyes and body with water. When I could

Police broke my arm and leg. My left arm was in plaster. My right leg had to be operated upon. A steel plate had to be inserted. My vision is still hazy.
Kabita Das Adhikari

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see a little better I found Basanti Kar and Panchanan Das were lying on the ground with bullets injuries. I also saw Mani Rana with bullet injury on the leg. He was lying in a pool of blood. Kanchan Mal went to pick him up. She was shot before my very eyes. Some persons of our mohalla picked me, Kanchan Mal and Mani Rana and put us in a van and took us to Nandigram Hospital. After three days I was taken to Tamluk Hospital. My husband and two sons of 10 and 12 years of age remained in the house. My sons were threatened by Pratap Sahu, Sambhu Adhikari, Pranab Lai, Mrinmay Das and Ashok Guria, all belonging to CPI(M) with the words, we will take you to your mother and shoot you down in front of her. Only then she will stop her activities in the movement.

Gourirani Das,176 40 Bullet injury in the head. Hospital certificate can be the evidence.
My husband is a farm labourer. On 14 March conch shells were blown at 4 am. Everybody ran to the puja place at Malipara. On seeing the police, we decided not to let them enter. The police fired teargas shells and later bullets. I was hit on the head by a bullet. I regained consciousness only after water was splashed on me..

POLICE BRUTALITY
Sabita Pramanik, 24, Gokulnagar177
I was hit with a lathi on the head. I was dragged, abused and kicked with heavy boots all over the body. I saw two boys being hit by bullets. I hid in a room with other women. Police entered by breaking the door and started beating the inmates and abusing with obscenities.

Sabitri Das Adhikari, 50, Adhikaripara178

I hid in a toilet with four other women. Police kicked open the door and beat us and abused with obscene language.

Jayasri Mandal, 30, Keshabpur179

Observed neighbour Uttam Pal hit by a bullet in the leg during the police action. Together with his aunt Tapati Pal tried to help Uttam but both were severely beaten. When Uttam asked for water the police spat on his face. Later she heard that Uttam died in Tamluk hospital.

Kamal Lata Das, 35, Kalicharanpur180

A bullet pierced through the elbow of my left hand. There was extreme pain and I somehow remained standing by holding a palm tree. Police came to me and started beating my back and waist with a plastic rod. One among the two policemen had plastic chappals on his foot. Those who were coming behind me entered into a cowshed. I could see through the slits of the wall that police were beating the women inside indiscriminately and at the same time they were trying to pull their saris.

Rina Ari, 45, Gokulnagar181

They hit me with lathi on my back and neck. I fled to a nearby house along with about 1015 women. About 78 policemen came inside and started beating us. Among us there were two or three aged women of about 7080 years. Outside I saw a boy aged about 10 shot with a bullet and his mother

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while coming to his rescue was being beaten up by the police. Later we saw there were 2 women lying dead. I saw through the slits of the wall that police were beating the women hiding inside a bathroom. I along with two or three women fled into the bamboo scaffolding of a betel-leaves garden. But police traced us there and started poking with the barrel of the gun into our sex organs. Somehow I escaped from there and ran to my house and fell unconscious.

Manju Ari, 50, Dakshin Palli182

A tear-gas shell came down on my lap. The cloth caught fire. Somehow I managed to throw away the shell. My face and eyes started burning. Police chased us shouting filthy abuse. I fled from the place and entered into a toilet. They broke open the door and pulled me out and beat indiscriminately shouting abusive words. There were three more women along with me. They beat all of us. Then somehow I managed to escape from them and fled into the bamboo structure of a betel-leaves garden.

My husband and two sons of 10 and 12 years of age remained in the house. My sons were threatened by Pratap Sahu, Sambhu Adhikari, Pranab Lai, Mrinmay Das and Ashok Guria, all belonging to CPI(M) with the words, we will take you to your mother and shoot you down in front of her. Only then she will stop her activities in the movement.
Lata Mandal

Arati Sahu, Kalicharanpur

183

A young man, who was my neighbour, was hit by a bullet. When I went to give him some water police hit me with lathi on my left shoulder and leg. They grabbed my sari and tried to strip me. Somehow I managed to bring the wounded young man to the bund. But the police were after me. They kicked me and hit me on my belly repeatedly with the barrel of the gun. They also used extremely obscene language.

Kajol Majhi, 35, Kalicharanpur184

they dragged me by my hair into a cowshed. I was there for a night. I was unconscious. I am ashamed to show my face. How shall I arrange marriage for my daughter?

Shibani Das, 21, Keshabpur185

I was watching from a distance. When firing started and people started falling on the ground I ran away. Neighbours said that there were a lot of bad things done to many women. A young woman, who is a BA pass graduate from our locality, had been raped. An iron rod was inserted into her vagina.

Raghu Dolui, 27, s/o Kanai Dolui, Saudhkhali186

Children and women started crying, fleeing. I was also running. Anjali Mandal was also at my side. I halted for a while to splash water on my eyes. Suddenly police came close to us and started firing. One of them caught Anjali and she somehow escaped leaving

I could see through the slits of the wall that police were beating the women inside indiscriminately and at the same time they were trying to pull their saris.
Kamal Lata Das

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behind her clothes and jumped into the pond. I fled to the banana garden. From there I could see the incident. They were beating women, taking away their clothes.

Bidur Rani Mandal, 3035, Gangra187

I saw the police and the cadres lift kids by their legs and throw them into the canal. They were beating mercilessly. In order to avoid them, I jumped into the water and managed to flee home.

Dhatri Mandal188
Although I was not feeling well I brought the boys who were hit with bullets to the pond and was giving them water to drink. Then Tublu Samanta whom I know was hit with a bullet. Three or four of us brought him down. Then Puspendu and Khokon Manna were hit with bullets. We brought them too. Police chased us and in our attempt to flee we fell into the pond. Even then police didnt stop beating us. While swimming, my sari came out. My legs were trembling. Somehow I managed to reach home. Around 1.30 in the afternoon police entered my house. They threatened me and took away all the valuables from the house.

Jyotsna Das, 60, Gangra189

I was hit on my hand by a lathi. In my attempt to escape I fell into the pond. Later I hid in a cluster of banana trees. There was excruciating pain in my hand and it was bleeding profusely. Police started roughly poking into the injured part of my hand with lathi. With much difficulty I swam across the pond and reached home.

Bharati Maity, 34, Kalicharanpur190

I went to Adhikaripara on 14 March. Police fired tear-gas at us and beat us with lathis. A boy was hit by a bullet. I went to help him. Police beat me with lathis for helping him. I fell down losing my senses.

Renukabala Kar, 45, Kalicharanpur191

I was shot when I tried to save a child, a bullet pierced my skin. The plaster is yet to be opened after one and half months.

Sister Mary, (Sevakendra/Kolkata) Bardhaman192

I came to Nandigram on 29 May 2007. We visited 18 localities and have examined 1,397 patients Tear-gas mixed with some chemicals might have been used. People were having pain on the backside of their head. Many parts of their body appeared to be paralyzed. They were having burning sensation. Children who were in the forefront were badly affected. A woman came. Her breast is abscessed with iron rod. She is a pregnant woman of 3 months. We met another woman who was raped. After rape a bullet was inserted into her vagina. At Adhikaripara, a girl of 13 years was also raped. Initially, none wanted to say anything. Later, gradually they narrated all these. The most painful thing is that those who raped are known to them.

BRUTALITY BY CPI(M) CADRE

Renukabala Kar193
We tried to hide in a bathroom of a house along with few other women. The cadres tried to break open the door. On failing, they climbed up on the tiled roof. They removed few tiles and poked us with rods.

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Satyeswar Das Adhikari, s/o Late Shyamacharan, Gokulnagar194

I saw Salil Adhikary fall on the ground with bullet injury. I took him with me to hospital and I left the place. Police chased me to my house and I fled from my house. On coming back the next day I heard that police along with cadres again came to my house in the afternoon. They broke open the windows of my house and looted all my belongings. I made a complaint at the local police station bearing number 682/4/07. Besides looting, I also heard there were incidents of torture.

I saw the police and the cadres lift kids by their legs and throw them into the canal. They were beating mercilessly.
Bidur Rani Mandal

Kamala Ari, w/o Sahadeb Ari, Gokulnagar195

To cool the burning sensation of eyes I descended to the nearby pond. On returning I saw that the police are chasing all. I ran back to my house. The next day some outsiders came to our house and threatened me and my husband to join a CPI(M) rally.

Ajay Kumar Gayen, s/o Bijoy Krishna Gayen, Gokulnagar196

We only returned on 16 March and came to know that in almost all houses women were tortured and molested. This can be verified from the victims if enquired in privacy. I also demand that Himangshu Das, Sk Rabiul, Bijon Roy, Sambhu Maity and Jagadish Ghosh, the kingpins of the Harmad Bahini be sentenced to life imprisonment. Ive seen with my own eyes Sambhu Das Adhikari and Pranijit Mal were shooting at us from among the police pretending to be police.

Janaki Das Adhikari, 55, Adhikaripara197

I saw my sisters daughter Tapasi was hit on her back by a bullet and she fell. As I started running I fell down and was hit on the fingers of my right foot by a rubber bullet and it started bleeding. Somehow I managed to reach home. Later on 15 March the CPI(M) cadre and police came together and attacked our home. They stole fish from our pond and threatened us. I still cant go to Tekhali Bazaar out of fear.

Ganapati Gura, Gokulnagar198

On 14 March evening some local CPI(M) members came with other cadres to our house and threatened us saying unless we join the party we will be killed. Next day on 15 March they looted many families setting their houses on fire. The modesty of women was outraged by CPI(M) cadres.

Puspa Mandal, 35, Gokulnagar199

We came back home on 15 March. Our neighbour Harekrishna Das told us thatCome back. Nothing will happen to you. If

Initially, none wanted to say anything. Later, gradually they narrated all these. The most painful thing is that those who raped are known to them.
Sister Mary

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you do not come today, then we will not allow you to come ever. We came back. As soon as we returned Badal Garu, Harekrishna Das, Kalipada Garu, Sudarshan Garu, Gurupada Patra and other CPI(M) cadres started beating us and took us to Pre-Primary School. They told me that we will behead your husband and make you a widow. And if you talk more we will take you to Janani Bhata and hand you over to Harmad Bahini. In the school Rafiul, Pratap Sahu and Rabin Giri threatened me sayingYou will have to join the peace procession with red flag, otherwise we will take you to the camp. I didnt reply to any of them and I remained silent. After I returned home, again Harekrishna Das came and threatened us by saying thatthe administration will remain for two more years. And if you dont behave you will face the consequences. Till now I do not go to Tekhali Bazaar out of fear.

Sutapa Das Adhikari, Gokulnagar200

I was hit by an iron rod on the right side of my head which cracked. I ran to a local doctor who put stitches over there. I came back around 2 in the afternoon and was about to partake some food when I saw some CPI(M) cadres shouting and running towards our house. We fled to Sonachura leaving our house behind. On 15 March we heard the sound of motorcycles and we went hiding in a nearby bush. From there we saw Bijon Roy, Rabiul, Badal Garu Das, Sudarshan Garu Das, Kalipada Garu Das, Rabin Das and many others were moving house to house and threatening people to join their rally. On that day they tried to break open the door of our verandah. We could not return to home on that day. On 16 March while returning home we saw some policemen and some CPI(M) cadres like Badal Garu Das, Kalipada Garu Das, Sudarshan Garu Das, Rabin Das, Harekrishna Das, Pratap Sau, Rabin Giri and others. They chased us. Out of panic we crossed the canal towards Sonachura. On looking behind we saw four policemen unzipping their pants and making obscene gesture towards us. They were shouting filthy words. I returned home on 17 March.

CPI(M) CADRE WITH POLICE FORCE

Tulsi Das Adhikari, 65, Adhikaripara201
There were people among the police with slippers on their feet and black mask on the face.

Ajay Kr. Gayen, s/o Bijoy Krishna Gayen, Gokulnagar202

Time was around 10 in the morning. People ran helter skelter. At this point some persons from among the police wearing chappals, with red bands on their arms and with faces covered in black cloth started firing bullets.

Gautam Das Adhikari, s/o Mahadev Das Adhikari, Gokulnagar203

Police came around 10 in the morning and without listening to us started firing tear-gas shells and bullets. Another group of armed men in police uniform, but in slippers and a red bandana on their head, took a crouching position and immediately started firing bullets.

Balai Lal Mandal, Sonachura204

We were unarmed and were doing puja in front of Sri Gobinda Jiu. Suddenly the police and cadre bahini came and fired teargas and bullets and I was injured in the lathicharge.

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Sindhubala Mandal, 50, Gokulnagar205

Most of the policemen who had come wore chappals, had their faces covered with black clothes and had red bands on their arms.

Sulata Das, 30, Kalicharanpur206

These policemen had red bands on their arms, chappals on their feet and black cloth tied around their face.

Alaka Mandal, 50, No.7 Jalpai207

Among the police were some persons clad in white with their faces covered, looking like widows. They were indicating towards us with the fingers. I think they were cadres.

On March 14 evening some local CPI(M) members came with other cadres to our house and threatened us saying unless we join the party we will be killed.
Ganapati Gura

Sampa Bera, 35, Kalicharanpur208

Some of us took shelter in a house. The policemen entered the house and grabbed us by our hair. They abused us with filthy language. Dipak Das along with many other CPI(M) cadres were with the police.

Chabirani Mandal, 57, Gokulnagar209

One policeman started severely beating me with a rod, injuring me on the chest. The policeman was wearing slippers, had a type of cap that one finds in the local market and had a red belt. I pleaded with him to let me go. But he didnt listen and continued beating.

Sk. Arshad, 25210

I had gone to Bhangabera on 14 March. Cadres were standing there in black dress and chappals on their feet. After sometime, the cadres came forward and the police went back. I was beaten by a rod and fell into a pond. My daughter rescued me from the pond and took me to Nandigram Hospital.

CASES OF MISSING PERSONS

Pushparani Mandal, 27, No.7 Jalpai211 She had seen how Subrata Samanta was hit by bullets and saw policemen taking his body. Subrata Samanta is recorded as missing since then.
One shell landed on my lap. A young man picked it up and threw it away. He sprinkled water on my eyes and face from a pitcher. My whole body was burning as if it was rubbed with chilli paste. After applying water I got some relief. The police first fired in the air and almost immediately started firing bullets at us. One bullet hit my waist. There was terrible pain and bleeding. A young

At this point some persons from among the police wearing chappals, with red bands on their arms and with faces covered in black clothes started firing bullets.
Ajay Kr. Gayen

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man was lying by my side hit by a bullet. His whole body was covered with blood. With the help of another person I was dragging him to the safety of the village when the police caught up with us. They started beating us mercilessly and as a result we were forced to lay the injured boy on the ground. The police took the boy dragging his body. Till that time, though he was seriously injured, he was alive. Till now he has not been traced. His name is Subrata Samanta. His wife who has a one-month old child is in much distress.

MENTAL TRAUMA
Suniti Mandal, Gangra Suniti is the aunt of late Bharat Mandal, who died on 7 January 2007 during police firing and also the aunt of Bharats cousin Pushpendu Mandal who was killed on 14 March 2007. She also happens to be the mother-in-law of Supriya Jana who was also killed on 14 March 2007. She is in extreme despair due to loss of life of number of relatives. She was in the front line of the barricade on the morning of 14 March and still suffers from the tear-gas that has damaged her eyes. Suniti is also suffering from severe mental trauma as she had seen people dying due to bullet injuries and police and the cadres throwing babies into the nearby pond.

