Nandigram violence: Only 14 to get compensation

Reason: 'The government does not have resources'

The West Bengal government will not pay any compensation except to the next of kin of 14 persons killed in Nandigram on March 14 this year as "the government does not have resources", West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee announced here today.

The head of a government that has been doling out grants to get investors to set up units in the state, Bhattacharjee said at Writer's Building today that the government did not have funds to compensate those injured in the violence at Nandigram since January this year.

The government would not help those whose homes had been destroyed in the 11-month violence and virtual civil war precipitated by the government notification of January to take over 25,000-odd acres for a chemical hub proposed to be developed by Indonesia's Salim Group, he added.

Bhattacharjee continued to allege that the Naxalites had made the Nandigram situation dangerous, even though West Bengal home secretary P R Ray stated that not a single Naxalite had been detected by the administration or even CPI(M) groups in the Nandigram area.

Bhattacharjee admitted that the state police failed to restore normalcy in Nandigram and so CPI(M) party workers forced the issue and restored order in their own way.

But he blamed the developments of the last few days on the central government for denying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) till November 5 though he had appealed for them on October 27. "If the Centre had sent forces, they would have restored peace. But the CPI(M)-affiliated homeless lost patience and moved in," he stated.

Today, big gangs of CPI(M) cadres, faces covered in red scarves and waving CPI(M) flags, patrolled the Nandigram area on motorbikes the entire day. The media continued to be barred from most of the area, while all families refusing to work under the CPI(M) flag had been purged from the area, locals reported to non-government organisations (NGOs) based in Kolkata and protesting the violence.

Bhattacharjee said he knew of four people killed in the violence of the last few days, but admitted the final figures were yet to come in.

The CPI(M) dominance of Nandigram reduced to a side-show the visit of former deputy prime minister L K Advani to the area, and to Tamluk hospital where some of the wounded were being treated. After meeting the fear-struck villagers, he said he had never seen this kind of terror in his long political career.