Didi memoirs detail cop role in Nandigram
KOLKATA: While the CBI probe report on the March 14, 2007, firing in Nandigram – and the role of police officers in it – is yet to be made public, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has already detailed it in 34 pages of her recently published “My Unforgettable Memories”.
A division bench of Calcutta high court had on November 16, 2007, said the police firing in Nandigram was unjustified and unconstitutional. It had also directed the CBI to inquire into the incident. Challenging the high court order, the previous Left Front government had moved the Supreme Court, which later restrained the CBI from initiating criminal proceedings in any court against police officers involved in the firing. CBI had placed its report before the apex court on March 15, 2011. But on February 25, this year, the state has withdrawn the special leave petition challenging the high court order which had described the firing as “unconstitutional”. So, now, CBI is free to initiate criminal proceedings against policemen (and others) in the matter.
While little is known on CBI findings on the role of police officers, Mamata’s no-holds-barred memoir leaves little to imagination and mentions the designation of these officers. “March 4, Sunday. CPM leaders had a secret meeting with the police in room number 26 of the Kolaghat Power Station guest house. The subject of their discussion: Operation Nandigram. Present in the meeting was the state police IG (West) and DIG. Apart from police and administration, several rounds of meeting focused on how to save their backyard. They started collecting people around Nandigram. For instance, 200 people at Janani brick kiln, 300 at Tekhali camp, 150 at Kunjapur, 100 at Swadhin Pramanik’s house in Sathkhand, 40 at Chunapiri market, 50 at Bakhatalla, and 50 at Malda, Kamrada, and Vidyapith. All of them were from Purulia, Bankura, and Jharkhand.” Mamata first wrote this in “Nandi Maa”, a 2010 publication, excerpts of which were republished in her latest memoirs.
Mamata writes: “Police sources later revealed that six teams had been formed to accomplish the task of occupying Nandigram.” She writes that according to the police roster, Team 1 was in charge of the area between Bhangabera and Sonachura. Team 2 was in charge of the area between Nandigram and Mahespur. The officers leading this team were West Midnapore additional police superintendent (Operation); Bidhannagar additional police superintendent; Katoa, Kalyani SDPO; DSP traffic; Contai and Purulia court inspector; and another inspector from Birbhum. According to her, Team 3 was in charge of the area between Tekhali outpost and Adhikari Para. The officers leading this team were Tamluk and Howrah (rural) additional police superintendents; Purulia co-police superintendent; Gangarampur, Tamluk SDPO; highway inspector; Contai and Tamluk CI, and two DIOs.
In the same chapter she mentions that the other teams too had chosen police officers trusted by the CPM regime. She then names them. “Team 4 was in Tekhali with the DIG (Midnapore range) himself in-charge. With him were additional police superintendent Kharagpur; of Jadavpur, Bankura DSP and battalion co-director; Tamluk court inspector; and traffic inspector West Midnapore. Team 5 was stationed at the Nandigram police station. Its in-charge was the additional police superintendent (headquarters), IB DSP, CI (Manbazar), telecom, and another inspector. Team 6 was under the IG himself and included an additional police superintendent, Bolpur, Raghunathpur SDPO; and two inspectors each from Sonamukhi and Bankura.”
That’s not all. She also mentions that a list of the mobile phone numbers of the top police officers had also been prepared. Apart from these top 55 police officers there were a team of junior police officers and other policemen, she writes. However, she hasn’t mentioned any names.
In another place, Mamata wrote that detectives (she didn’t specify exactly which detectives) visited Nandigram and filed their field report to the government as early as January 4. “In their report, they said the situation at Singur and the police excesses in the area was beginning to create unrest in Nandigram. Three reports had been submitted to Writers’ in the beginning of January. The final report was submitted to Writers’ Building in the second week of March. If the police forces enter Nandigram there will be a confrontation and it could lead to a big accident, said the report. Each of these reports went to the home secretary and DG. The chief minister too was briefed about them. But it was decided that police will take the CPM cadres along with it and forcibly enter Nandigram,” she writes.