A procession of BUPC members in Nandigram

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CHAPTER SEVEN

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In its final report, released on 8 August 2007, the Tribunal has the following observations to make, based on prima facie evidence as well as the numerous depositions made before it:

FINDINGS
There is a general resentment in West Bengal, particularly in Singur and Nandigram, against the governments policy of setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZ) by forcibly acquiring fertile agricultural land; Maintaining secrecy over the details of these SEZs, making contradictory statements about the scale and nature of land acquisition and lack of proper consultation with those likely to be affected by the project has created confusion and resentment about the intentions of the government in the minds of rural people; The actions of 14 March 2007 by the West Bengal government, particularly the District Administration, which engaged police forces along with armed ruling party hooligans against a peaceful, religious and lawful gathering of mostly women and children from Nandigram, can be described only as a state-sponsored massacre; The motive behind this massacre seems to be the ruling partys wish to teach a lesson to poor villagers in Nandigram by terrorizing them for opposing the proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project; There was unprovoked, indiscriminate firing without sufficient warning and without following the established procedure in accordance with law, thus resulting in a massacre of innocent people; There were also a disturbingly large number of incidents of sexual violence by both police and armed ruling party cadre against women, many of them carried out in the most cruel, degrading and inhuman manner; Despite the presence of large numbers of women in the religious gathering organized by villagers on the morning of 14 March 2007 there was virtually no presence of women police officers; There was further deliberate negligence in not attending to the victims and providing them immediate medical assistance, treatment and relief following standard universal guidelines; 61

Only few complaints have been filed by victims against erring policemen and other culprits who resorted to firing, criminal assault and sexual offences and so far there has been no proper and independent investigation of the incident to bring those responsible for grave human rights violations to justice in the courts; In the aftermath of the incidents of 14 March 2007 there has been no compensation or assistance provided to the victims by way of rations, cash or medical support, which amounts to negligence in the duties of government officials so as to violate basic human rights and hence deserve punishment under the Human Rights Act (1993), which makes them personally responsible; The incidents of 14 March 2007 could have been avoided provided adequate steps were taken by the administration after the violent events of 7 January 2007 and the culprits and accused apprehended and taken to task; There are members and supporters of the CPI(M) who along with their families have been displaced from Nandigram due to intimidation by villagers opposed to the land acquisition, though their numbers are yet to be verified independently; The violence in Nandigram and surrounding areas since January 2007 and the posting of police camps inside school buildings has resulted in a loss of education for young and innocent children; As of writing this report in August 2007 regular firing and terrorizing of villagers in Nandigram by CPI(M) cadre based in Khejuri and counter violence by members of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee was still continuing on an almost daily basis; The social and economic impact of such prolonged conflict on the villagers of Nandigram and adjoining areas, such as Khejuri, is bound to be extremely negative; The local administration, the District Magistrate or Superintendent of Police (of East Medinipur) as well as the State government and the ruling party members did not cooperate or put up their case regarding the 14 March 2007 incident before the Tribunal despite advance notice. Based on these observations the Tribunal would therefore like to make the following recommendations:

RECOMMENDATIONS

Justice
The CBI investigation into the violent events of 14 March 2007, initiated on the request of the Calcutta High Court, should be allowed to continue and present a complete and comprehensive report at the earliest. Among other aspects, the investigation should include enquiry into the specific role played by members of the local and State administration in the unprovoked firing and killing of innocent people as well as other atrocities committed; 62

The ten CPI(M) cadre arrested by CBI and let off on bail, due to the apparently deliberate laxity of the West Bengal State police in filing charges against them within the statutory period, should be re-arrested pending investigation of their role in the massacre of 14 March; The judiciary should consider setting up a special bench, headed by a woman judge, to hear all cases of rape, molestation and violence against women of Nandigram by both police personnel and armed cadre of the CPI(M); The Calcutta High Court should also appoint a monitoring committee to ensure there is no repetition of the violence of 14 March as there have been at least 25 incidents of armed intrusion by CPI(M) cadre into that Nandigram area and nobody has been arrested for the incidents of firing and bomb throwing even after 14 March; There is considerable evidence that wounds of injured villagers from Nandigram were caused not just by police bullets but also from private firearms, including sophisticated long-range rifles like SLRs. This should be thoroughly investigated and those responsible for using illegal firearms should be stringently punished in accordance with the law in such cases; A Habeas Corpus petition for missing persons should be filed especially in the case of Subrato Samanta, who is still missing following the police firing and assault of 14 March 2007. According to the deposition before the Tribunal by villagers and his family members he was last seen being taken away by police personnel after being gravely injured in the shooting; All CPI(M) cadres guilty of impersonating police personnel on 14 March 2007 should be identified on the basis of eyewitness accounts as well as photographic/video evidence from media reports and prosecuted. It is apparent that FIRs have not been filed by many of those who have been sexually assaulted and wounded or even in the cases of those who were killed by both police and armed CPI(M) cadre due to a lack of confidence in the State administration and police. However civil society organizations as well as leaders of the local organizations leading the struggle against land acquisition in Nandigram 63

The motive behind this massacre seems to be the ruling partys wish to teach a lesson to poor villagers in Nandigram by terrorizing them for opposing the proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project.

The judiciary should consider setting up a special bench, headed by a woman judge, to hear all cases of rape, molestation and violence against women of Nandigram by both police personnel and armed cadre of the CPI(M).

should encourage and assist local people to file FIRs to ensure justice through the established procedure of law; There is considerable evidence of tampering with details on the medical discharge certificates of injured Nandigram villagers admitted to public hospitals with a view to distort incriminating information. After thorough investigation the erring medical superintendents/medical officers of these hospitals should be punished in accordance with law in such cases; Human Rights Courts as provided by the Human Rights Act (1993) should be set up in West Bengal at the earliest to provide justice in the cases of human rights violations that arise from conflicts between state and the people or among different political groups as in both Singur and Nandigram.

Relief and Compensation

The National Human Rights Commission should order immediate distribution of ex-gratia payment to all those killed or injured in the violence of 14 March 2007 relief to people affected by the conflict in the area. It should further undertake independent monitoring of such relief. Medical aid and assistance should be provided by the state to victims who are still suffering and who were not suitably treated or attended to so far. In particular, the primary health centres in Nandigram as well as Khejuri, and also the Tamluk Hospital should be upgraded, sufficient doctors and nurses posted and proper facilities and equipment provided in order to deal with the medical needs of those injured; The people of Nandigram should also be assisted in obtaining compensation and damages for death, injuries or damaged properties from the government. The payment should be at least equal to the amount declared by the State government to the family of the deceased police officer in Nandigram.

Peace
The disarming of both sides engaged in conflict in Nandigram and surrounding areas should proceed through talks, de-escalation and confidence-building measures under some effective independent agency/observers appointed by the Calcutta High Court; There should be an immediate end to the economic and physical blockade of the people of Nandigram by armed CPI(M) cadre in the surrounding areas who are preventing flow of essential supplies as well as safe movement of people in and out of the area; The supporters of the CPI(M) and their families from the Nandigram area who have been living in camps in Khejuri as refugees should be provided full protection for return to their homes and to continue their livelihood, excepting those who have been accused of grave crimes against people of Nandigram on, before or after 14 March 2007. An independent 64

body acceptable to the people of Nandigram as well as the refugees themselves can monitor the return. The local administration needs to create an atmosphere of trust by attending to day-to-day needs of people, helping victims and their family members; All peace efforts should fully involve all political parties at the local level in Nandigram and adjoining areas and not just their State level party leadership; Police reforms need to be undertaken urgently in West Bengal to de-link the police from anti-social elements and interference from ruling party and politicians; the recommendations made by the Administrative Reforms Commission in its Fifth Report in this regard should be implemented at the earliest; To prevent a repeat of the incidents of 14 March 2007 in any form the West Bengal government should make a solemn declaration that force would not be used against the local people for the so-called restoration of law and order and control of administration.

The people of Nandigram should also be assisted in obtaining compensation and damages for death, injuries or damaged properties from the government

Sanyara Bibi of Satengabari village, whose house was burnt and broken along with those of many others recounting tales of horror

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A resident of Satengabari, whose house was destroyed during the violence of early November 2007

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RECAPTURING NANDIGRAM
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2007
Despite the national outcry over the incidents of 14 March 2007 violence continued in Nandigram with almost daily clashes between the CPI(M) cadre and BUPC members till late October 2007. In early November however thousands of CPI(M) cadre, including allegedly hired goons, invaded the villages under BUPC control and recaptured them by brute force. This time the police stayed out of the fray- ordered to the barracks by their higher ups. There are allegations of fresh atrocities against local villagers by the CPI(M) forces, the scale of which still remains to be fully investigated. Given below is chronology of events as they unfolded.

31 OctoberExchange of Fire There was exchange of fire along the Nandigram-Khejuri border at Takapura, Ranichowk and Satengabari in the morning and late in the night.
The Telegraph, Boot for firing officers Committee wants police punished, 31 October

31 OctoberCPI(M) desperate to recapture Nandigram It was reported that hours after instigation of the party cadres, the CPI(M) sent gunmen, on 27 October, to launch an attack in Ranichowak, Satengabari, Kamalpur and several adjoining villages in Nandigram.
CPI(M) desperate to recapture Nandigram by Shyam Sundar Roy in The Statesman, 31 October

1 NovemberKill or Get Killed.Laxman Seth Even as violence continued in certain pockets of Nandigram, Laxman Seth, CPI(M) MP, today asked his party men to adopt a die or let die approach. We have been pushed to the wall. The only option now is to kill or get killed. We have to fight till the last drop of blood in our bodies, he said while delivering a speech at the 4th conference of the CPI(M) Nandakumar zonal committee, in Srikishnapur High School. Meanwhile, CPI(M) supporters and Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee members clashed with bombs and bullets in the Khejuri-Nandigram border areas.
The Statesman, 1 November, Seth adds fuel to Nandigram fire, by Shyam Sunder Roy & Saket Sundria

1 NovemberBombs and Bullets Fly in Nandigram Violence re-erupted in Nandigram late on Wednesday night as cross-firing started from both sides, Khejuri and Nandigram. However, there were no confirmed reports of death. There had been some stray-firing in parts of Nandigram. But, there is no news of any confirmed death, IG (law and order), Raj Kanojia said.
The Telegraph, 1 November, Tension prevails as violence continues

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2 NovemberNandigram fears the worst The silence in Nandigram is as suggestive as the calm before a storm that is going to strike soon. Even policemen fear that unless the situation is checked within a day or two, a massive flare-up is imminent. There is a huge build-up of arms and men in Khejuri are waiting to attack Nandigram from several fronts. CPI(M) supporters have almost completely sealed all entry points into Nandigram and theres no way left to go inside. The CPI(M) has opened fronts in Bhangabera, Tulaghata, Tekhali Bazaar, Takapura, Kamalpur, and Reyapara. A villager said: We are surrounded. We are simply waiting for the attack to begin. For them it might be a kill or get killed battle, but for us it is a battle for survival. We dont have a way out. We are forced to fight to survive.
Saket Sundria in The Statesman, 2 November

4 NovemberBrinda prescribes Dum Dum dawai for opposition The CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat accused the opposition of conspiring against the people of Nandigram on Sunday. She also justified the need for deployment of CRPF to restore peace and normalcy in the trouble-torn areas of Nandigram. Without naming the Trinamool Congress, Karat said a party was resorting to opportunistic politics by forming a Mahajot. They are hatching a conspiracy and the poor people become victims of their gun trotting and opportunistic politics. Those who are doing this should be given the Dum Dum dawai treatment (a severe bashing), said Karat. She said this in a rally of the All India Democratic Womens Association at Dum Dum in the northern fringe of the city in the presence of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
Brinda prescribes Dum Dum dawai for Opposition, Express News Service, 5 November

4 NovemberNandigram gunfire continues CPI(M)s hired gunmen continued to fire shots towards Nandigram from Khejuri in Medinipur East today to terrorize the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee supporters. Jamaluddin, a BUPC leader of Dayudpur, sustained gunshot injuries at Ranichowk this evening. He was shifted to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata from a local hospital as his condition was critical, Nanda Patra, a BUPC leader said. The armed red cadres have reduced Satengabari, a BUPC stronghold, to a virtual graveyard over the past two days. More than 200 thatched houses were burned to ashes after they were looted and ransacked, rendering approximately 1,000 people homeless. The homeless are now staying in makeshift camps or under the open sky. Even a cow belonging to a BUPC supporter was hit by a bullet as its owner was not available for the hoodlums. Around 50 houses belonging to CPI(M) loyalists at the village were also torched as the hired storm-troopers could not identify the houses of CPI(M) supporters.
Nandigram gunfire continues, The Statesman, 5 November

5 NovemberGunfight on the Nandigram-Khejuri border A youth caught in fresh crossfire on the Nandigram-Khejuri border this evening was hospitalized with a wounded leg. 68

The bullet hit Sheikh Jamaluddin minutes after senior police officials led by inspector-general (law and order) Raj Kanojia visited Khejuri and Tekhali. The CPI(M) activists started firing from Bahargunj in Khejuri, injuring Jamaluddin. The police and the CPI(M) plan a joint attack on us, said BUPC convener Abu Taher.
Gunfight after police visit, The Telegraph, 5 November Victims of the November violence receiving medical attention

5 NovemberPM expresses concern over Nandigram violence Expressing concern over violence in Nandigram, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to look into it urgently.
PTI

5 NovemberNandigram under siege Hundreds of CPI(M) gunmen rained bombs and fired shots at Nandigram areas from Khejuri side this evening. The CPI(M)s intention, it seems, is to capture Nandigram before the arrival of Central forces this week. Earlier this morning, violence flared up in Nandigram when CPI(M) activists, holed up in Khejuri, attacked BUPC supporters at the Tekhali bridge. Around 4.30 a.m. nearly 500 armed men tried to cross the Talpati canal and enter Nandigram. They fired in the air and threw bombs. Alarmed by the attack, BUPC members, guarding the bridge, blew conch shells. Within minutes over 3,000 villagers from all over the area rushed towards the bridge and formed a human wall to block the advancement of CPI(M) invaders. Following this the attackers retreated. Another attack was launched around 10.30 a.m. Police remained silent spectators. Five rounds were fired and bombs thrown. However, this attack was foiled after people rushed in from Nandigram and two rounds were fired in retaliation.
Nandigram under siege, The Statesman News Service, 5 November

5 NovemberCentre changes position and okays Nayachar for chemical hub The Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has resolved to accept the West Bengal governments proposal for setting up a chemical hub over 11,000 acres of land at Nayachar 69
A victim of November violence lying in the hospital

island near Haldia. This is despite the fact that present central regulations require such hubs to be built on a minimum of 25,000 acres. The central ministry is also favourably disposed about the land location and will shortly consider it along with proposals submitted by other States. The West Bengal government had recently submitted a proposal for a Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) in Nayachar island and urged the Centre to consider its proposal for an 11,000-acre complex. But what is unknown at this stage is whether the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government will shortly require to look at acquiring another 14,000 acres near Haldia to set up a second phase of the proposed chemical hub in step with the 25,000-acre central regulation. The West Bengal government recently submitted its proposal for a PCPIR in the State. Their proposal is initially for 11,000 acres at Nayachar island. They have also said the remaining 14,000 acres required under the guidelines for a chemical hub will be offered soon. We have decided to accept the proposal as only 40 percent of the land in any PCPIR will be for setting up industries. The remaining land will be used for setting up schools, engineering colleges, hospitals, housing and other infrastructure for the hub, Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilizer and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan said.
Centre accepts proposal to set up chem hub in Haldia, Times of India/Times News Network, 6 November

5 NovemberIntellectuals call for resumption of CBI probe Leading intellectuals, including Magsaysay Award winner Mahasweta Devi, have urged President Pratibha Patil to take an initiative for restarting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the 14 March police firing in Nandigram. In an open letter to the President, the intellectuals, including Left historian couple Sumit and Tanika Sarkar, said:
We are deeply disturbed by the news that the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) are going to be sent to Nandigram in West Bengal to restore order there. This indicates a paramilitary solution to what is essentially a question of peoples livelihood, of human and civil rights and of peoples participation in decision-making processes. The present crisis in the law and order situation has arisen because of state violations of such democratic rights, and we feel strongly that only a political solution can address the crisis. The experience of paramilitary operations in other parts of the country in similar contexts makes us very apprehensive about the consequences in West Bengal.

