Bondimukti Committee members arrested for protesting political arrests
Bondimukti Committee members protesting against political arrests were attacked by police and have been fasting at College Square, Kolkata, from May 6 2008 in protest.
Panchayat Poll ’08: A Preliminary Discussion on Strategies
Nothing can remain the same all through. The masses of rural toilers were summing-up the past experiences on their own and has been feeling betrayed by the party that once the masses themselves enthroned. The feeling of despair was giving rise to wrath. The first sparks of rural spontaneous outbursts were seen in only four or five villages in 2004, and in 2007 it surfaced again more widely in various districts of West Bengal apparently against the corruption of party–govt (including panchayat)–rural bigwigs. Also we saw the Singur-Bhangar-Haripur-Nandigram during 2006 and 2007, where the villagers united to fight govt-party-police-admin nexus attempted to grab land for foreign and native capitalists. In many of these struggles we saw the almost same trend (albeit weakly) that is being witnessed among the workers, i.e., unity of the rural masses irrespective of or cutting across their former party affiliation or adherence, their dissociation from old established parties spontaneously unsettling the power equation of the villages, doing things and achieving feats which they themselves would have thought to be ‘impossible’ few days before, taking the rein of their own fight and organisation themselves, rebelling against the agonising life, etc. This is an important phenomenon that must be kept in mind before thinking of the tasks ahead of the rural toiling masses in the ensuing panchayat polls.
Click here to read Krishak Committee leaflet [PDF, English, 10 KB] »
Leaflet from Shramik Sangram Committee: The right to struggle and organise is under attack
May 3, 2008 rally
This leaflet from the Shramik Sangram Committee and the Krishak Committee is an appeal to protest, on May 3, 2008, against the attack on the right to struggle and organise in West Bengal. This comes at a time of concerted attacks on civil liberties and cultural activities. In particular, it speaks of the arrest of Mithu Ghosh on the pretext of Maoist connections.
Click here to read leaflet from SSC and KC for May 3 2008 rally [PDF, Bengali] »
The Panchayat elections and self-empowerment of the rural poor
This is a translated version of a leaflet from the Krishak Committee (KC), written and distributed at the advent of Panchayat elections in West Bengal. The Sharamik Sangram Committee (SSC), a small fraternal organisation of the Krishak Commitee, leads the union at Hindustan Lever.
POSCO booklet, leaflet, map from Kolkata rally - February 2008
An analytical booklet on POSCO [PDF, Bengali, 262 KB]
Leaflet of anti-POSCO rally in Kolkata, February 2008
Anti-POSCO rally and program in Kolkata
February 13, 2008. Kolkata: A rally from College Square to Utkal Bhavan (an office of the Orissa govornment) took place and was followed by a mass-deputation in Utkal Bhavan against the proposed POSCO project in Jagatsingpur district, Orissa. The program was organised by 18 organizations. After a demonstration in front of Utkal Bhavan the protesters conveyed their solidarity to the POSCO movement in the form of a memorandum to the government of Orissa. The authorities at Utkal Bhavan received the memorandum on behalf of the government of Orissa. Afterwards, anti-POSCO activists including Biswajit Roy shared their experiences with political organisations and human rights activists at the Indian Radical Humanist Associations Hall in a discussion called Posco Ebong Tar Protirodh. Activists involved in the protest movement against illegal and extensive stone quarrying in Asansol and Birbhum were also present to express their solidarity to the people of Orissa and speak about the conditions in the regions where they work.
The 18 organisations which organised the program were: APDR, Chhatra-Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, Little Magazine Samannay Mancha, Lok Seba Sangh, Nandigram Ganahatya Birodhi Prochar Udyog, Sahanagarikder Jukta Mancha, Hawker Sangram Committee, TASAM, USDF, NAPM, Sanhati Udyog, PaschimBanga Khetmazoor Samiti, Ganamukti Parishad, Janasangharsha Samiti, West Bengal Gandhi Peace Foundation, Bondi Mukti Committee, West Bengal Government Employees Union, and National Fishworkers Federation.