Congress likely to give TMC a walkover in Bengal Rajya Sabha polls
KOLKATA: On Saturday, Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed called on Mamata Banerjee. Just two days after that, sources claimed, Uttar Pradesh chief minister designate Akhilesh Yadav has expressed his desire to visit Kolkata. While the Trinamool Congress chief will use this to her advantage, the Congress has to give more to Mamata than what it will get in return to keep the alliance going. The March 30 Rajya Sabha elections – in which candidates from Bengal will be elected to the Upper House – could well be an indicator.
It may be mentioned here that Mamata was ready to visit Chandigarh to attend Shiromoni Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal’s swearing in ceremony. She cancelled the programme on Sunday, after receiving phone calls from the Prime Minister.
The Trinamool chief minced no words when Shakeel Ahmed met her at Writers’ seeking her party’s support in the Rajya Sabha polls. She instead sought the Congress support in favour of a fourth Trinamool candidate this time and urged him to wait for the next Rajya Sabha polls for Trinamool’s support. It means that the Congress has to fight on its own if it fields a candidate this time.
Then, will the Congress field a candidate from Bengal? “The party high command will take the call. For, the decision will have wide ramification. It’s not difficult to find a candidate. I can only say that Congress won’t seek the Left support for the Rajya Sabha poll. And the high command will have to take the decision much before March 19 – the last date of filing nominations is March 19, because the candidate has to fill in a 10-page form and give declaration of assets including family,” said PCC chief Pradip Bhattacharya.
Going by what the PCC president said, chances are that the Congress might choose to go without a member in the Rajya Sabha from Bengal, leaving the numbers game entirely to Didi. The reason is that the Congress has 42 members in the Bengal assembly – seven less than the quota number (49). Seeking support from the Left Front will only spoil the Congress’s prospects in its strongholds – Murshidabad, Malda and parts of north Bengal. The Congress is thus left with little choice.
Instead, the party’s throwing its weight behind the Trinamool candidates that has 185 MLAs will help Mamata bag four Rajya Sabha seats. Whatever the scene, the Trinamool is all set to push its tally to 9 or 10 in the Rajya Sabha, depending on the number of candidates it fields.
The party with its enhanced strength in the Rajya Sabha will also emerge as a major player in the presidential elections after Pratibha Patil’s tenure ends in July. The other option could be that both the parties may agree on an independent person as the fourth candidate.
Trinamool leaders, on the other hand, made it clear that the party is not going to compromise on the state’s interests, leaving broad hints of its throwing a spanner in passing of Bills such as Lokayukt Bill, to keep Congress under pressure. They are also keeping an eye on how Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee handles Mamata’s long standing demand for a three-year moratorium on the Rs 22,000 crore interest that the Bengal government has to pay as annual interest to the Centre on the debt burden of Rs 2 lakh crore.
“We are not going to compromise on the state’s interests. We want a three-year moratorium on the debt burden, and have also opposed the entry of multi-brand FDI in retail. We have also opposed the Lokayukt part of the Lokpal Bill, and are also concerned over the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC),” said Trinamool parliamentary party leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Of these, the financial point is of prime importance that is likely to determine the Trinamool’s future course.
This being too difficult a demand for the Congress trying to make ends meet, Congress leaders expect little from the Trinamool Congress in the Rajya Sabha. “I don’t how far the finance minister will be able to satisfy Mamata. The Centre can’t distribute favours to Bengal without doing anything for the other debt-ridden states such as Kerala and Punjab. It requires huge funds to do justice to all the three,” a Pradesh Congress mem
Cop in dock for ‘sajano’ attack Suspension order belies Mamata slur
Mind the gap — between the chief minister’s words and her administration’s actions.
In yet another embarrassment for Mamata “Sajano” Banerjee, her police force on Thursday suspended Tarak Das, a constable with Metiabruz police station, for his role in the ransacking of a CPM office at Gangulybagan, near Jadavpur, and the assault on three journalists last Tuesday.
Mamata’s reaction to the attack on the journalists had been: “Ota sajano ghatana. Kichchhu hoyni (The incident is staged. Nothing of that sort has happened).”