They said the Calcutta High Court judgement on the writ petitions pending before it must be expedited, and an immediate compensation and a fair rehabilitation package be provided to the families of those killed, injured and disabled during the March 14 violence. The same should be done for victims on both sides of the political divide who have suffered in earlier and subsequent clashes, they said. The intellectuals demanded an independent monitoring body of the high court to ensure a ceasefire at Nandigram.
President urged for CBI probe into Nandigram firing, Earthtimes.org

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6 NovemberFinal armed assault by CPI(M) goons begins One Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) trooper was injured on Tuesday during fresh violence between Communist Party of IndiaMarxist and Trinamool Congress-supported Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) activists in West Bengals Nandigram. While Nandigram is virtually ruled by the BUPC, Khejuri is dominated by the CPI(M) and is home to about 1,500 party supporters who had to flee Nandigram after violence erupted in January when the government planned to acquire land for a special economic zone (SEZ), a proposal which was later scrapped in the face of violent opposition from villagers. A landmine also exploded at Bhangabera in Nandigram on Tuesday. According to TV reports, there were more injuries on Tuesday in the gun battle and explosion. Reports said two villagersKalipada Sit and Manasi Dasreceived serious bullet injuries and were taken to Nandigram Hospital.
Paramilitary trooper hurt in Nandigram gun battle, India eNews, 6 November

Nandigram villager injured in the violence of early November

November 6It is a War Zone West Bengal Home Secretary Two persons were killed and eight injured as CPI(M) supporters on Tuesday exchanged fire with supporters of a Trinamool Congress-backed outfit opposed to farmland acquisition at trouble-torn Nandigram in East Midnapore district of West Bengal. Home Secretary P.R. Roy, confiriming the deaths and injuries, told reporters in Kolkata that the barrage of fire had come from Khejuri, a CPI(M) stronghold, and was directed at Nandigram. Asked if CPI(M) had gained control of some areas, Roy said Possibly CPI(M) has gained some areas. The Eastern Fronter Rifles (EFR) was holding control of the vital Tekhali Bazaar bridge linking Sonachura and Nandigram with none allowed to enter the area, he said, adding the areas looked like a warfield.
PTI, 6 November

7 NovemberDeliberate non-intervention by the Police While armed CPI(M) cadre surrounded Nandigram today, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee discussed the governments future course of action with his top officials. 71
A child in the ruins of a home in Santengabari

The meeting, attended by State Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and the Director General of Police, decided that the government would not send armed forces to Nandigram unless CPI(M) cadres have driven out armed Maoist cadres from there. Later, while talking to media persons, Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said that CPI(M) had gained control of a few villages of Nandigram. There is no police presence in Nandigram at present, said Ray. He also admitted that the State government has no idea when the Central forces will arrive.
CPI(M): No armed forces in Nandigram, Express News Service, 7 November

7 NovemberSeveral killed and injured in Nandigram battles At least four persons were killed and 15 others, including a paramilitary force jawan, seriously injured as rival parties clashed and landmines exploded in an escalated violence in Nandigram.
Four killed, 15 injured in Nandigram explosion, Deccan Herald, 7 November

7 NovemberCadres unleash violence In a chilling re-run of the 14 March bloody backlash, three persons were killed, several others, including an Eastern Frontier Rifles personnel, injured at Nandigram and nine villages set ablaze during a pitched battle between CPI(M) cadres and BUPC activists that continued for over 18 hours since late last night. At least 15,000 people were hounded out of their homes and many of them had to be given shelter at relief camps set up at Nandigram college.
Cadres unleash violence, The Statesman News Service, 7 November

7 NovemberPlanned attack: RSP minister The CPI(M)s allies saw a design in the escalation of violence and at least one of them, the RSP, directly accused it of launching a planned attack on Nandigram with armed supporters.
The Telegraph, 7 November

7 NovemberCPI(M) criticizes WB Home Secretarys remarks West Bengal Home Secretary P.R. Roy came under fire from Left Front major CPI(M) on Wednesday for his remarks that CPI(M) cadres fired first during the ongoing violence at Nandigram. It is clear that the Home Secretarys remarks are not based on reality, but on misinformation and disinformation, CPI(M) State Secretary Biman Bose told reporters after a Left Front meeting.
PTI

8 NovemberNandigram violence spirals In a surprising move, police picket on the strategic Tekhali Bridge in Nandigram has been removed, even as armed CPI(M) cadres, holed up in Khejuri, crossed the Talpati canal and 72

stormed into several villages, leaving a trail of destruction today. Hundreds of armed men entered Maheshpur in Nandigram, nearly four kilometres beyond Tekhali Bridge. Sporadic clashes were reported throughout the day with unconfirmed reports of at least one CPI(M) activist being lynched by villagers. Cadres took control of several villages, including Satengabari, Keyakhali, Brindabanchak and Ranichak. Several houses in Raynagar and Jhatiboni were torched and people were driven out of their homes as CPI(M) men took out a procession appealing to the partys supporters to return home. At least 3,000 more villagers were rendered homeless today.
The Statesman, 8 November

A victim of CPI(M)s Operation Recapture in early November

8 NovemberCPI(M)-Home Secretary row over Nandigram Differences between the ruling CPI(M) leadership and West Bengal Home Secretary P.R. Roy on the violence in Nandigram came out in the open on wednesday. Shall I tell lies? Roy asked reacting to criticism by Bose that his remarks on the violence in Nandigram were not based on reality. I am stating only what has happened, Roy said.
The Hindu, 8 November

9 NovemberCPI(M) siege on roads With nearly 10 villages in their grip, CPI(M) workers today blocked all roads to Nandigram, preventing opposition politicians, social activists and journalists from entering the area.
The Telegraph, 9 November

9 NovemberMedha assaulted on way to SEZ site Social activist Medha Patkar was punched on the face and some of her companions pulled by their hair en route to Nandigram, allegedly by CPI(M) supporters on Thursday. Her car was also damaged. A group of writers, intellectuals and social activists, including human rights activist Sujato Bhadra, travelling with Patkar, were also assaulted. Patkar and her companions were trying to enter troubled Nandigram via Terapekhia, crossing the Haldi river. For, the 73

A house burnt during the 'recapture' of Nandigram by CPI(M) cadre

normal motorable routes, via Chandipur and Magrajpur, were in any case blocked since morning by CPI(M) supporters who would not let anyone pass.
Times News Network, 9 November

9 NovemberCPI(M) leaders justify armed attack Weve finally spoken the language they understand, said secretariat member Benoy Konar. Fellow secretariat member Shyamal Chakraborty insisted that the homeless peopleand not the partywere compelled to take up guns after months of suffering. He admitted, though, that CPI(M) supporters on their way home have torched some of their opponents homes.
Party in control, patriarch toes line, The Telegraph, 10 November

10 NovemberCPI(M)s Action Unlawful and Unacceptable West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi See Page 81 for full text of Governor's statement 10 NovemberCentre rushes 1,000 additional CPRF personnel to West Bengal With a sudden spurt in violence in trouble-torn Nandigram, the Union Home Ministry on Saturday decided to rush about 1,000 additional CRPF personnel to West Bengal to deal with the situation. The decision to send additional force to Bengal comes after Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil received a request from Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee recently in the wake of fresh incidents of violence involving a number of casualties. Bhattacharjee had sought CRPF deployment for Nandigram on 29 October during a telephonic talk with the Union Home Minister.
PTI

12 November10,000 refugees This evening, Nandigram High School housed about 4,000 refugees. Another 6,000 refugees had fled to the camps around Nandigram town.
Yesterdays leader is todays refugee, Anshuman Phadikar in The Telegraph

12 NovemberThe hooded hunters Peace arrived in Nandigram today, face hooded, gun slung over the shoulder, the roar of a hundred motorcycles broadcasting a crushing CPI(M) victory. Squads of armed, bike-borne cadres, carrying stacks of red flags, kept criss-crossing Nandigram since early morning on a mission to consolidate the recapture. The flags were for plantingone at every homeand the guns for forcing opposition supporters to join the victory marches.
Red army roars into Nandigram, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui in The Telegraph

12 NovemberCPI(M) cadres have done their job. It is too late for the CRPF to do anything now When around 150 Central Reserve Police Force personnel finally got into Nandigram, it was too latethat is the gist of the report CRPF Director-General S.I.S. Ahmed has sent to the Centre. 74

The private armies, comprised of CPI(M) cadres, have already captured the area. It was only after that the CRPF personnel were allowed in. Now there is not much that the CRPF can do, except maintain status quo and protect the private armies, Ahmed said, according to Union home ministry sources.
Not much to do now: CRPF boss, Bhavana Vij-Aurora & Imran Ahmed Siddiqui in The Telegraph

13 NovemberKarat blames Maoists for Nandigram The CPI(M) General Secretary went on to allege that Mamatas outfit had colluded with the Maoists and even resorted to training and taking up of weapons. He relied on Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs recent statementthat Maoists were the biggest internal threat to national securityto support the new political line of the CPI(M).
PTI

One of the villagers injured in November violence

14 NovemberCentre bartered Nandigram for N-deal: Mamata Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that the Centres silence on the recapture of Nandigram was intended as a gift to CPI(M) for softening its stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Report dateline 13 November, Sify.com

14 NovemberMassive Protest March in Kolkata Condemning the violence, filmmakers, artists, actors, writers and committed citizens walked the streets in Kolkata for about three hours in silence. Wearing black badges and holding placards reading Shame on West Bengal Government and Down with Killers of Innocent Villagers, the demonstrators started from the College Square in the afternoon and wound their way across the main campus of Calcutta University towards a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the Maidan. Leading intellectuals including filmmakers Aparna Sen, Mrinal Sen, Rituparna Ghosh, Gautam Ghosh, Anjan Datta, actor and playwright Bibhas Chakraborty, writer Shirshendu Mukherjee, poet Joy Goswami and painter Jogen Choudhury took part in the procession.
Fear stalks Nandigram, Kolkata walks for peace, IANS, 15 November

A house ransacked during the November violence

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14 NovemberNandigram victims recount tales of horror My wife was beaten up by CPI(M) attackers when I was not at home. They broke her legs with a rifle butt and dragged her to a paddy field at gunpoint and raped her till she lost consciousness, Mir Akbar Ali told IANS at a government hospital in Tamluk, about 130 km from Kolkata. Both my daughters, 16-year-old Ansura Khatun and 14-year-old Mansura Khatun, were abducted by CPI(M) cadres and are missing, he said. We could not take our belongings and had to flee, leaving everything behind. The CPI(M) people ransacked everything and set our houses ablaze, alleged Nuhu Nabi, a BUPC member. Hospital sources said there were about 50 patients from Nandigram who have been admitted to the surgical ward of the hospital. The hospital is controlled by CPI(M) cadres. We cant go against them. I had raised my voice calling for treatment of the victims but was threatened by party cadres, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity.
Nandigram victims recount tales of horror, IANS, Dateline 14 November

14 NovemberThey have been paid back in their own coinBuddhadeb West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is still defending the violent take over of Nandigram by the CPI(M). On Tuesday, justifying the bloodshed he said those controlling Nandigram were paid back in their own coin.
Buddhadeb defends Nandigram takeover, PTI, 14 November

15 NovemberBuddhadeb sticks to his statement I am saying today what I have said yesterday. Those who returned home merely followed the tactics of the opposition, an unfazed Chief Minister told a press conference when asked whether he stuck to his view that the opposition parties had been paid back in their own coin.
PTI, 15 November

15 NovemberI am CM, but CPI(M) man too: Buddha Under attack for his statement that the opposition had been paid back in the same coin in Nandigram, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said: I am not above my party and I cannot deny my political identity as a CPI(M) man. I am a CM, and at the same time a CPI(M) man. But since I took oath of office, I will have to function as CM.
Express News Service, November 15, 2007

16 NovemberDacoits and criminals in CPI(M)s army The CPI(M)s us may not all have been party cadres. The CID today arrested a hardened dacoit from a State government guesthouse in East Midnapore and said he and his gang had joined the operation to recapture Nandigram. Sheikh Selim alias Selim Naskar of South 24-Parganas, accused in over two dozen armed robberies, had been invited by the CPI(M) to Khejuri for his expertise, officers said. The 33-year-old robber and four associates were arrested from the public 76

health and engineering departments bungalow at Geokhali, about 40 km from Khejuri. They had stopped there for the night on their way back home. A sophisticated, Italian-made 9mm pistol and six bullets were seized from Selim. The gang was in Khejuri for a couple of weeks. After the recapture, they spent five days in Nandigram. Yesterday, they began their journey home, a CID officer said.
Dacoit in Red army, Kinsuk Basu and Pronab Mandal in The Telegraph, 17 November

An aged resident of Nandigram telling her tale of woe

16 NovemberCourt slams Bengal government for Nandigram killings The Calcutta High Court hearing a PIL filed on the 14 March Nandigram killings on Friday rejected all arguments made by the West Bengal government. Calling the police firing totally unconstitutional and avoidable, the court ordered the State government to pay Rs. 5 lakh as compensation for those killed in the violence and Rs. 2 lakh to those raped and molested. The court also directed CBI to continue the inquiry into the incident and submit a report in a months time. The verdict comes a day after the High Court lawyers boycotted proceedings protesting the delay in giving the ruling.
From News Agencies (See Annexure-Y for full text of Court judgment)

17 NovemberCPI(M) cadres gang rape woman, two daughters In a gruesome incident, a middle aged woman and her two minor daughters were allegedly gang raped by armed CPI(M) cadres on 6 November during their operation recapture in violence-hit Nandigram, Samay sources said. The victim revealed that on 6 November a group of CPI(M) comrades barged into her house and dragged her to a nearby field. She further said later she was gang raped by eight people that night. In chilling testimony to Samay correspondent, she said that her two daughters aged 16 and 14 were also gang raped by several of the CPI(M) activists. Her two daughters went missing soon after the gang rape that night. When asked whether she could identify the culprits, she said could identify three of them who belong to her village Satengabari.
Sahara Samay, 17 November

A tense peace continues in Nandigram enforced by the presence of CRPF

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19 NovemberNHRC Chief raps Buddha government West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today declined to comment on the criticism of his government by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairperson Justice S. Rajendra Babu who said Nandigram was one of the worst scars on the face of the nation. Earlier in the day, Justice Babu told newsmen on the sidelines of the Fourth Annual Meeting of NHRC with State Human Rights Commissions in Delhi that Nandigram and Godhra were severe assaults in the face of democracy. They were the worst scars on the face of the nation, he said, adding that the NHRC was committed to protect the rights of the people, who were victims of opportunist politics in both West Bengal and Gujarat.
Buddha declines comment on NHRC rap over Nandigram, Outlook.com, November 19

November 21Chemical Hub Plan Not Really Abandoned? The CPI(M) cadre is trying to realize Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjees dream of setting up a chemical hub in Nandigram, which had hit a roadblock with the ongoing anti-SEZ movement. Reports suggest that the continued Marxist violence in Nandigram has much to do with bringing the proposed Nayachar chemical hub back to Nandigram by silencing the dissenting voices in East Midnapore. Notwithstanding, claims by the State CPI(M) leadership that hordes of refugees were going back to their respective villages only a few have done so and at least 4,500 people were still living in various camps besides others who have fled to their relatives places in other parts of the State.
Cadre out to bring chemical hub back to Nandigram, The Pioneer, Saugar Sengupta, November 21

24 DecemberBuddha gave orders for Nandigram firing: FB Veteran Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh on Sunday said it was Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who gave the order for police firing in Nandigram on March 14.