Leaflet from Maitree, a women’s rights network, on Nandigram
Maitree had taken the responsibility of campaigning for a day, on Friday, 7th December, 2007, at the temporary structure being called Dharna Mancha (in the Metro Channel, Kolkata). The following leaflet was distributed there. Several Maitree members took part in a 24 Hour fast, including Madhuchchanda Karlekar, Anuradha Kapoor, Swapna Banerjee, Saraswatidi, and Saswati Ghosh. There was also a mass collection of signatures condemning the violence, on a canvas. Other programmes of various kinds were also organized. A candlelight vigil was held in the evening. Cultural programmes and speeches were interspersed throughout the day.
Paid back in the same coin: A montage of posters of the historic rally on the 14th November
14th March was the turning point of Nandigram struggle. Remembering that bloody day, a historic rally was organised on 14th November at Kolkata from College Square. No organizational banner was there. The central theme of the rally was “Stretch your hand to the attacked people of Nandigram”. Common people registered their hate and anger for the autocratic rulling party of West Bengal. They overflowed the city streets with thousands of militant yet silent protests.
Some Posters:
Pictures of the rally (courtesy: Nagarik Mancha)
click here for more.
Pictures from those who were a part of history that Kolkata witnessed that day:
Picture courtesy Indranil Ghosh Dastidar:
Picture courtesy Maroona Murmu:
Picture courtesy Kunal Chattopadhyay:
ghare phirechhilo jaaraa - posters on Nandigram
“ghare phera” “hiroshimaa nay, nandigram.”
Saviors of the world
MKP Booklet on SEZ - A critical look at the SEZ Act
This booklet from Mazdoor Kranti Parishad covers the following :
(1) How the SEZ Act was created - the international and national backdrop
(2) SEZ Act 2005 - the most important of its 58 sections and SEZ Rule 2006 - the most important of its 77 rules
(3) Critically examining the sections and rules - (i) Section 5 ( examining generation of additional economic activity, promotion of exports of goods and services, promotion of investment from domestic and foreign sources, creation of employment opportunities, development of infrastructure), (ii) Sections 11, 12, 20, 21, 22, 23, 46, 51, 53 - the powers of the Development Comissioner in an SEZ, and colonial parallels (iii) Sections 26, 27, 32, 50 - exemptions, drawbacks, and concessions to developers and entrepreneurs, and what it means for social and rural programs (iv) Rule 11(10) - allotment of SEZ land for non-business purposes - real estate profits and promoters (v) Rule 44 - Contract farming for agricultural SEZs - what it means for the farmer and the seed company
(4) SEZ, and the stance of the BJP, Congress, and CPI(M).
(5) West Bengal SEZ Bill 2003
(6) Alternatives
Click here to read MKP’s booklet on SEZ [PDF, Bengali, 290KB] »
Documents from the National Anti-SEZ Convention in Kolkata, Oct 1-2, 2007
These discussion documents were presented from MKP during the national anti-SEZ convention in Kolkata, Oct 1-2, 2007.
Click here to read first document [PDF, Bengali, 66KB] »
Click here to read second document [PDF, Bengali, 75KB] »
Poster - National Anti-SEZ Convention: Oct 1 2007, Mahajati Sadan. Arranged by MKP
Click here to view poster with program details [JPG, Bengali, 60KB]
ShramikShakti Newsletter - September, 2007 issue
ShramikShakti September 2007 issue covers pieces on : (1) NREGA struggles led by MKP in Aushgram, (2) Beating back Reliance Fresh, (3) the Chemical Hub at Nayachar and the Dow Chemicals nexus, (4) The Kalyani Industrial Area - revisting a disastrous industrial foray, (5) Bauria, Mathkal, Hindwar Industries Workers Movement, (6) The Indo-US Nuclear deal (7) MarichJhapi - the history that cannot be forgotten.
Click here to read ShramikShakti [PDF, Bengali, 2.5 MB] »
Shilpayon - Rupkatha aar Bastob (Industrialisation - Fairytales and Reality)
By Dipanjan Rai Chaudhuri
This extensive analytical booklet covers the following - (1) A study of China and its economic liberalization post 1980, evaluated not by dollars invested but by the detailed statistics of jobs created (2) Popular resistance to growing inequality in China, and its effects (3) Tracing the history of SEZs in West Bengal, and its present state (4) An evaluation of the popular equation big capital investment = job creation in the light of Falta, Haldia Petrochemicals, and other examples (5) A summary of foreign capital in Latin America (6) Exploring job-creating industrialization and “alternatives” (a) The need for small industries (b) Who will take care of heavy industry? (c) The farmer forms the market (d) Not Fascist force, but working with the consent of the people.