On being told that the assault was captured by television cameras, the chief minister had thundered: “Mithya katha sajiyechhen. Aapni sajiyechhen (It was all staged).”
Mamata’s assertion was proven wrong on Thursday with Das being handed a suspension letter signed by Mehboob Rahman, the deputy commissioner of police of the port division, after Biswarup Ghosh, his counterpart in the south suburban division, submitted his inquiry report.
“He has been placed under suspension because he allegedly got involved in a criminal offence. The suspension will continue till departmental proceedings are over,” Rehman said.
Das was named along with several others in an FIR filed by the CPM after the party office that had served as former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s poll-campaign hub last year was ransacked by alleged Trinamul supporters on the day of the Left-called general strike.
His suspension letter mentions charges of rioting, mischief and voluntarily causing grievous hurt with dangerous weapons.
In their complaint with Patuli police station, the three journalists — Parthapratim Ghosh of STAR Ananda and Subhasish Ghatak and Pintu Mondal of Anandabazar Patrika — said “unknown” people attacked them while they were reporting the ransacking of the CPM office on Tuesday.
“As a member of a disciplined force, he should not have expressed his political affiliation in public,” a senior police officer said of constable Das.
Das’s suspension is not the first instance of chief minister Mamata being proven wrong after giving her verdict without the police completing a probe. She had termed the Park Street rape case a “fabricated incident” meant to “malign her government” before the cops arrested three of the accused and confirmed that the 37-year-old victim had been sexually assaulted in a moving car on the night of February 5.
Although Das has been suspended, the investigation into the office ransack-cum-assault case has not progressed much. The police are yet to initiate any action against the other accused in the incident.
Apart from Das, the FIR lodged by the CPM names Babu Saha, Raju Saha, Indrani Saha, Hanu Halder, Tanu Saha, Manik Banik, Mrityunjoy Mondal, Sabyasachi Sarkar and Joydeb Das. Residents of Gangulybagan said most of these people were involved in the attack on the journalists.
“The footage available with television channels show the faces of the people who were involved in the assault on the journalists. The police have done nothing to arrest them,” said a witness.
The police have yet to contact any of the television channels for footage of the incident. “We have identified some people, but they are all absconding. We have carried out raids,” claimed an officer at Patuli police station.
Sources said the other accused hadn’t been rounded up yet because they were all Trinamul supporters.
“Das is a soft target, being a policeman,” the officer said.
Didi hopeful of a third bloc
KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s latest pitch against Congress and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh isn’t exactly without reason. Mamata is hoping for the emergence of a third bloc that will have a major say in national politics in the days to come.
“Either there is Congress or there is BJP. Why? Because there is no alternative. If there is such an option, then people will think about it,” Mamata said speaking to a private television channel on Monday. Trinamool’s foray in the four of the five poll-bound states (elections have been completed in two) is also to test waters on the party’s acceptability beyond Bengal. Mamata, however, is not expecting much at the moment. “It may not happen in the first attempt, but at least we have begun it… If there is a good leadership, Trinamool can make its presence felt in other states too,” she said.
Her poll managers have started drumming up support for Mamata as the “viable alternative”. “We are telling people about her clean and pro-people image. People are tired of mainstream political parties,” said Sultan Ahmed, Union minister of state for tourism and Trinamool’s pointsman for UP and Uttarakhand. Like-minded parties have already started sounding Trinamool, the party chief hinted. “They believe we can provide justice to people,” said Mamata. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) is likely to tie up with Trinamool in the last three phases of the UP polls.
In her proximate circles, Mamata is known to have taken Centre’s “reluctance” to offer Bengal a bailout package as an affront to her. In the interview, she left enough indications on it. “For over two years, Trinamool doesn’t even have an office there (in Parliament). We have only one cabinet minister – the ministers of state are not even allowed to work. We still kept quite. Only on anti-people policies, we’ve refused to extend our support. Take the case of the food Bill… where will the money come from? Unlike others, we don’t say something at closed-door meetings with the Prime Minister and something else outside,” she said. “Congress is a minority government. The government is there only because we are supporting it,” she reminded.