CRPF men patrol the village of Satengabari

Bodies of those killed in the early November violence are still being recovered

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At the Left Front meeting held after the firing we asked who was responsible for giving the order for police firing. There was silence for some time and then the CM got up and said it was he who gave the order and his party had nothing to do with it, Ghosh said during a rally in Nandigram on Sunday. The Chief Minister is expected to address a rally here on 26 December.
Buddha gave orders for Nandigram firing: FB, Suchetana Haldar in Indian Express, 24 December

A woman looking at houses burnt during the CPI(M)s November campaign to recapture Nandigram

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Members of the Harmad Bahini on the move in Nandigram during the violence of November 2007

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GOVERNORS STATEMENT, 9 NOVEMBER 2007

he ardour of Deepavali has been dampened in the whole State by the events in Nandigram. Several villages in Nandigram are oscillating from the deepest gloom to panic. Large numbers of armed persons from outside the district have, it is undeniable, forced themselves onto villages in Nandigram Block I and II for territorial assertion. Thousands of villagers have consequently been intimidated into leaving their homes in villages such as Daudpur, Amgachi, Jambani, Simulkundu, Brindvanchak, Tekhali, Nainan, Kanongochak, Takpara, Satengabari, Ranichak, Kamalpur, and Keyakhali. Even as of 4 p.m. this day, I have received phone calls from responsible persons in Nandigram saying that several huts are ablaze. Large numbers of villagers have taken refuge in the local high school in Nandigram, bereft of food and personal security. At the time of writing, the most accurate description for Nandigram is the one used by our Home Secretary, namely, it has become a war zone. No Government or society can allow a war zone to exist without immediate and effective action. I am fully aware of the fact that, earlier in the year, many villagers in Nandigram who were perceived as sympathizers of the ruling establishment had been obliged to leave the villages and seek shelter in Khejuri. I am also aware of the apprehension that some Maoists, their numbers being unverified, are believed to have entered the area. Those who had to flee to Khejuri must come back with full confidence and dignity. And no quarter should be given to the cult of violence associated with Maoists. But the manner in which the recapture of Nandigram villages is being attempted is totally unlawful and unacceptable. I find it equally unacceptable that while Nandigram has been ingressed with ease by armed people on the one hand, political and non-political persons trying to reach it have been violently obstructed. Some of them were bearing relief articles for the homeless. The treatment meted to Smt Medha Patkar and other associates of hers last evening was against all norms of civilized political behaviour. A group of five MPs and one MLA, representing the CPI(M) met me this morning and urged me to apply my good offices for the peace processes in Nandigram. Peace is the need of the hour in Nandigram. For that peace to come, I told them, effective action will have to be taken in terms of action initiated against those responsible for the March 14 events in due process. The alert and observant people of West Bengal have a right to know that following discussions with political leaders like Smt. Mamata Banerjee, MP, Shri Partha Chatterjee, Leader of the opposition, West Bengal Legislative Assembly, Shri Pradip Bhattacharya, Working President, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, Shri Manash Bhuiyan and non-political persons, I have been in regular communication with the Honble Chief Minister Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and requested the State government to take certain immediate steps. These include (i) the immediate 81

return of the ingressers (ii) the giving of urgent relief to the displaced persons in Nandigram and (iii) the facilitation of their return to their homes. I have also asked the administration to remove the new unauthorized manmade blocks at entry points to 1) Chandipur-Rai Para-Phulni More-Khadenbari-Badia; 2) Nandakumar-Kapaseria-Ferry to cross over to Nandigram; 3)Heria-Nandigram; 4) Potashpur-Nandigram in order that the isolation of Nandigram from the rest of the State ends. I have made it clear that unless these steps are taken within hours, and the syndrome of capture and recapture is not ended, the beginnings for a resumed dialogue through the package announced by the Chief Secretary last night will not get off the ground and the peace talks process will remain grounded. Peace talks must resume soon and despite the lateness of the hour, I welcome the pragmatic optimism expressed in this regard by our elder statesman Shri Jyoti Basu. Let me conclude by saying: Enough is enough. Peace and security should be restored, without any delay, from where they have been evicted from Nandigram.

Sd/Gopalkrishna Gandhi 9/11/07

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'YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU WERE'

This commentary on the Nandigram episode comes from Ashok Mitra, a former Finance Minister of West Bengal and a long time associate of the CPI(M) government. It is is published here to give readers an insider's critique of how the Left Front government in the State has transformed over the years.

ill death I would remain guilty to my conscience if I keep mum about the happenings of the last two weeks in West Bengal over Nandigram. One gets torn by pain too. Those against whom I am speaking have been my comrades at some time. The party, the leadership of which they are adorning has been the centre of my dreams and works for last sixty years. Let me start with the Governor. Those who remember Anantaprasad Sharma or Rajeshwar would readily admit that it's a great fortune for this State and the State government that they have someone as gentle, well-mannered, sympathetic, modest, erudite as Gopal Krishna Gandhi as the Governor of the State. Let me also add he had consented to the post because of the interest shown by the central leadership of the ruling party. What has been his grave fault that the ruling party is so determined to declare even him as its enemy? Through a travesty of truth it is being said that Governor has termed the return of those who were forced to flee Nandigram to take shelter in Khejuri as illegitimate and unpardonable. He has not done so. He has condemned, in no uncertain terms, the way in which they have been brought back. By now the machination that went on behind the return is known to the world. The government had had enough scope to rehabilitate these devastated people in their own homes through political mediation or administrative arrangements during the last eleven months. The attempts through unilateral threatening, police action, indiscriminate firing had a tragic end. But there were still many avenues left to be explored. The government could have announced compensation for the family of dead and injured immediately after the idiotic incident of firing. Promises could have been made to take action against the police officers and personnel involved in the crime. Days passed, and the government did nothing. Announcement was made in the fashion of Vijay Tendulkars plays title, Shantata, court chalu ahe. The senior most political leader of the State and the country had to take the initiative to call up Mamata Banerjee, sit and discuss with her a few conditions for resolution. The government was intimated of them. It did not proceed on them. On the initiative of the senior leader of Forward Bloc, Ashok Ghosh, an all-party meeting was convened. That also got stalled due to indirect pressure from the ruling party. In the meanwhile, as was inevitable, opposition parties started using the unstable situation of Nandigram to their own advantage. The flame of tension was kept burning by a variety of organizations of different colour and class. The discontented whining one hears from the ruling party over this has no rationale whatsoever. The responsibility of

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unspoken suffering of those who spent eleven months as homeless rests squarely upon the shoulders of the government. It is better to look further into the past. Nandigram was not after all the first blood. Singur episode had happened before that. The Left Front government does not like nationalized industries. They want to set up private industries in the State. Hence there are promises to acquire land on behalf of the national, international capitalists. That land would supposedly be used by capitalists to set up industries. Since there was a declaration of industrialization in the election manifesto, and since they have won 235 seats, it was readily assumed that there was no need for preparations. All of a sudden peasants were told: Leave the land, the masters would set up industries here. If it had learned minimum lessons from the protests, clashes and the blood letting of Singur, the government would have been more careful in Nandigram. But that was not to be. It remained as arrogant as ever. Even the top leaders of the ruling party have been saying there was no existence of the opposition parties in Nandigram. The government itself provided them with the opportunity to grow. The loyal followers of the ruling party declared revolt and those who were not with them were driven out. The onus of this rests on the government as well. For eleven months complete silence and inactivity were carefully maintained, no political or administrative alternative was explored. And suddenly a new plot was hatched. As has been repeatedly admitted by the Home Secretary, the police was instructed to remain inactive. Mercenaries were collected from across the State. Workers of the ruling party encircled Nandigram from all directions. Birds, bees, flies, journalists none was given the permission to penetrate the blockade. And then the light brigade of the ruling party charged in, beat the wayward militants of Nandigram to a pulp and into submission. Those who had fled returned. However, the moment of their return saw a parallel and opposite incident. Houses were torched anew, those who were inside Nandigram were butchered in a massive celebration of revenge. Presently, the Nandigram sky is reverberating with the scream of the recent batch of refugees. The Governor must have been informed of the developments by the secretaries. Much concerned, he must have appealed to the honchos of the ministry to keep peace. But to no effect. The rampage is going on as we speak. And so is the blood bath. The Governor has made a public statement condemning the incident. I dont know if what he said, how he said it falls within the framework of the Constitution. Those who have not forgotten the framework of humanism, however, will not have two minds about it. The problem does not involve Singur and Nandigram alone. It is much more deep and serious. The repetition of mistakes has become a habit. Just consider this for a minute. It has only been a year and a half since the Left Front has won a massive mandate; and what examples of arrogance and stupidity during this brief span! Come what may, we shall have control over every nook and corner of the State. The cricket board will get its chief elected to our dictates. If our candidate loses we would say, evil power has won, we will chase him out. Not only the ordinary people, economic thinkers have offered diverse views over land acquisition in Singur and Nandigram. These different opinion holders are nothing but bookworms, what do they know about running a government! Consequently prominent economist and party comrade of 84

the stature of Prabhat Patnaik is hounded. We are an all-knowing government: from cricket, poetry, theatre, films to the magic of land acquisitionwe know everything. Neither should anyone lecture us on the pros and cons of the nuclear deal, for we have won 235 seats. Jyoti Basu won more seats in 1987; he was not heard to mouth such hubris. Not only hubris, add inaptitude to it. Decades have passed shouting hoarse about universal education, and still West Bengal is behind so many States. Money is flowing in from the Centre for employment generation schemes, there is zero administrative initiative, the hungry and the unemployed go hungry and unemployed. The Centre has arrangement for wheat and rice; these are not even lifted so that they could be sent to the middle and lower class through the ration system. There are uncountable errors and omissions in the list of people living below the poverty line. The shortcomings in the State over empowering the minorities have been detailed in the Sachar Committee report. Take the incident surrounding the death of Rizwanur Rahman. If the police chief of Kolkata along with his cohorts were removed the very evening in which he let his social philosophy known at a press conference and if the investigation were handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation, public rage would not have assumed such ominous proportions. Instead we witnessed an extraordinary serial exhibition of a strange paralysis. Examples go on mounting. Three decades ago when the Left Front government took the oath of office it was not to sit at Writers building and indulge in empty talks. But to be one with the people, listening to them and after realising the advice of the people with due humility to design government programmes to implement it. Improvization of the Panchayat system was precisely for this purpose. Yet, all this have somehow become stagnant. Though panchayats are elected democratically they are in a sorry state today. The little money that reaches them is not properly utilized, plenty of it disappears into dark tunnels. It is not possible therefore to avoid the unpleasant truth anymore. One can borrow S.D. Burmans song to describe what the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was in this State a few decades ago, you are not what you were. Ninety percent of its members have joined after 1977, 70 percent after 1991. They do not know the history of sacrifices of the party. To them ideological commitment to revolution and socialism is simply a fading folktale. As the new ideology is development, many of them are associated with the party in the search for personal development. They have come to take, not to give. They are learning different tricks so as to appropriate various privileges by aligning with the governing party. One efficient way to bag privileges is to flatter the masters. The party has turned into a wide open field of flatterers and court jesters. Moreover, there has been a rising dominance of anti-socials. For different reasons, every political party has to lend patronage to anti-socials, they remain in the background and are called into duty at urgent times. In the 1970s these anti-socials had reached the top rung of Congress party. I fear same fate is awaiting the communist party. Many of the old people, long time and still party members, who have been through numerous sacrifices and are idealists, are a disheartened, disillusioned lot today. But any organized protest will face party disciplinary action, what will be their support in the twilight of life if the party throws them out? 85

I feel sorry for Jyoti Basu. Of the four ministerial colleagues who took the oath as members of the first Left Front government with him on 21 June 1977, only I am still alive. His current state of an imprisoned Shah Jahan saddens the heart deeply. State leadership does not heed the little advice he tries to offer from time to time. If his talks are a tad uncomfortable for the party they are not published in the party organs. Every Friday after the meeting of the party secretaries he comes downstairs and is made to say different things; what he says today may completely be the opposite of what he had said the last time. But my real concern lies elsewhere. Mamata Banerjee is the safest insurance for the current ruling party. Urban, rural masses may have become discontented with the Left Front, but whenever they imagine Mamata Banerjees ascent to power, the sheer terror of that possibility has made them vote for the Left Front. But if it comes to a situation that the hubris and ineptitude of leaders of the Left Front government frustrate them so much that they begin to think there is no difference really, its all tweedledum and tweedledee, that will be a real disaster. For notice the behaviour, patronage, programme, mode of action, speech of Mamata Banerjeeshe personifies fascism. My ardent appeal to the central leadership of the party which I still love to think to be mine, please think it over, you shiver at the terror of Maoism, will that shivering compel you to throw West Bengal into the gutter of fascism? Ashok Mitra Former Finance Minister, West Bengal
(Translated from Bengali by Debarshi Das, Sanhati. The original article appeared in The Anandabazaar Patrika, 15 November 2007)

A resident of Gokulnagar besides her burned down house

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CALCUTTA HIGH COURT JUDGMENT:

'14 MARCH POLICE FIRING UNCONSTITUTIONAL'

Some excerpts from the Calcutta High Court judgment on the 14 March police firing. The judgment was delivered on 16 November 2007. Full text of the judgment is available in Annexure-Y.

1. The action of the police department to open fire at Nandigram on 14.03.07 was wholly unconstitutional and cannot be justified under any provision of the law. 2. The Court was justified in taking suo motu notice of the wholly indefensible incident of police firing at Nandigram on 14.03.07, on the basis of the Newspaper reports; and the statement made by his Excellency, the Governor of West Bengal as reported in the newspaper Hindustan Times. 3. The PIL instituted by the Bas Association of High Court, Calcutta and the other petitions are maintainable. 4. This Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India would have the power to direct the CBI to hold enquiry in any particular case or matter, Consent of the State Government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Establishment Act, 1946 would not be required, when the order for CBI enquiry is passed by the High Court in exercise of its jurisdiction under Article 226/227 of the Constitution of India. Till the reference to the Larger Bench in Civil Appeal Nos. 6249-6250 of 2001 is decided this Court in bound by the law as already declared by the Supreme Court in the case of Sampat Lal & Ors. (supra). Even otherwise in this case consent has been given by the Chief Minister in the statement made in the West Bengal State Legislative Assembly on 15 th of March, 2007. Therefore, the objection raised by the Advocate General is not maintainable. 5. The action of the police cannot be protected or justified on the ground of sovereign immunity. 6. The action of the police cannot be justified even under the provisions of Criminal Procedure Code; The Police Act, 1861 or The Police Regulations, 1943. 7. Regulation 155(b) is ultra vires Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. 14 innocent persons have been killed in the police firing on 14 th of March, 2007. As stated by us in the preceding paragraphs herein above 13 persons who have died as a result of indiscriminate police firing have actually been identified. Even their addresses have been given in the earlier part of the judgment. Only the 14 th person who died has not been identified. 162 persons have been injured. Details of 80 such persons have been given in the affidavit filed by the petitioners. We have also noticed above the details of some of the women who had been raped. We therefore, direct the State of West Bengal to pay immediate compensation to the relations of the victims who have died or were injured and the victims of rape as follows: In Civil Writ Petition No. 859 (W) of 2007, the prayer of the petitioners is to pay adequate compensation to the victims of police firing on 14 th of March 2007, in view of the acts of omission and commission on the part of the State Government and its officers and its failure to protect 87

the people of Nandigram and its surrounding areas. The petitioners have claimed compensation at the rate not less that Rs. 10 (ten) lakhs to the families of each of those who were killed. No figure has been mentioned with regard to the injured persons. However, a prayer has been made for payment of compensation, which shall not be less that Rs. 8 (eight) lakhs in case of rape victims and adequate compensation in other cases of molestation and sexual assoult. Following the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Peoples Union For Democratic Rights (supra), 1. We direct the State of West Bengal to pay to the victims of the deceased as a result of the indiscriminate police firing on 14 th of March, 2007 immediate compensation in the sum of Rs. 5 (five) lakhs each. 2. We further direct the State Government to pay immediate compensation to the persons who were injured and whose particulars have been given in the pleadings sum of Rs. not less that 1 (one) lakh each. 3. We further direct the State Government to pay compensation to the victims of rape who have been duly identified in the pleadings a sum of Rs. 2 (two) lakhs each. We make it clear that the compensation awarded above is without prejudice to the legal rights of the victims to claim higher compensation by taking proceedings in accordance with law. The payments shall be made within a period of one (1) month from today. During the course of hearing of these matters interim directions had been given on a number of occasions. It was, however, brought to the notice of this Court that the State Government had miserably failed to carry out the directions. Even in cases where the directions were implemented it was done in a manner which resulted in little benefit to the segment of the population which was sought to be benefited. We, therefore, direct the State Government to implement all the directions issued by this Court on 15 th of March, 2007, 2nd of May, 2007 and 3rd of May, 2007. In view of the clear enunciation of law as noticed above, we have no hesitation in directing the CBI to continue with inquiry as directed by the order dated 15 th of March, 2007. The CBI is directed to conduct a thorough and detailed investigation and submit a comprehensive report to this Court. The report should inter alia clearly set out the crimes that have been committed against any individual; the victims should be identified; the offenders should likewise be identified. Thereafter, the report should set out as to whether any departmental action or criminal proceedings have been intitiated against any individual or officer(s) who have transgressed any provision of law. The CBI is further directed to take necessary steps before the appropriate forum/Court of Law, if necessary i.e, registration an initiation of Criminal proceedings, if necessary, in accordance with law. We further make it clear that all these steps should be taken by the CBI including such investigation and the filing of such report within a period of a month from date. These directions shall be in continuation of the directions given on the earlier occasions. sd/(S. S. NIJJAR, C.J.) sd/(PINAKI CHANDRA GHOSH, J.)

