Mamata walks out of Nandigram meet

CPI(M) rejects demand for declaring March 14 firing as genocide.

The all-party talks for restoration of peace in Nandigram today failed after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee walked out of the meeting. This was after the CPI(M) refused to accept its demand for declaring the killing of 14 people in police firing in the area on March 14 as "genocide."

The victims of the firing were protesting against land acquisition for an SEZ.

As Banerjee raised the issue, CPI(M) leader Subhas Chakraborty said the incident in Nandigram was fallout of the bad law and order situation in the area. He said three police jeeps were set on fire in the area in a matter of days and the firing was the result of the police effort to restore order.

However, Banerjee, demanding punishment to those involved in the firing, left the meeting with the seven members of her group, which did not have representatives from the Jamait-e-Ulema-i-Hind and the BJP, both part of the anti-SEZ agitation in the area.

Banerjee said she welcomed the all-party meeting but was disappointed with the outcome.

She said she would preside over a meeting in Panskura tomorrow in response to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's meeting there in support of industrialisation. The Trinamool's six-member delegation included Leader of Opposition Partha Chattopadhyay.

However, Forward Bloc leader Ashok Ghosh, who convened the meeting, said Trinamool's arguments were heard with patience. Ghosh said as the meeting was "inconclusive," it was "adjourned" and would be held after discussions with other parties. Ghosh described the meeting as a "success" and said he was optimistic of a consensus on a future date.

Earlier in the day, as participants began arriving at Mahajati Sadan, the venue, the BJP workers started demonstrating after blocking the arterial CR Avenue, leading to chaos. Police said 30 party workers were arrested.

The parties not invited to the meeting included the BJP and the two Left Front partners, the Revolutionary Communist Party of India and the Biplabi Bangla Congress--all without any representation in the Assembly. An invitation extended to the CPI(ML) was withdrawn.

The unrest in Nandigram has stalled all development in the area, which has remained virtually cut off from the rest of the state with members of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee digging up roads and keeping vigil against the entry of outsiders.