In spite of the simmering discontent, Mamata hasn’t made any indication that she may walk out of the UPA-II, giving a leeway to other parties to make up for her numbers. But according to Trinamool insiders, she has indicated to her party leaders that if the Congress becomes weaker after the 2014 polls, the only alternative before her would be a strong bloc of like-minded parties to fill the void (since BJP is not an alternative given Trinamool’s compulsions in Bengal).
Her plan is similar to that of the Left Front. She wants to consolidate her party’s support base in rural Bengal in the upcoming panchayat elections, and break borders to expand her party’s influence in states like Manipur. She doesn’t mind tying up with non-UPA regional parties even as long as it helps her cause.
Though equations may not remain the same after two years when the country gets set for the Lok Sabha elections, the Trinamool doesn’t foresee reverses in the party’s prospects in Bengal. According to party leaders, Mamata is in government for eight months which is too short a time in comparison to Left Front’s 34-year rule. Even if there is dissent at local pockets, it is not likely to change the voting pattern in Bengal in 2014. Trinamool leader and state industries minister Partha Chatterjee believes that in the next Lok Sabha polls, his party will be able to send at least 36 MPs to Parliament, which taken together with its strength elsewhere will help Mamata emerge as a crucial player in national politics.
Mamata’s Sunderbans visit stumps tourist plans
KOLKATA: Utter confusion prevailed in the Sunderbans just a day before chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to the mangrove islands. A notice, apparently issued by the district administration, triggered cancellation of lodge and boat bookings as hundreds deferred their planned visit. Tour operators were told that none will be allowed to move into Sunderbans during the chief minister’s trip. District magistrate NS Nigam, however, denied of putting up any such notice.
“No order was made barring tourist entry into Sunderbans,” said Nigam.
On Monday, several tourist lodges in Pakhiralaya received frantic calls from tourists asking them if their bookings had been cancelled. Most tour operators were in the dark about the instruction and failed to clear their doubts. They did not know if they could operate their boats to fetch the tourists. The cloud of uncertainty was cleared later in the day with the district magistrate making it clear that no restriction has been imposed on tourist movements. Scores of bookings had been cancelled by then.
“This being the tourist season, it led to a big confusion. Hundreds had booked rooms in advance and they were obviously taken aback. Many chose to cancel their bookings instead of waiting for a clarification from the government. Many of us are facing losses,” said Mrinal Chatterjee, secretary of the Institute of Climbers’ and Nature-Lovers’ Association that runs a lodge at Pakhiralaya.
Dibyendu Mondol, a tour operator, said scores of launch bookings have been cancelled since Thursday. “In fact, it was from the spate of cancellations that we came to know about the order. When we checked with the Sajnekhali forest office, we were told that an order had been issued but later withdrawn. But most had already cancelled their trips by then,” said Mondol.
Meanwhile, tourism is expected to be high on Mamata’s agenda as she embarks on a day-long trip of the mangrove islands from Tuesday. But with a crumbling infrastructure and illegally constructed tourist lodges, tourism is far from a position to take off, felt tour operators and experts. Basic facilities need to be strengthened rather than building more lodges, they pointed out.
“First, we need to stop the construction of lodges. For all practical purposes, the existing ones can’t be demolished. But the authorities need to set a cut-off date for disallowing new constructions. We also need to develop the roads connecting Kolkata with the entry points to Sunderbans, namely Godkhali and Namkhana. Roads and potable water should also be a priority,” said Chatterjee.
But the tourism department is not yet ready with an overall policy on tourism or illegal structures, said tourist minister Rachpal Singh. “We are aware of the lodges at Pakhiralaya. Steps will be taken against those which have violated the norms. The tourist lodge at Sajnekhali, too, will not be allowed to function since it has been declared illegal. But we are yet to decide if these lodges will be demolished,” said Singh.