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REPORT OF AN INDEPENDENT CITIZENS TEAM FROM KOLKATA

Current State of Affairs in Nandigram, 30 November 2007
s a result of an initiative instituted by womens groups, womens organizations and individuals, an eleven member womens team of concerned citizens from Kolkata comprising teachers, social activists, researchers and students visited Nandigram, on 24 November 2007. Concerned about the repeated disruption of peace in the region, the members decided to visit the affected areas and talk to the local people, with the objectives of showing solidarity with the survivors of violence, documenting peoples needs in the current circumstances, and drawing up recommendations based on our understanding of the situation. The people who constituted this team were Kavita Panjabi, Anuradha Kapoor, Rajashri Dasgupta, Saswati Ghosh, Shyamoli Das, Swapna Banerjee, Trina Nileena Banerjee, Shuktara Lal, Sushmita Sinha, Shubhasree Bhattacharya and Sourinee Mirdha. On arrival in Nandigram at the Relief Camp at Brij Mohan Tiwari Shiksha Niketan, the team split into two groups. One talked to the people in the Relief Camp, the other to a woman who had been sexually assaulted, and the injured in Nandigram Hospital. One group then proceeded to the villages of Sonachura and Garchakraberia, also stopping at the Bhangaberia Bridge where the CRPF is stationed; the other half of the team went to the village of Daudpur. This interim report comprises the general findings and recommendations of all the members of the team that visited Nandigram on 24 November. The specific testimonies and individual stories will be included in the final report.

2.

Primary Findings:
1. Overall there is a reign of terror; the people are marked by deep fear, disillusionment and depression. Since January, Nandigram has been marked by the violence of the state in tandem with the ruling CPI(M), and the retaliatory attacks by the BUPC. The massive attack of the state on the BUPC procession on 14 March 2007, clearly violated all democratic norms and involved armed police, para-military forces, as well as armed party cadres, including rampant shooting and widespread sexual

3.

abuse of women. Subsequently, in numerous villages post-14 March, there were reports that many CPI(M) supporters were forced to flee to relief camps in Khejuri and that their homes were ransacked and looted by BUPC supporters. There has been continued violence since on both sides. However, the build up in the area of the CPI(M) militia, the Harmad Bahini, the brutal firing by CPI(M) cadres on 6 November 2007 of BUPC members in Satengabari, Ranichak, Bhangabera and Sonachura, and the torching of nine villages including Simulkunda and Satengabari, followed by the attack on 10 November 2007 at Maheshpur village in Nandigram, when armed CPI(M) cadres fired bullets indiscriminately at a peace rally organized by BUPC with the police taking no steps to intervene, all demonstrate the scale and might of the violence exercised by the ruling CPI(M), with the full support of the state. The people of Nandigram are now living in terror of the CPI(M) which has now taken over most of the Nandigram villages and is out to extract vengeance on the BUPC and its supporters. Criminals who have killed, sexually assaulted and injured people continue to threaten the population of the villages. Many who had tried to return to their villages but had to come back to the Relief Camp spoke of bombs and firing that they heard even on the 23rd night when they had tried to return to their homes. And the night-time threats, especially against women, also continue. Across all the villages, people testified to the complete loss of political freedomthey are being forced to pledge their allegiance to one particular party or the other, and they talked angrily about their right to decide which party they wanted to support. The people in the camp, as well as the majority in the villages, have lost all confidence in the government, administration and police. At the Relief Camp at Brij Mohan Tiwari Shiksha Niketan in Nandigram town, villagers testified to rampant firing, brutal killing and large-scale threats by the cadres of the CPI(M), the ruling party, across the villages of

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4.

Gokulnagar, Kalicharanpur, Adhikaripara, Simulkunda and Satengabari. About 20,000 25,000 people have left their homes according to people in the camps. Of them, 3,000 to 3,500 people had been living in this camp, approximately 1,500 of whom were still there on 24 November. The Peoples Health doctors working in the Relief Camp said they had not received any complaints of sexual or physical assault, but mainly childrens health related complaints, like cough, fever, diarrhoea. However, many people in the camp carried scars of deep bullet injuries on their faces, stomachs and legs and women told us about a woman who had been gang raped in Satengabari by 67 men, who is now in Tamluk hospital. Both her daughters, one about 17, one younger, were abducted. They are still missing. Further, hundreds of women who had fled Kalicharanpur, Adhikaripara, Simulkunda and Satengabari in fear of sexual assault were still in the Nandigram camp. They testified that not only had their homes been looted and burnt down, in villages like Satengabari they had also been severely threatened by CPI(M) cadres, who came around saying Well come back at nightlight your lamps and wait for us with open doors. Send your men away, well come back to you at night. How can we stay in a place under such threats? the women asked. Women of these villages are still living in fear of being sexually abused, and young girls have been sent to relatives homes elsewhere. The fear and insecurity of the villagers especially the women at the Nandigram camphas been so high that they have refused to go back to their villages till the CRPF is posted there to ensure their safety and protect them from the violent vengeance of the Harmad Bahini, comprising of CPI(M) cadres. Extensive physical abuse and sexual abuse of women, ranging from rape and forcing of rods into womens vaginas, to rampant sexual harassment, as well as abduction of girls has been reported since March this year, but not much has been done to provide relief to the women, or to initiate investigation against and punish the perpetrators. Such violence against women continues, accompanied by terrifying threats, and there is no evidence of any steps having been taken to curb either.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Some of the people who had participated in the unarmed march to Maheshpur on 10 November were arrested and locked up for three days in the school building. The women were subjected to repeated sexual harassment by male CPI(M) cadres who claimed the women were Maoists. In villages such as Garchakraberia, where the CRPF has already been posted, normal life and activity seem to have returned; however, there is simmering tension and fear under the facade of peace. At night, when CRPF personnel go off vigil, assailants begin their attacks again; so people have been forced to flee their homes at night and take shelter elsewhere from fear of reprisal. Villagers claim this is a forced calm and are terrified of what may happen when the CRPF is withdrawn. Some residents of Sonachura also expressed their anger and frustration at the TMC leaders of the BUPC for keeping their own women safe at home, while forcing other women in the villages to join the BUPC marches and threatening to beat and burn down the homes of all who refused. Many people in Sonachura were also scared of admitting to the violence they have faced from the CPI(M), claiming that they had been threatened into silence. The situation in Daudpur is still very tense and the administration should take immediate measures to address this. There is resentment and anger brewing among the villagers. People openly accuse each other of violence while questioning the authority and corruption of particular CPI(M) leaders. Some villagers also claimed that the BUPC forced people to volunteer to stand as night guards against the armed attacks from CPI(M)s Harmad Bahini after 28 October. Villagers testified that the police are playing a partisan role. BUPC members returning to their villages were being arrested, some on false charges. Others are being levied exorbitant fines to compensate for the damages done to the CPI(M) families in the last 11 months. Complaints about the atrocities of the CPI(M) followers were either not registered, or the accused were released after being arrested, without any of the legal procedures being followed.

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10. The senior police officer at the Relief Camp refused to comment on most of our questions. He i) hinted at pressure from some political parties, ii) implied that work was being made difficult due to interference, iii) said peace is returning to the villages, but the situation is still difficult. 11. While language is proving to be a barrier for the CRPF in dealing with the volatile situation here, there are apparent efforts to restore peace, including red-flag processions etc. But the atmosphere outside the temporary protection of the Relief Camp is of extreme terror. In spite of all apparent efforts and assurance on the part of the authorities, this terror is persistent. 12. There is a tremendous breakdown of trust. The villages of Nandigram are zones of pregnant silence todaythey are zones of seething fear, terror, suspicion and threat. Common people are suffering and living in fear and their tragedy is heightened because of the partisan role played by the police

4.

5.

Recommendations:
1. Non-partisan, just and effective action on the part of the State is the most basic and critical factor for restoring peace in Nandigram. The Government must strengthen administrative structures and ensure impartial and immediate action on the part of the administration to instill confidence in the people and normalize the situation in Nandigram. Conditions must be created for people to renew their daily social and economic activities without fear and apprehension of reprisal. The violence in Nandigram must be stopped. i) All arms in the possession of the entire population of all the villages of Nandigram must be confiscated; ii) The area must be rid of all outside cadres; iii) All criminals, irrespective of political affiliation must be arrested immediately and tried; and iv) effective vigilance should be set in place against all those indulging in retaliatory and revengeful acts that will derail the peace process. We demand responsible action now from all the political parties too. They must stop exploiting 6.

7.

2.

3.

the situation, abstain from violence, and play a constructive role in bringing peace back to Nandigram. Rape and sexual assault have clearly become dominant weapons of war in the crossfire between vested political interests in Nandigram. i) Urgent measures must be taken by the administration and the police to stop this immediately. ii) Perpetrators have been resorting to sexual assault on women to intimidate, humiliate and subjugate the opposition, while the opposition has been using incidents of rape to discredit the ruling party, not to seek justice for the women affected. We demand a complete and immediate stop to such practices and to all threats of sexual violence too. The administration should also ensure that all rape cases are registered, thoroughly investigated and followed up. Cases where women have been brutally assaulted should also receive the attention they merit and should not be brushed aside merely because the case was not one of rape. Sexual assault is a serious offense and must be dealt with as such. All victims of sexual assault must be provided immediate medical treatment and their privacy respected and dignity upheld. Both men, and large numbers of women, especially those subject to sexual assault and/or rape, are now severely traumatized and have sunk into visibly deep depression or shock. The government should set up a counselling cell in Nandigram or authorize an NGO to do so for the purpose of trauma alleviation. Those who are suffering from the latest violence, as well as those who have been injured earlier in the year, cannot afford the medication required. Many cannot work as they could earlier. On both counts, their livelihood is adversely affected. Compensation to the injured and raped, and to the families of the dead should be made available on an urgent basis. Women and children have been the worst sufferers of the violence; attention should be paid to their special needs, and efforts made to restore their dignity and confidence in the process of rehabilitation. The SDO/BDO should ensure that the grant promised to repair houses must be distributed without any partisan preference.

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8.

The presence of the CRPF can ensure only a temporary and forced calm. This is no solution to the reign of terror. The state must set in place peacemaking efforts, and involve all political parties and peoples organizations in the region to renew the democratic process and enable citizens to reclaim the lost democratic space for a lasting and just peace in the area. Peoples political rights must be ensured. Democracy

does not mean the rule of the majority only, but ensuring the rights and respect of the minority and those holding opposing political opinions and beliefs too. Concerted efforts have to be made, across all political differences, to control the spate of vengeance, and rebuild the confidence of the people of Nandigram who are living with violence as well as the fear of violence on a day-to-day basis.

The body of BUPC supporter Haren Pramanik, who was abducted and allegedly killed by CPI(M) cadre on 7 November, being exhumed from a rice field near Maheshpur

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NOTES
1. Appeal on Nandigram Violence The continuing violence in Nandigram, West Bengal resulting in needless death and injury to innocent villagers, has become a cause of great concern to people all over India. Whatever may have been the initial reasons for the start of the conflict it is clear from media reports and eyewitness accounts that the situation now is spinning out of control, resulting in a fratricidal war between different sections of the local population. It is also evident that over the past several months of agitation and turmoil thousands of ordinary people- of all political hues- are unable to make a livelihood, go about their daily work or even enjoy the basic right to sleep without fear. Women in particular have been severely affected while many children are unable to attend school normally. There is an urgent need to make all out efforts to restore peace in the area to prevent further loss of life. We the undersigned appeal to all those concerned, particularly the central and State governments to ensure that: Immediate peace talks be initiated between the different factions involved in the violence, if necessary under the aegis of an independent body acceptable to all; All differences between various factions, including state agencies, are settled in a democratic and responsible manner; An impartial inquiry conducted into the cause of violence and justice ensured to all those whose human rights have been violated in any form. Signed: Justice V.R.Krishna Iyer, Ashok Vajpeyi, K.Satchidanandan, M.T.Vasudevan Nair, Nandita Das, Lalita Ramdas, Admiral (Retd.) R.Ramdas, Nandini Sundar 2. Members of the Secretariat: Sanjay Mitra, Ph. 94335 90347, Mail: [email protected] Satya Sivaraman, Ph. 0 98185 14952, Mail: [email protected] Subhasis Mukherjee Ph. 94331 07434, Mail: [email protected] Nilanjan Dutta, Ph. 98310 66571, Mail: [email protected] Santanu Chakraborty, Ph.98310 34089, Mail: [email protected] Debapriya Mallick, Ph. 98305 10911) E-mail: [email protected] Harsh Dobhal, Ph. 09818569021 Mail: [email protected] Krishnna Bandyopadhyay, Ph.98304 06870, Mail: [email protected] Ruby Mukherjee, Ph. 09818569021 Mail: [email protected] Tarun Basu, Ph. 2571 0296 Mail: [email protected] N Srinivasan, Ph. 09840081114 Mail: [email protected] Apoorva Anand Ph. (011) 2649 5976 Mail: [email protected] 3. Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram Incident of 14 March, 2007 To be held during 26-27 May 2007 at Gokulnagar Gobinda Jiu Primary School premises and at University Institute Library Hall, Kolkata on 28 May 2007at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. NOTIFICATION WHEREAS on 14 March 2007, a large section of people/local residents protesting against the entry of the huge armed contingent of police and other categories of armed forces in Nandigram area, East Medinipur, West Bengal, were attacked and killed, injured by the police firing; AND whereas 14 people including women (according to the Government version) were killed by the state violence/state supported violence, many women and men were severely injured by firing, lathi-beating and /or use of toxic materials; And whereas there were also incidents of arson, carnage, violence, killings and flight from affected villages starting from the months of January, including the incidents of violence on 6 / 7th January;

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4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22.

And whereas there has been continuation of such violence even after the 14 March incident, including 30th April; And whereas there has been considerable public reaction, outcry and commotion over the14 March incident; and other incidents of violence; and whereas it has been prima-facie established that the police action is violative of Article 21 of the constitution of India and various provisions of the laws of the land and of human rights. And whereas the All India Citizens initiatives are of the firm opinion that it is necessary to constitute a peoples tribunal for the purpose of finding truth about the aforesaid matter(s) which is a definite matter of public importance; And whereas no Judicial Inquiry Commission has been set up by the Government authorities to inquire into the aforesaid matter(s); Now , in these circumstances, the All India Citizens Initiatives comprising of eminent citizens from various sections of society of India, decide to set up a Peoples Tribunal consisting of some judges and juries namely Justice S. N. Bhargava, Retired Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court, Lalita Ramdas, Social Activist, John Dayal, Human Rights Activist, Dr. Jyotirmay Samajder, Psychiatrist (For Terms of Reference of Tribunal see Introduction) With this TERMS OF REFERENCE, the TRIBUNAL is now issuing a public notification [ref.no PTN-0/05/07 dated 16/05/07] inviting the State government, District Administration, East Medinipur, including police administration of both State and District level, the Chief Medical Officer of Health of the District and other doctors and sisters attached to health and hospitals of the district, political parties, associations /organizations /(mass and /or social)/NGOs, members of the public having knowledge or acquainted with the INCIDENT or other incidents or facts relevant to the above TERMS OF REFERENCE, to furnish to the tribunal Statements of Facts relating to the aforesaid incident or the above terms of reference, in the manner as will be mentioned in the second public notice to be published within a day or two. [B-iii: Find copy of the advt. ] Find copy of the Leaflet as B-v-Leaflet in Annexure-B Copy of the letter to Home Secretary. Similar letters were sent to other administrative officers Find copy of the FAX to DM, East Medinipur as B-vi in Annexure-B Find copy of letter as B-vii in Annexure-B Find the copy of the cover page of the Book as B-viii in Annexure-B Find copy of the letter from DM, East Medinipur and its reply from the Secretariat as B-ix in Annexure B Adapted from Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) Source: Census of India 2001 Source: Kanika Datta, Rediff news, 24.3.07 The Salim Group was founded by Sudono Salim, closely associated with Indonesian ex-president Suharto. Suharto has been accused widely, particularly by communists the world over including the CPI(M), of overseeing the murder of thousands of communists during his reign, helped Salim monopolize the Indonesian cement and flour industries. The Statesman, November 15, 2006 as B-xiv in Annexure-B Annexure-E1-Gov-affdvt/P-178 Annexure-E1-Gov-affdvt/P-179 Copy of the notification issued by Haldia Development Authority as B-xvii-HDA Notification Deposition made by Nabadwip Das Adhikari of Gokulnagar [Annexure-A-1 /WD-60/27] Affidavit on behalf of the State of West Bengal ; in the matter of AST No. 2007 as Annexure-E-1/Page 6-7 The Statesman: 04/01/07 as B-xx-SM-4-1-07 in Annexure-B Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today parried questions on the mob fury and attack on a police contingent at Nandigram and said no notification for acquiring 25,000 acres of land for Salim Group projects had as yet been issued. The Chief Ministers comment, however, did little to clarify the situation regarding the notice issued by the Haldia Development Authority to gram panchayats even though it is yet to be served on individual landholders. The Statesman: 04/01/07 as B-xx in Annexure-B-Notes Page 11 of the Gov. Affidavit in the matter of AST No. 2007 [Annexure-A-1/Page-11]

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23. Dainik Statesman 06/01/07; Find the copy of the news as B-xxiii in Annexure-B 24. Annexure-T; Dibakar Bhattacharya 25. Deposition made by Gautam Das Adhikari (Vide Written depositions No.WD-25/27) Dainik Statesman: 06/01/07; Find the copy of the news as B-xxv-DS-6-1-07 in Annexure-B 26. Quote from page 8-9 of the Affidavit submitted by the Government of West Bengal (v) Several meetings were held on 5.1.2007 by TMC leaders, BJP leaders, PDS leaders and in the banner of Jana Unnayan O Gana Adhikar Sangram Samiti protesting against the proposed acquisition of land and the local people became quite agitated. In the meantime, several roads had been dug up by the agitated mob and some bridges and culverts damaged by them. 27. The Statesman 5.1.07; Find the copy of the news as B-xxvii-SM-6-1-07 in Annexure-B 28. The Statesman: 06/01/07; Find the copy of the news as B-xxviii in Annexure-B 29. The Statesman: 06/01/07; Find the copy of the news as B-xxviii in Annexure-B 30. The Statesman: 06/01/07: Find the copy of the news as B-xxviii in Annexure-B 31. The Statesman: 07/01/07; Find the copy of the news as B-xxxi in Annexure-B 32. Vide Written Deposition No. WD-83/27 33. For copy see Page-42-43 of Annexure-C 34. Vide Written Deposition No. WD-85/27 in Annexure A1 35. Vide Written Deposition No. WD-18/26 in Annexure A1 36. Vide Written Deposition No. WD-42/26 in Annexure A1 37. The Statesman: 08/01/07; Find copy of the news as B-xxxviiSM-8-1-07 in Annexure-B 38. The Telegraph 08/01/07; Find copy of the news as B-xxxviii-TG-8-1-07 in Annexure-B 39. Notes on the Terror and Violence in West Bengal [Keshpur etc.] in 2000 In a letter dated 29th August, 2000, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India informed West Bengal State Government of political clashes, terror and violence including On 21st August, a mob of 2000 armed CPI(M) supporters attacked Siribani, Bagakhali, Sriharipur, Bajuberia and Guaidaha villages under Keshpur Police Station. On 22nd August, 800/900 CPI(M) supporters raided villages viz. Bailtal, Ekdia, Palaschabri, Kursikala and Parsia under Chandrakona PS (Medinipur Distt.) On August 26, 500-600 CPI(M) followers attacked villages of Simla, Radhanagar and Palash Chapri under PS Chandrakona Town and 300 CPI(M) supporters attacked villages Bamunbera Kribigha, Maharajpur and Agmura under PS Keshpur. On August 27, 500 CPI(M) activists and 600 TC activists clashed intermittently at Akura, Rajagram, Maharajpur and Bela Villages under PS Keshpur. A letter was sent by Jyoti Basu, the then Chief Minister, Government of West Bengal [No. 132-CM] dated September 13, 2000 to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, regarding the law and order situation in West Bengal. In reply a long letter dated 15 September, 2000 was sent to Jyoti Basu, by L.K. Advani, the then Union Home Minister, giving a description of the political clashes, terror and violence in West Bengal [Medinipur [Midnapur] etc.]. The letter was made available openly on 16 September 2000 by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. It was recorded [and the incidents have been reported by official agencies of the government] that In the year 2000 [first 8 months], Medinipur district has witnessed 176 political clashes in which 64 people died, 707 were injured, and numerous left homeless. There have been 58 incidents in Hooghly, 28 in Burdwan, 20 in South 24-Paraganas and 16 in North24 Parganas. In Medinipur district, in August alone there were 59 political clashes. The Union Home Minister saidI am dismayed to point out that our principal concern about continued political violence in certain parts of the State has remained largely unaddressed. If the State administration is taking effective steps to control the violence, there is very little evidence thereof by way of results. The Union Home Ministers letter described that many of these villages are inhabited by persons of the minority community and members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

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40. 41.

42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66.

Deputations from Confederation of OBCs, SCs, STs and Minorities, teachers and traders organizations have also met the Governor of West Bengal and submitted memoranda describing the gravity of violence and consequent danger to their lives. 25,000 to 35,000 persons are reported to have fled from their villages and are living in the open. An opposition partys deputation submitted to the Governor, that, inter alia, large quantities of illegal arms were being procured from the Sirigbhum district of Bihar and transported to the Medinipur district of West Bengal under a plan allegedly evolved by a Minister in the WB Government. Thousands of villagers have been driven out of their homes and are living in makeshift camps. About 2,000 people who were taking shelter in Ramkrishna Mission Ashram in Kotalpur in Bankura district were attacked with bombs. The Telegraph: 08/01/07 : Find copy of the news as B-xl-TG-8-1-07 in Annexure-B The Telegraph: 08/01/07: Find copy of the news as B-xli-TG-8-1-07 in Annexure-B This is a highly provocative statementis the reaction expressed by Sri Tarun Kanti Naskar in his deposition (No.K-3) in the Kolkata session of the Tribunal on 28.5.07. He stated thatIn accordance to the aforementioned leaders claim, a sort of economic embargo was imposed on the people of Nandigram depriving them of their democratic rights to travel and carryout business in any part of the country whatsoever. -the ferry services over the Haldi river was suspended by the administration, preventing people of Nandigram from travelling to their workplaces on the other side of the river, and from carrying their goods and products in and out of Nandigram for business and for procuring their necessities. This is an infringement on the rights of the people of Nandigram; it is a direct repressive and condemnable action of the government to enforce such a revengeful scheme purposefully and intentionally on the people of its own State. [Annexure-M/ Page-2] Find copy of DMs Memo No. 14/C dated 08/01/07 as B-xlii in Annexure-B Copy of page 12 of the Affidavit on Behalf of the State government as B-xliii in Annexure-B The Statesman: 10/01/07 : Find copy of the news as B-xliv in Annexure-B Dainik Statesman: 10.01.07: Find copy of the news as B-xlv in Annexure-B The Telegraph: 11/01/07: Find copy of the news as B-xlvi in Annexure-B Page 12 of Gov. Affidavit as in Annexure-E-1 The Telegraph: 13/01/07: Find copy of the news as B-xlviii in Annexure-B The Telegraph: 15/01/07: Find copy of the news as B-xlix in Annexure-B Dainik Statesman: 31/01/07: Find copy of the news as B-l in Annexure-B Dainik Statesman: 01/02/07: Find copy of the news as B-li in Annexure-B The Telegraph: 05/02/07: Find copy of the news as B-lii in Annexure-B Page 16 of Gov. Affidavit as B-liii in Annexure-B The Statesman 8.2.07 Find copy in B-liv-SM-8-2-07 in Annexure-B Page 17 of Gov. Affidavit as B-lv-Gov-Aff in Annexure-B Section 30 of Page 12 in the matter of Court on its own motion and AST No. 205 of 2007 The Statesman 17.2.07 Find as B-lvii-SM-17-2-07 in Annexure-B The Statesman: 06/03/07; Find copy of the news as B-lviii-SM-6-3-07 in Annexure-B The Statesman: 06/03/07; Find copy of the news as B-lix-SM-6-3-07 in Annexure-B Section 33 of Page 13 in the matter of Court on its own motion and AST No. 205 of 2007 Resolution of the meeting convened on 10.3.07 as B-lxi-Meeting-DM in Annexure-B Dainik Statesman: 12/03/07: Find copy of the news as B-lxii-DS-12-3-07 in Annexure-B Dainik Statesman: 12/03/07: Find copy of the news as B-lxiii-DS-12-3-07 in Annexure-B Section 35 of Page 14 in the matter of Court on its own motion and AST No. 205 of 2007 Dainik Statesman: 14/03/07: Find copy of the news as B-lxv-DS-14-3-07 in Annexure-B View of APDR regarding alertness of the Administration In the written submission of APDR it is stated in page-3 that The (APDR) team met Nilanjana Dasgupta, SDO, Tamluk Sub-Division, on 15 March evening at Tamluk Hospital. According to Nilamjana Dasgupta, SDO, Tamluk

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67. 68. 69.

70.

Sub-Division, the action on 14 March 2007 in Nandigram was not known in advance by her. No discussion on such an action being taken by the District Administration took place beforehand. She was also not sure whether there was any provocation that led to the decision to use police force, as the area was cut off from the rest of the district and they had no idea of what was happening inside. She had heard that a gang rape had taken place there, which may have been causative factor, but was not able to say whether this was a confirmed report. She also said there was some concern about rising food prices and food shortage in the area. The fact that things spun out of control of the District Administration can be gauged from the fact that SDO Tamluk Sub-Division was in a development meeting that day when the firing was taking place. All BDOs and Sabhapatis of the blocks in Tamluk Sub-Division were with her. She was asked at 2.30 p.m. to stop the meeting and to rush to the district hospital immediately to get the hospital ready to receive the wounded from Nandigram. [Annexure-H-APDR/Page-3] Annexure-C/ Page-15-16 See Chapter 2 The news has filled me with a sense of cold horror The news of deaths by police firing in Nandigram this morning has filled me with a sense of cold horror. We will soon know more details of the sequence of events that led to this tragedy. But the poinr uppermost in my mind is not who started it, who provoked it' or whether there were agent-provocaturs behind it. Investigations will reveal that. The thought in my mind and of all sensitive people now iswas this spilling of human blood not avoidable? What is the public purpose served by the use of force that we have witnessed today? Force against anti-national elements, terrorists, extremists, insurgents, is one thing. The receiving end of the force used today does not belong to that order. What I advised government over the last two days, as I received inputs of rising tension in Nandigram, government knows. It is not my intention to enter into blame-fixing. But I cannot be so casual to the oath I have taken as to restrict my reaction to a pious expression of anguish and outrage. I trust the government will not only go into the whys and wherefores of this tragic occurence but will also ensure that it leaves no room for a repetition of the kind of trauma witnessed today. I leave it to the conscience of the officials responsible to atone for the event in the manner they deem fit. But I also expect the government to do what it thinks is necessary to mitigate the effects of this bitter March 14, and to do it visibly and fast. Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Governor of West Bengal (This statement was released from Raj Bhavan on Wednesday, 14 March 2007) IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Special Jurisdiction (Contemp) In the matter of : The Court on its own Motion The court on its own motion issued an order stating that All the newspapers throughout the Nation have today carried as lead articledescription of the action which has been taken by the West Bengal police against agitating farmers and other villagers in Nandigram village. Prima facie in a wholly indefensible manner innocent people have been shot down by none other than the uniformed police officers. There are at this stage many conflicting versions as to what actually transpired, but one conclusion is echoed by all those who are present in the Court, the newspapers and the electronic media, that there have been a large number of deaths which are directly attributable to the prolonged gunfire by the police of the State of West Bengal. It seems that if the Police Department which under the control of the Home Department is not aware of the existence of Article 21 of the Constitution of India; let alone the ambit of freedoms guaranteed to the citizens of this country, under this article. This article specifically guarantees thatNo person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Obvious of the aforesaid guarantee, the police has resorted to gun firing, on a large crowd, protesting against the proposal to acquire their land. Prima facie we are satisfied that this action of the police department is wholly unconstitutional and cannot be justified under any provision of law. There are normal remedies available to the State as also to the owners of the lands for redressal of the grievances with regard to the acquisition of land. Such kind of force cannot be justified except in the cases of armed insurgency or warlike situation. Innocent farmers and villagers can hardly be put into the aforesaid bracket. We take serious note of the observations made by His Excellency, the

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Governor of West Bengal as reported in the newspaperThe Hindustan times, on the front page under the news item headlines Governor Reacts which is quoted herein below: Prima facie we are of the opinion that that these observations clearly depict the extent of the tragedy which has overtaken the population of Nandigram in particular and the population of West Bengal in general. We, therefore, issue notice to the State of West Bengal through the Ministry of Home Affairs to file detailed affidavit setting out the reasons for the action which has been taken against the population of Nandigram by resorting to indiscriminate firing by the police. We have also received a communication by FAX from an institution National Alliance of Peoples Movements. We direct that the aforesaid letter be marked as annexure-A and also treated as a Public Interest Litigation. We also issue notice to this petition when it comes up. The affidavit should clearly indicate the entire history and the steps taken by the Government for maintaining the law and order. The affidavit should also identify the dignitary or any official which actually issued the order to fire upon the population of Nandigram. The affidavit should also disclose the material on the basis of which the order for firing was issued. The affidavit should further state as to what proceedings in accordance with the departmental rules and under the general Criminal Law have been initiated against any official who is found to have prima facie transgressed the power vested in the official or the other dignitaries. In view of the absolutely volcanic situation created, we are constrained to direct the State of West Bengal to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all the general public in the area. The State is also directed to take adequate measures to provide medical facilities to the injured villagers. In view of the emergent situation and the possibility of relevant evidence being lost/destroyed, we find it a fit case to direct that the matter be investigated by a Special Team, deputed by the Director of CBI The team shall visit Nandigram area and any other surrounding affected areas and collect the entire relevant material to be presented before this Court in the form of a report. Let the CBI team be despatched to Nandigram forthwith. The learned Standing Counsel for CBI, Ranjan Roy is directed to communicate this direction to the Director of CBI for implementation forthwith. Let both the matters be heard analogously. Xerox plain copy of this order duly countersigned by the Assisant Registrar (Court) be given to the learned Counsel for the parties on usual undertaking. Sd/- S. S. Nijjar, C. J. Sd/- Pinaki Chandra Ghosh, J. [Annexure-I-APDR & PBKMS Report] 71. The Statesman: 16/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxi-SM-16-3-07 in Annexure-B 72. The Telegraph: 16/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxii-TG-15-7-07 in Annexure-B 73. The Times of India: 16/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxiii-TG-16-7-07 in Annexure-B 74. The Statesman: 17/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxiv-17-3-07 in Annexure-B 75. The Statesman: 16/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxv-SM-16-3-07 in Annexure-B 76. The Telegraph: 17/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxvi-TG-17-3-07 in Annexure-B 77. The Telegraph: 17/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxvii-TG-17-3-07 in Annexure-B 78. The Telegraph: 17/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxviii-TG-17-3-07 in Annexure-B 79. The Telegraph: 18/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxii as B-lxxix-TG-15-3-07 in Annexure-B 80. The Statesman: 18/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxx-SM-18-3-07 in Annexure-B 81. Dainik Statesman: 18/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxi-DS-18-3-07 in Annexure-B 82. The Telegraph: 18/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxii-TG-18-3-07 in Annexure-B 83. The Statesman: 19/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxiii-SM-19-3-07 in Annexure-B 84 The Statesman: 20/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxiv-SM-20-3-07 in Annexure-B 85. The Statesman: 20/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxv-SM-20-3-07 in Annexure-B 86. The Statesman: 29/3/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxvi-SM-29-3-07 in Annexure-B 87. The Statesman: 4/4/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxvii-SM-4-4-07 in Annexure-B

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88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94.

95.

96. 97. 98.