The chief minister’s visit could show the way, said Sunderban development minister Shyamal Mondol. Even though the stress will be on developing infrastructure, the present budget was a constraint, said Mondol. “Work is already in progress for building roads and bridges. Unless we develop these, any tourism activity will be futile. There are funds constraints so we are keeping our fingers crossed. Illegal lodges have been under the scanner. We expect the chief minister’s visit to provide a fillip to development activities in the area,” said Mondol.
Curb on illegal construction should be a priority, echoed Anurag Danda, Sunderban landscape, of the WWF. “We need to wean away tourists from the tiger reserve area to the fringes. There’s a misconception that only the reserve area has tigers and that it is more beautiful. So far as lodges are concerned, the state government should demolish the Sajnekhali lodge first and then ask the private owners to pull down theirs,” Danda said.
PM has let Bengal down on financial aid: Mamata
KOLKATA: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday of letting down her government in terms of financial help, and “reminded” him that Congress does not have the requisite majority at the Centre and was surviving because of support from Trinamool Congress.
She also accused Congress of conspiring with CPM to put the Trinamool-led government in trouble.
“So far we have got nothing from the Centre despite the fact that the Trinamool is giving the right support to the Congress at the Centre. We are trying to stand on our own feet. The people of Bengal will rise to assert their rights,” she said in an interview with a private television channel in Kolkata on Monday.
“Delhi has done nothing to help us. Before the election, the Prime Minister had promised in public meetings in Bengal that he would extend all assistance to the coalition government. Where is the help? Five meetings have taken place with the Centre, but we have not got anything. All we have seen are newspaper headlines on the package. We are against begging,” the chief minister said, warning that there would be “conflicts” if Bengal was not given its due.
Mamata criticised Congress for claiming a part of the credit bringing about change in Bengal. “Where were the Congress leaders when the Singur agitation was taking place? Where were they when I was fasting?” she asked. “Even the Prime Minister did not come. An important Congress leader in Delhi refused to help me, saying he could not antagonize the CPM government. I called him for help when our party was under attack but he switched off his mobile. Had Congress been alone, there would have been no change in the state.”
Congress chose to skirt the fresh provocation with spokesman Rashid Alvi saying: “She is our ally and we will not comment on her statement. As far as the commitments of the finance minister and the Prime Minister to the people of Bengal are concerned , they would all be fulfilled and implemented.”
Writer Mamata plays the host, 3 books released
KOLKATA: It was author Mamata Banerjee who took centrestage at the inauguration of the 36th Kolkata International Book Fair. Setting aside her political garb, the chief minister slipped into the role of a writer-thinker and played the gracious host at the programme.
Gone was the aggressive tenor and her vicious attacks on adversaries. Instead, she held forth on writers, poets and books, in consistence with the mood of the fair. Barring an oblique reference to the Left Front’s attempt to take over the fair back in the ’80s, Mamata steered clear of politics. She also released several books while three authored by her, including her first memoirs in English, were inaugurated at the programme. The Kolkata Literary Meet ( KLM) – which will see several leading authors visiting the fair – was also inaugurated by Mamata.
“Writers and poets are a thinking lot. We are a bit temperamental and prefer the pen to the computer. Writing with a pen gives you a satisfaction that a computer can’t. For, we often tend to write in fits and starts. For instance, I scribble down a line whenever something comes to my mind. It could be while I am taking a bath,” she remarked.
Referring to a comment by author Sanjib Chattopadhyay, she said “books, wives and wisdom” should never be shared, for they seldom return. “They are misused once you let them go. This fair makes us realize the importance of books yet again. They light up our conscience and are like internal museums where treasures are stored. It’s not quite the same when you visit a bookstore and pick up a book. The book fair is a celebration of culture and literature,” she said, urging everyone to ignore the minor faults that they might come across.
“Let us work like a family and make this fair a memorable one. I am sure you will find 99% of the things to be positive here,” she said.
Italian author Beppe Severgnini, the chief guest at the programme, spoke on the similarities between India and Italy. “I come from a country which starts with an ‘I’ and came into its own in the mid-1940s. A country that has a north and a south where family matters much like in yours. A country which has a rich past where flyovers are now coming up. Like you, we, too, have exported a lot of people to other countries. We have these links which bind us together. But Italy is not the best country in Europe. Similarities are not enough. Neither is a cultural set-up sufficient to ensure that you keep growing. You need infrastructure, finances and self-discipline. Italy has the talent. We are good at dealing with people, which is an asset,” Severgnini said.