The Statesman: 12/4/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxviii-sm-12-4-07 in Annexure-B The Telegraph: 14/4/07, Find copy of the news as B-lxxxix-tg-14-4-07 in Annexure-B The Statesman: 16/4/07, Find copy of the news as B-xc-sm-16-4-07 in Annexure-B The Telegraph: 1/5/07, Find copy of the news as B-xci-tg-1-5-07 in Annexure-B The Telegraph: Find copy of the news as B-lxxxv in Annexure-B As revealed from oral & written submissions The persons who made such statement in their depositions are: [Find statements in Annexure-A1] WD-18/26 & OD-3/26: Lakshan Chandra Das WD-42/26: Tapas Kr. Kar WD-45/26: Xxxx Yyyy WD-3/27: Khokan Adhikari WD-24/27: Ajay Kr. Gayen WD-25/27: Gautam Das Adhikari WD-60/27: Nabadwip Das Adhikari WD-71/27: Sumitra Das Adhikari WD-85/27: Pabitra Kr. Mandal Depositions with varied opinions: in Annexure-A-1 WD-53/27, WD-54/27, WD-55/27, WD-57/27, WD-58/27 leaders didnt tell about the danger WD-65/27, WD-66/27, WD-69/27 responded to the call of the leaders. WD-73/27, WD-74/27 responded to the call of the leader Hari Samanta. WD-37/27 local residents assured that there will be no danger. WD-38/27 local leaders did not tell them of the possible danger. WD-10/27, WD-11/27 said that there was no coercion, they came voluntarily. WD-37/26 responded to the call of Hari Samanta. He allured with prasad-bhog. $ WD-38/26 complained that she was misled, forced to join. Women sent out. Leaders did not take responsibility afterwards $ WD-42/26 -refers to a meeting of the BUPC on the night of 13th March in which it was decided to try to stop the police by mobilizing people around religious activity and minimise police action by keeping women in front. See deposition of WD-92/27, Annexure A1 See WD-92/27, Annexure A1 The following deponents vouched for the above: Annexure A1 WD-1/26 & )D-11 Kabita Bhuyian, (F), Jalpai WD-2/26 Madhuri Giri, (F), Kcharanpur WD-3/26 Renuka Sahu, (F), Kcharanpur WD-4/26 Rebati Pramanik,(F), Gnagar WD-5/26 Gita Dinda,(F), Keshabpur WD-6/26 Gobinda Paik, (M), Sonachura Jalpai WD-7/26 Sabitri Jana, (M), Kcharanpur WD-8/26 Mamata Mandal, (F), Gnagar WD-9/26 Jamuna Das, (F), Gnagar WD-10/26 Arati Mandal,(F). Gnagar WD-11/26 Pranati Maity,(F), Keshabpur WD-12/26 Shankari Sahu, (F), Kcharanpur WD-13/26 Durga Maity, (F), Kcharanpur

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WD-14/26 Rita Bera, (F), Kcharanpur WD-15/26 Sheikh Eshaq, (M), Jalpai WD-16/26 & OD-9 Angur Bala Bera, (F), Kcharanpur WD-17/26 & D-7 Rashida Bibi, (F), Jalpai WD-18/26 OD-8 Laxman Chandra Das, (M), Jalpai WD-19/26 & OD-6 Xx, (F), Gnagar WD-20/26 Yy, (F), Gnagar WD-21/26 Urmila Das, (F), Gnagar WD-22/26 Sailabala Das, (F0, Gnagar WD-23/26 & OD-19/27 Sarika Bibi, (F) Garchakraberia No 7 Jalpai WD-24/26 Arati Maity, (F), Kcharanpur WD-25/26 & OD-18/27 Sabita Das, (F), Gnagar WD-26/26 Pushpabala Das, (F), Sonachura WD-27/26 Kalyani Das(F) Kcharanpur WD-28/26 Archana Mandal, (F), Gnagar WD-29/26 Muktirani Das, (F), Gnagar WD-30/26 Gouri Mandal, (F), Kcharanpur WD-30A/26 & OD-5Neharan Bibi, (F), No 7 Jalpai WD-31/26 Khahirun Bibi, (F), No 7 Jalpai WD-32/26 Shovarani Sing, (F), Southkhali WD-33/26 Sandhyarani Sing, (F), Southkhali WD-34/26 Namita Das, (F), Keshabpur WD-35/26 Asiran Bibi, (F), Jalpai WD-36/26 Parixit Maity, (M), Kcharanpur WD-37/26 Nilima Das, (F), Kcharanpur WD-38/26 Purnima Das, (F), Kcharanpur WD-39/26 Radhakrishna Mandal, (M), Gnagar WD-40/26 Zz, (F), Southkhali WD-41/26 Poribala Dhapar, (F), Southkhali Jalpai WD-42/26 Tapas Kumar Kar, (M), Kcharanpur WD-43/26 Sandhya Dhapar, (F), Southkhali Jalpai WD-44/26 Bhabani Giri, (F), Kallicharanpur WD-45/26 Name not to be disclosed. WD-46/26 Name not to be disclosed WD-1/27 & OD-20 Gourirani Das (F), Kallicharanpur WD-2/27 & OD-25 Sulekha Das, (F), Kallicharanpur WD-3/27 & OD-27 Khokan Das Adhikari, (M), Gokulnagar. WD-4/27 & OD-22 Renuka Bala Kar, (F), Kcharanpur WD-6/27 & OD-21 Gitanjali Bijali, (F), Gnagar WD-7/27 Sabita Pramanik, (F),Gnagar WD-8/27 Sabitri Das Adhikari, (F), GNagar WD-9/27 Angur Bala Das, (F), GNagar $ WD-9A/27 Kabita Das (F), w/o Nitai Das,Gnagar (The statement recorded in presence of Dr. Mrs. Amita Dasgupta, who accompanied the Jury-members on 27.5.07) WD-9/27 Ganga Das, Gnagar. (Signed in the statement of her mother Angurbala Das)

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WD-10/27, Babita Das, Kcharanpur WD-11/27, Jayashri Mandal, Keshabpur WD-12/27 Jyotsna Giri, (F), Gnagar WD-13/27 Kamallata Das, (F), Kcharanpur WD-14/27 Namita Das Adhikari, Gnagar WD-15/27 Reena Arhi, Gnagar WD-16/27 Manju Arhi, Gnagar WD-17/27 Satyeswar Das Adhikari, Gnagar WD-18/27 Kamala Arhi, Gokulnagar WD-19/27 Tulsi Das Adhikari, Gnagar WD-20/27 Anna Rani Das, Kcharanpur WD-21/27 Arati Rani Sahu, Kcharanpur WD-22/27 Roma Mandal, Gnagar $ WD-23/27 Pushparanee Mandal, Jalpai $ WD-24/27 Ajoy Kumar Gayen, Gnagar $ WD-25/27 Gautam Das Adhikari, Gnagar WD-26/27 Pratima Maity, Jalpai WD-27/27 Sabita Das Adhikari, Gnagar WD-28/27 Balai lal Mandal, Sonachura WD-29/27 Janaki Das Adhikari, Gnagar WD-30/27 Chandana Das, Kcharanpur, Gnagar WD-31/27 Minoti Das, Kcharanpur WD-32/27 Satyabala Mandal, Southkhali, JalpaiE WD-33/27 Sitarani Das, Gnagar WD-34/27 Angur Dolui, Southkhali, Jalpai WD-35/27 Rekha Arhi, Gnagar WD-36/27 Lali Mandal, Southkhali, Jalpai WD-37/27 Kajal Majhi, Kcharanpur, more than 1000 policemen WD-38/27 Sindhubala Mandal, Gnagar WD-39/27 Pratima rani Das, Kcharanpur WD-40/27 Nilima Das, Gnagar WD-41/27 Sulata Das, Kcharanpur, 400-500 policemen WD-42/27 Kabita Das, Gnagar WD-43/27 Sadhana Mandal, Gnagar WD-44/27 Kajol Das, Garchakraberia. WD-45/27 Shibani Das, Keshabpur WD-46/27 Kakoli Das, Gnagar, 3 dead bodies in sacks taken by police WD-48/27 Kabita Das Adhikari, Gnagar, 2 people assaulted and kept hanging on bamboo WD-49/27 Putul Das, Kcharanpur WD-50/27 Sreemanta Mandal, Gnagar WD-51/27 Mahini Maiti, Kcharanpur WD-52/27 Purnima Samanta, Gnagar WD-53/27, Santosh Kumar Maity, Kallicharanpur WD-54/27, Moni Rana, (Female) Gokulnagar. Bullet in leg WD-55/27, Putul Mandal, (Female), Jalpai

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WD-56/27, Nirmal Mandal, (Male), Gokulnagar WD-57/27, Kabita Das Adhikari, WD-58/27, Sumati Mandal, Jalpai, WD-59/27, Tulu Pandit, Kallicharanpur WD-60/27, Nabadwip Das Adhikari, Gokulnagar WD-61/27, Ganapati Gurya, Gokulnagar WD-62/27, Raghu Dolui, South Khali WD-63/27, M Avijit Giri, Kallicharanpur WD-64/27, PuspaMandal, Gokulnagar WD-65/27, Basanti Mandal, Jalpai WD-66/27, Dipali Mandal, Jalpai, WD-67/27, Shefali Mondal, Jalpai WD-68/27, Minu Mandal, Jalpai WD-69/27, Alaka Mandal, Jalpai WD-70/27, Lata Mandal,F Gokulnagar WD-71/27, Sumitra Das Adhikari, WD-72/27, Tararani Maiti, Kallicharanpur WD-73/27, Samparani Bera, Kallicharanpur-600-700 policemen & cadres, 200-250 policewomen WD-74/27, Saraswati Pal (Das?), Kallicharanpur WD-75/27, Chayan Maity, Kallicharanpur WD-76/27, Sukumar Das, Gokulnagar WD-77/27, Jyotsna Mandal, Gangra, Sonachura Bazar WD-78/27, Sutapa Das Adhikari, Gokulnagar WD-79/27, Brindabani Porua, Kallicharanpur WD-80/27, Chhabirani Mandal, Gokulnagar WD-81/27, Shyamali Manna, Gokulnagar WD-82/27, Mahamaya Das Adhikari, Gokulnagar WD-83/27, Bidur Rani Mandal, Sonachura, and Similar depositions from 30 women, 17 signed their assent WD-84/27, Tapati Giri, Sonachura WD-85/27, Pabitra Kumar Mandal, Gangra WD-86/27, Kalpana Muniyan, Gangra WD-87/27, Nilima Das, Sonachura, and Similar depositions by 6 women, signed assent WD-88/27 Chhabirani Das, Gangra WD-89/27 Madhura Arhi, Southkhali WD-90/27, Sujata Mandal, Gangra Similar depositions by 3 women, signed assent WD-92/27, Renuka Middya, Gangra, mentions stonethrowing by boys and girls, immediately followed by gas & bullets. WD-94/27, Dhatri Mandal WD-95/27, Jyotsna Das, Gangra 99. See WD-11/27, Annexure A1 100 .See WD-37/27, WD-12/26, WD-13/26, WD-20/26, WD-64/27, Annexure A1 101 .See WD-11/26, Annexure A1

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102. See WD-45/27, WD-19/26, WD-45/26, WD-46/26, Annexure A1 103. See WD-77/27, Annexure A1 104. The following are the nature of complaints by the deponents: Annexure A1 WD-62/27 **-undress, slash breasts WD-77/27* also refers to another sort of police WD-92/27* ** WD-94/27 looting WD-2/27* WD-54/27*, WD-55/27*alleges bullet in chest WD-60/27* WD-61/27* WD-62/27*, alleges bullet in body WD-3/27* WD-4/27* WD-7/27**molested $ WD-11/27*Uttam Pal with bullet injury, wanting water, hitting, spitting in his face WD-20/27 **pulled by the breasts WD-37/27**implies rape WD-45/27**Gouri Pradhan (BA) raped, iron rod inserted into sex organ, later torture on 2 others, WD-12/26 raped $ WD-13/26** raped by 2 policemen $ WD-19/26** lathi inserted and turned in sex organ, assault on breast WD-20/26** rape $ WD-29/26**-saw rod inserted in sex organ of Srabanti Adhikari WD-33/26 diary, court case against police for injury WD-45/26** rod, gun barrel inserted in sex organ WD-46/26**bamboo lathi inserted into sex organ & turned 105. See WD-18/26(OD-8), WD-24/27, WD-94/27, Annexure A1 106. The following is the list of deponents who vouch for the above: Annexure A1 WD-6/26, Gobinda Paik, M, Sonachura Jalpai. - chased by policemen in slippers. WD-9/26, Jamuna Das, F, Gnagar. -policemen in slippers. WD-14/26, Rita Bera, F, Kcharanpur. - black masks accompanying police. WD-15/26, Sheikh Eshaq, M, Jalpai. - cadres with police in black dress and slippers. WD-18/26 & OD-8, Laxman Chandra Das, M, Jalpai. - names suspects incl. Naba Samanta-alleged to have killed a child. WD-22/26, Sailabala Das, F, Gnagar. -policemen in slippers. WD-25/26 & OD-18/27 S3D24 Sabita DasF, Gnagar -policemen in slippers, red wrist bands, black masks WD-32/26, Shovarani Sing, F, Southkhali. -policemen in black masks decapitate children. WD-36/26, Parixit Maity, M, Kcharanpur. WD-38/26, Purnima Das, F, Kcharanpur. -policemen in slippers. WD-44/26, Bhabani Giri, F,Kallicharanpur. WD-46/26, Name not to be disclosed. - policemen in slippers, red wrist bands, black masks. WD-2/27 (OD-25), Sulekha Das, (F), Kallicharanpur, -policemen with slippers and black masks WD-3/27 (OD-27), Khokan Das Adhikari, (M), Gokulnagar. -do

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107. 108. 109. 110 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117.

WD-4/27 (OD-22), Renuka Bala Kar, (F), Kcharanpur WD-13/27, Kamallata Das, (F), Kcharanpur. - policemen with plastic slippers WD-19/27, Tulsi Das Adhikari, (F), Gnagar. -policemen with slippers and black masks $ WD-24/27, Ajoy Kumar Gayen, (M), Gnagar. -policemen with slippers, red arm band, black mask, firing; identify by name two such persons $ WD-25/27, Gautam Das Adhikari, (M), Gnagar. policemen in slippers, red head band fired WD-26/27, Pratima Maity, (F), Jalpai. - men in white saris and ghomta(veil) identifying for police WD-28/27, Balai lal Mandal, (M), Sonachura WD-38/27, Sindhubala Mandal, (F), Gnagar. -policemen in slippers, red wrist bands, black masks WD-40/27, Nilima Das, (F), Gnagar. - do WD-46/27, Kakoli Das, (F), Gnagar, -policemen in slippers. WD-49/27, Putul Das, (F), Kcharanpur WD-60/27, Nabadwip Das Adhikari, (Male), Gokulnagar WD-61/27, Ganapati Gurya, (Male), Gokulnagar -policemen in slippers firing WD-62/27, Raghu Dolui, (Male), South Khali -policemen in slippers WD-69/27, Alaka Mandal, (F), Jalpai cadres? in white dress & widows hoods, identifying for police WD-70/27, Lata Mandal, (F), Gokulnagar, policemen in slippers WD-71/27, Sumitra Das Adhikari, (F), w/o Sushil Das Adhikari, policemen with black headcloth WD-73/27, Samparani Bera, (F), Kallicharanpur, -identifies cadres; WD-77/27, Jyotsna Mandal, (F), Gangra, Sonachura Bazar, - with police WD-78/27, Sutapa Das Adhikari, (F), Gokulnagar, -policemen, in slippers and red ribbon around wrist, with iron rods WD-79/27, Brindabani Porua, (F), Kallicharanpur, -policemen with black facecloths(masks) and slippers WD-80/27, Chhabirani Mandal, (F), Gokulnagar, policemen with slippers, ordinary caps, red belts. WD-81/27, Shyamali Manna, (F), Gokulnagar, -policemen with slippers and red band on hand WD-82/27, Mahamaya Das Adhikari, (F) Gokulnagar, -policemen with slippers and red bands. WD-83/27, Bidur Rani Mandal, Sonachura, and Similar depositions from 30 women, 17 signed their assent WD-84/27, Tapati Giri, Sonachura, policemen with slippers WD-88/27, Chhabirani Das, Gangra, - some of the men had covered faces. WD-89/27, Madhura Arhi, Southkhali, - policemen & cadres, police uniform and slippers. WD-94/27, Dhatri Mandal (F), -identifies cadres See WD-9/27, WD-9A/27, Annexure A1 WD-9B/27 is the (minor) younger daughter of WD-9/27, Annexure A1 See WD-13/26, Annexure A1 .See WD-12/26, WD-20/26 & WD-37/27, Annexure A1 WD-20/26, Annexure A1 See Annexure-N Oral deponent on 28.5.07 at Kolkata, K-1, Annexure A1 K-12: Deponent on 28.5.07 at Kolkata, Annexure A1 WD-19/26 (OD-6), WD-45/26, WD-46/26 were victims of this, according to their depositions. WD-29/26 was a witness to this brutal act on WD-45/26. Annexure A1 Case of WD-62/27. Another woman WD-70/27 also suffered severe assault on the breasts. Ann- A1 Cases of Sexual violence in Annexure A1 WD-10/26 -reports undressing

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118. 119.

120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129.

WD-11/26 -heard Gouri Pradhan was raped WD-12/26 -raped $ WD-13/26 -raped $ WD-19/26 -lathi inserted & turned in sex organ, assault on breast $ WD-20/26 -pain & bleeding from sex organ, painful urination, scratches on breast-pain-rape WD-26/26 -w/o Satyen Adhikari assaulted WD-29/26 -saw rod inserted in sex organ of Srabanti Adhikari WD-32/2 -assault on sex organ WD-33/26 -Rod in abdomen WD-45/26 -rod, gun barrel inserted in sex organ WD-46/26 -bamboo lathi inserted into sex organ, turned WD-7/27 -molested $ WD-9/27, WD-9A/27, WD-9B/27 -raped WD-15/27- gun barrel poked at private parts WD-20/27 -pulled by the breasts WD-31/27 -undressed WD-37/27 -implies rape WD-45/27 -Gouri Pradhan (BA) raped, iron rod inserted into sex organ, latter torture on 2 others. WD-62/27-police clutching breast, slashing breast, undressing WD-92/27 Annexure L: Report of Childs right Group The following is the list of deponents who mentioned about children in their statements in Annexure-A-1: $ WD-1/26 -deposes that she saw a baby snatched from the arms of a woman and thrown down. $ WD-23/26 -saw a baby torn asunder by legs $ WD-32/26 -vividly recalls children 7/8 years old being slashed though at the neck. $ WD-2/27 -deposes that she saw a boy about 12 years old hit by a bullet, who died subsequently. $ WD-9B/27 -a 12 year old girl was raped by a known CPI(M) cadre, as deposed by her mother (WD-9/27) $ WD-15/27 -deposes that she saw a boy of 10/15 years shot down. WD-28/27 -alleges cadres as policemen tore babies by two legs. $ WD-77/27 -deposes that she saw children being thrown into water by policemen. WD-83/27 -and WD-23/26 -depose that they saw babies/a baby being torn asunder by the legs. WD-83/27 further deposes that the babies were then thrown into water. Deposition No.K-9, Annexure A1 Annexure-Q Deposition No.K-20, Annexure A1 Annexure-U WD-40/27, Annexure A1 WD-9/27, WD-9A/27, Annexure A1 WD-61/27, Annexure A1 WD-14/27, Annexure A1 WD-29/27, Annexure A1 Following are the few statements made by some of the deponents: in Annexure-A-1 WD-8/26 Mamata Mandal: On returning after 5 days in hiding, intimidation - threatening to break up things and set fire to house. Children cannot go to school. WD-9/26 Jamuna Das: CPI(M) leaders make intimidating comments, people fearful of going to market.

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130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135.

WD-26/26 Puspabala Das: intimidation, abuse on 14 evening, night. WD-29/26 Muktirani Das: on 15th CPI(M) leader tells women to be prepared, they were coming. Still threats are there while going to Tekhalibazar. WD-38/26 Purnima Das:-cadres exposed themselves to women WD-45/26 -on 15th, intimidation to join the CPI(M) march, again assault with bamboos and lathis. WD-7/27 Sabita Pramanick: On 15th when they returned from hiding in a jungle, cadres forced them into her house and broke up things, and threatened them with consequences if they did not join their procession. $ WD-9/27: Angurbala Das -raped by identified cadres on 15th (afternoon). They had been drinking. Their house was surrounded for 4 days to prevent them from seeing a doctor. WD9A/27 (the daughter of WD-9/27) says that they were threatened by saying that if women from this locality go to the bazar each of them would be raped by 5 persons. $ WD-14/27: Namita Das Adhikari: names cadre who looted and torched shop. When they returned from hiding after 3 days, they found everything had been looted. WD-15/27 Rina Ari: intimidation on 15th by outsiders15-20 women spent 2 nights in the shrubbery. $ WD-17/27 Satyeswar Das Adhikari: On returning from hiding on the 16th they found house looted (police cadres) Diary no.2.4.07 WD-18/27-Kamal Ari: intimidation by outsiders on the 15th to force them to join the CPI(M) March. WD-29/27-Janaki Das Adhikari: intimidation by cadres and police on 15th March, looting fish from pond. They are still fearful of going to Tekhalibazar. WD-40/27 Nilima Das: cadres stop husband from plying van rickshaw to Tekhalibazar-livelihood jeopardised. WD-61/27-Ganapati Gura: intimidation physical & mental on 14 evening at his house, arson, loot. His shop looted on 19th. Made written complaint at Tekhalibazar police outpost, no acknowledgement. WD-64/27 -Puspa Mandal: intimidation physical & mental on 15th morning. CPI(M) cadres hit her & took her to a pre-primary school where there were others of the ilk. If she did not join their peace march with red flag in hand, her husband would be killed and she thrown to the Harmads at Janani brick kiln. On return she was told that this administration had two more years to run and they would be tightened up. She is afraid to go to Tekalibazar or the hospital. She names the cadres. WD-78/27 Sutapa Das Adhikari: intimidation physical & mental, on 14 March afternoon cadres attacked their empty house, and on 15th morning cadres (named) threatened every house with dire consequences if they did not join their march and tried to break into their house. On 16th when they were returning from hiding, cadres (named) and police chased them, and the latter exposed themselves indecently. Post Mortem certificate of Tamluk hospital, date 18/3/07, Tamluk Police Station, U/D case No 79/07 dated 14/3/07. WD-27/26. Annexure A1 WD-44/27, Annexure A1 K-1, Dr. Subrata Sarkar, Annexure A1 K-6, Annexure A1 Report of District Medical Officer, East Midnapur dated 18.3.07 14 persons were dead. Among them identity of 9 persons could be ascertained. The names are 1. Supriya Jana, 2. Imadul Khan, 3. Gobinda Das, 4. Ratan Das, 5, Sambhu (Uttam) Pal, 6. Sk. Imdadul Islam (Raja), 7. Pralay Giri, 8. Panchanan Das, and 9. Rakhal Giri. Among the remaining 4 unidentified bodies one is of a woman of age around 50. In all the cases, except one, it is stated that the bodies were brough dead. Only the body of Ratan Das was brought with bullet injury. The report is given in the form of a table. In the column of Privisional Diagnosis, only 5 cells were filled up leaving rest of the columns vacant. In 4 cases it is mentioned that the bullet injury is either on head or in the abdomen. In one case it is stated the body contains stab injury in right chest. It is not mentioned whether there was any bullet injury in the said body. [Annexure-E2/ Page293] Later names of another 4 dead persons could be known from other source. The names are: 10. Joydeb Pal, 11. Rakhal Giri, 12. Badal Mandal & 13. Basanti Kar(F). [Annexure-C/P-18]

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136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141.

142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155. 156. 157. 158. 159. 160. 161. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167.

WD-23/27, Annexure A-1 Annexure-P Amra (Ekti Sachetan Prayash) Oral Submission of Dr. Subrata Sarkar [Find in Annexure-A / K-1] Find name of the persons admitted to Nandigram B.P. BHC on 14-16th July07 in Annexure-K WD-36/26, Annexure A1 WD-11/26 - deposed that she had a bullet injury in her right elbow. WD-31/27 - complained of a bullet injury in the right hand. WD-23/27 - deposd that a bullet hit her in the pelvis. WD-13/27 - deposed about a bullet injury in an elbow. WD-4/27(OD-22) - deposed about a fractured hand due to a bullet injury. WD-76/27 - deposed about a head injury due to a bullet. WD-65/27 - deposed that her son was hit in a hand by a bullet. At least 6 depositions allege rubber bullet injuries in the upper part of the body. WD-54/27 - deposes that she saw a boy hit in the chest by a bullet. WD-2/27 deposes that she saw 2 boys hit by bullets in the abdomen and killed. WD-29/27 - deposes that she saw her niece being hit by a bullet in the back. Oral Deposition of Witness No. K-12, Dr. Debapriya Malick, Annexure-A1 WD-48/27 Annexure-A1 No.-K-15, Annexure A1 Deponent No. K-2, Annexure A1 Annexure-O Little magazine Mancha Based on Post Mortem Reports & Discharge Certificates submitted by the deponents as exhibits, press reports, and Dr Subrata Sarkars deposition Find Photo copies of the Post Mortem Report in Annexure-A-4-Medical-Documents The Essentials of Forensic Medicine, by Dr K S Narayan Reddy, Ch 5, p-78, 16th Edition, 1997 Principles of Forensic Medicine, Dr AEast Nandy, 1st Edition, 1995, p-250, Table 10.12 Reddy, Ch 9, Regional Injury, p-217 Photo copies of the Discharge Certificates to be included Annexure-C- Court in its own Motion/Page-42-43 Copy of the complaint in Annexure-B-clv-Complaint-Srikanta-Paik [Annexure-C/Page-46-47] Annexure-C/ Page-59 to 76 Oral deposition before Tribunal; OD-3, Annexure A1 Oral deposition before Tribunal; OD-24, Annexure A1 See also the written deposition WD-5/27, Annexure A1 Oral deposition before Tribunal; OD-26 Annexure A1 Oral deposition before Tribunal; OD-28 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-42/26 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-13/26 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-19/26 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-20/26 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-9/27, Annexure A1. Also see Annexure -A-2/ Affidavit No.3 and Annexure -A-3/ Page-2-3 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-9A/27, Annexure A1. Also see Annexure -A-2 / Affidavit No.6 and Annexure -A-3/ Page-4 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-9B/27, Annexure A1. Also see Annexure -A-2 / Affidavit No.4 and Annexure -A-3/ Page-5

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168. 169. 170. 171. 172. 173. 174. 175. 176. 177. 178. 179. 180. 181. 182. 183. 184. 185. 186. 187. 188. 189. 190. 191. 192. 193. 194. 195. 196. 197. 198. 199. 200. 201. 202. 203. 204. 205. 206. 207. 208. 209. 210. 211.

Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-40/26 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-36/26 Annexure A1 Oral deposition before Tribunal; OD-23, Annexure A1 Deposition No. WD-29/27 narrates the incident; Annexure A1; Also see Annexure-A3/ Page-6 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-48/27 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-54/27 Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-70/27 Annexure A1 See Annexure-A3 /Page-7 OD-20. See also the written deposition list: WD-1/27; Annexure A1 WD-7/27, Annexure A1 WD-8/27, Annexure A1 WD-11/27, Annexure A1 WD-13/27, Annexure A1 WD-15/27, Annexure A1 WD-16/27, Annexure A1 WD-21/27, Annexure A1 WD-37/27, Annexure A1; Also see Affidavit No.A-2/1 WD-45/27, Annexure A1 WD-62/27. Annexure A1 WD-83/27, Annexure A1 WD-94/27, Annexure A1 WD-95/27, Annexure A1 OD-17, Annexure A1 OD-22, Annexure A1 OD-35, Annexure A1 WD-4/27, Annexure A1 WD-17/27, Annexure A1 WD-18/27, Annexure A1 WD-24/27, Annexure A1 WD-29/27, Annexure A1 WD-61/27, Annexure A1 WD-64/27, Annexure A1 WD-78/27, Annexure A1 WD-19/27, Annexure A1 WD-24/27, Annexure A1 WD-25/27, Annexure A1 WD-28/27, Annexure A1 WD-38/27, Annexure A1 WD-41/27, Annexure A1 WD-69/27, Annexure A1 WD-73/27, Annexure A1 WD-80/27, Annexure A1 OD-10, Annexure A1 Written deposition before Tribunal; WD-23/27 Annexure A1

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Justice S.N.Bhargava
Former Judge Rajasthan High Court Former Chief Justice Sikkim High Court Former Chairperson Assam Human Rights Commission Former Chairperson Manipur Human Rights Commission Past District Governor Rotary International Dist. 3050

20/46, Ambedkar Marg, Renu Path Mansarovar, Jaipur - 302020 Phone: 0141-2390304 Mob: 9414044461

H.E. Gopal Krishna Gandhi Governor of West Bengal Raj Bhavan Kolkata

8 August 2007

Dear Mr Gandhi I am writing to you as Chairperson of the Peoples Tribunal on Nandigram organised by the All India Citizens Initiative from 26-28 May 2007. The Tribunal received 39 oral and 135 written depositions from the victims of the violent events of 14 March 2007, at public hearings held at Gokulnagar and Sonachura in Nandigram and 20 depositions in Kolkata. Based on these depositions and our own investigations the jury members of the Tribunal have prepared a detailed report on the background, causes and consequences of such violence in Nandigram and surrounding areas. On behalf of all jury members of the Peoples Tribunal I am pleased to submit this report to you for your kind perusal and any action, as you see appropriate. Apart from analysis of evidence presented before the Tribunal the report also contains findings and recommendations of the jury. The recommendations are aimed at relevant state authorities to be taken up for immediate action, particularly in the context of the worsening humanitarian situation on the relief and medical front among ordinary people in Nandigram. I sincerely hope this report, through its contents, documentation of evidence and suggestions for action will contribute to improving the current situation in Nandigram and help bring about both peace and justice to the people of the area.

Thanking you With best wishes, S.N. Bhargava

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CORRIGENDUM
We received a letter after the release of the report. The letter along with the reply to all concerned is reproduced below.

August 11 2007 Dear Rabin babu, As a member of Citizens Solidarity that visited Nandigram, we were asked to submit our report to the Peoples Tribunal and depose before it. We received a copy of the Executive Summary of the Tribunal Report yesterday, thank you. I am surpised and shocked that the quote below has been attributed to me in the Tribunal report. It is entirely incorrect and contrary to the facts and the experience of Citizens Solidarity. Smt Rajashri Dasgupta of the Citizens Solidarity organization who deposed as a witness before the Tribunal observed, women were traumatized and unwilling to talk due to shame. 1. When several teams of Citizen Solidarity met the women of Nandigram in the hospitals and villages, they were eager and willing to talk about their trauma and anguish. We did not get the feeling that the women were unwilling to talk due to shame. Some of the detailed stories of the women have been submitted as a report to the Tribunal. 2. I did not use such words like shame of women while deposing before the Tribunal. On the contrary I believe that use of words like shame and honour are entirely a male construct. And to attribute this to women who are struggling and have faced violence is to accept and reinforce the patriarchal notions of honor and shame. I would be grateful if you can please 1. convey this to the panel members of the Tribunal and the organisers 2. rectify the mistake. Thank you and hope to hear from you. Regards,

Rajashri Dasgupta 218 B Lake Terrace Extension Calcutta 700029

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REPLY
12 August 2007 Dear Rajashri Dasgupta Thank you for drawing our attention to your objection. As desired by you, Ill forward your mail to the persons who were connected to the activities of the Tribunal. But I feel it necessary to put my observation regarding your objection as a forwarding note. The following is my observation. You have mentioned in your letter that We did not get the feeling that the women were unwilling to talk due to shame. Some of the detailed stories of the women have been submitted as a report to the Tribunal. But, the words in italics that you have quoted from the Tribunal Report was again quoted from one of the detailed stories of the women that you have submitted. In narrating the experience of one of the victims, Sutapa Das Adhikari whom you met on 21st March, you have written in your submission that She said the women were traumatised and unwilling to talk due to shame. [The document submitted by Citizens Solidarity can be found in AnnexureN of the report] However, I admit that you have not mentioned this point in your oral submission before the Tribunal. We may be excused for the inadvertent lapse on our part in failing to clarify the point in the report. I hope you will appreciate that we had no intention to show disrespect to your ideology. Your objection along with this note will be attached as corrigendum along with the future publication of the report. Thanking you once again, I remain.

Rabin Chakraborty Convenor All India Citizens Forum

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ABBREVIATIONS
CPI(M)Communist Party of India (Marxist) ADM APDR ASP BUPC CBI CPI CPI(M) CPI(ML) CRPF DIG DM FB FIR HAD IG INC LF MLA MP PCPIR PS RSP SDO SEZ SP SUCI TMC or TC WB Additional District Magistrate Association for Protection of Democratic Rights Additional Superintendent of Police Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee Central Bureau of Investigation Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (Marxist) Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Central Reserve Police Force Deputy Inspector General of Police District Magistrate Forward Bloc First Information Report Haldia Development Authority Inspector General of Police Indian National Congress Left Front Member of Legislative Assembly Member of Parliament Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region Police Station Revolutionary Socialist Party Sub-Divisional Officer Special Economic Zone Superintendent of Police Socialist Unity Centre of India Trinamool Congress West Bengal

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