Author Sanjib Chattopadhyay described the fair as a happy confluence of book-lovers, authors and publishers. “This is the annual ritual of celebrating our culture and literature and we don’t want to miss out on it. Just as our lives will never free of our wives (bou), boi (books), too, will continue to be an integral part. Hopefully, the fair will keep getting better,” said Chattopadhyay.
Three of Mamata’s books – ‘Paribartan’, ‘An Unforgettable Life’ and a book of her poems were released. Flanked by Chattopadhyay, painters Suvaprasanna and Jogen Chaudhuri, the chief minister saw them being uncovered. Even though she refrained from commenting on her books, portions from a chapter of her memoirs were read out.
Cong, CPM blocking road to development: Mamata
KOLKATA: After taking a day’s break from bashing her ally, Mamata Banerjee was back in “business” on Tuesday. At a programme organized by the West Bengal Minorities Development and Financial Corporation at Netaji Indoor Stadium, the Trinamool Congress chief again took on the Congress and, of course, CPM.
Mamata Banerjee is back to Congress bashing. A day after she chose to refrain from the political attack on Monday with all her focus on the business summit, the mercurial chief minister was back to her basics at a programme organised by the West Bengal Minorities Development and Financial Corporation at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
She alleged that they are trying to throw spanner in her effort to put the state on development track. “Babu chale bazar, kutta bhowke hazar(while someone heads for market, dogs bark)
. Keep shouting on television, I will keep working – nothing bothers me,” she said.
Referring to the Raiganj incident, Mamata said, “A small thing committed by some youngsters spurred some people to question whether this is the change they’d wanted. Change means development. Only those against it are refusing to see that.”
Referring to Congress without naming them, she said some parties, along with CPM are making an issue of Nazrul Academy, she said. “I know Nazrul had to leave India. We didn’t pay him due respect. At his birthplace in Churulia, CPM has its party offices. We’re trying to regain what we’d lost in the last three and a half decades. Now CPM and their political friends are pointing fingers at us. Let them do that, this will not deter us from our path.”
The Trinamool chief also held a CPM-backed union responsible for diverting funds meant for rice procurement to party funds. “Now that they’re unable to do it, they’ve hit the streets to spread malice against us with their political friends,” she said.
In response to Mamata’s barbs, state Congress president Pradip Bhattachaya said his party had formed an alliance with the Trinamool only because people wanted that. He said it was in the interest of both parties to keep the alliance going and Mamata should take an active role in saving the alliance.
Addressing a press conference in Malda, he said, “Now if people do not want us to remain an ally of the Trinamool, we will quit.” It was the Congress high command which had put the seal of approval on the alliance, and “we will leave the alliance only if the high command wants us to do that,” he said.
Bhattacharya said his party did not do anything wrong by highlighting problems faced by farmers in the state. “We consider it to be our duty. What will the farmers do if they cannot sell their produces?” he said. He also defended Congress minister Manoj Chakraborty who had criticized the ally at Writers’ Buildings on Monday. The trend was set by Trinamool, he said.
Highlighting the steps taken by her government for minorities, Mamata said the minorities welfare department will spend its allocated Rs 415 crore by March, this year. The branches of minority affairs department will be set up in every district, she said. “For setting this up, we’ve already sanctioned Rs seven-crore of the allocated Rs 14-crore. Rs 16-lakh has been given as scholarships (to minority students) and loans (to self-help groups),” she said.
Leader of the opposition Surjya Kanta Mishra alleged the state under Left tenure had not only set up departments – but carved out two directorates – for minority welfare. “The government is yet to allocate funds for a scheme targeted to empower minorities women. We’d also tried to ensure OBC quota, which has stopped now. Before criticizing, I wish to inform her that the WBMDFC was awarded by the Centre for its performance, I hope she can maintain the number one status,” he said.