Click here to read Shilpayon - Rupkatha aar Bastob [Bengali, PDF, 265 KB] »
Caterpillar and the Mahua Flower: Tremors in India’s Mining Fields
As multinational conglomerates walk away from Orissa and Chhattisgarh with state blessings to prospect for resources under the earth, the original custodians of the land, the Adivasis, find that their homes and livelihoods are being bulldozed to make way for industries. While the lavish lifestyles and expensive tastes of mining moguls is chronicled in minute detail, the struggle of the Adivasis seldom gets the attention it deserves. This book endeavors to illumine the dark corners of India’s mining corridor.
Contents : (1) Iron in the Soul - Roger Moody (2) “Agya, What do you mean by development?” - Felix Padel and Samarendra Bose (3) No Man’s Land - Alok Prakash Putul (4) Road to Perdition - Aman Sethi (5) The Base Alchemist - Roger Moddy (6) How Green was my Mountain - Neeraj Agarwal (7) Under a Black Sky - Ranjan K Panda (8) Forgeries in Steel : We also make Poverty - Ashly Hinmon (9) Never say DAE - Xavier Dias (10) Nero’s Children - Amit Raja, translated by Rahul Rajesh (11) Full Monty, Please! - Umesh Nazir, translated by Rahul Rajesh (12) Defying the Juggernaut - Bhigneswar Sahu (13) Fifth Columnists? - Kedar Mishra
Click here to read Caterpillar and the Mahua Flower [PDF, 849 KB] »
Shramikshakti Newsletter - Workers struggle in Sakrail, Gaurishankar Jute, Chadmoni - SEZ in Ranihati
This August, 2007 issue contains (1) an analysis of the Haldia elections (2) the proposed SEZ in Ranihati (3) struggle in National Jute Mill, Sakrail (4) struggle in Gaurishankar Jute Mill (5) Chadmoni Tea Gardens - an update (6) A stocktaking of the Hindmotors movement (7) the CPIM and Bidhan Chandra Ray (8) from Nandigram to Khammam (9) Taposi Malik and the CBI
Click here to read Shramikshakti [Bengali, PDF, 2.8 MB] »
Chronicles of a Struggle - Booklet on Kashipur, Kalinganagar - The tribal struggle for survival
By Achyut and Vidya Das. Courtesy : Agragamee
(1) The Kashipur anti-mining movement (2) Globalization and Genocide (3) Kalinganagar : a first impression report.
“This small booklet is an effort to highlight the courage and endurance of tribal people as they make desperate bids to survive against an inhuman paradigm of “globalisation”. We hope that a time wil come, in the near future, when ancient wisdom will once again be valued and we will learn to live together, and not on the destroyed and forgotten histories and identities of our brethren, the tribal people of this country.”
Click here to read Chronicles of a Struggle [English, PDF, 1.6 MB] »
Chemical Hub - Ek Nihshobdo Ghatok (A Silent Killer)
From Platform publications, 45 Beniatola Lane, Kolkata 700009
The government of West Bengal has decided to build a chemical hub in the aftermath of Nandigram - the only question right now is where. This article analyses the effects of such a plan. Topics covered include the experience of other countries with chemical industries ( Brazil’s Valley of Death, Japan - the Minamata Disease), the bloody histories of chemical corporations such as Dow, and the effect on the environment and public health.
Click here to read article [Bengali, PDF, 23 pages] »
Self Help for Slow Learners : A True Story
Leaflet from Bandi Mukti Committee - calling for unconditional release of Binayak Sen, Sumit Sarkar, Amitava Bhattacharya, and other Hindmotors Workers
The government of West Bengal is, of course, no exception. From 2000, several thousand people have been arrested on political grounds - among them are Sushil Ray, Patit Paban Haldar, Probodh Purokayastha, Tom Adhikary, Milton Barman, Harsha Bardhan Das, Bansi Badan Barman, and others. In North Bengal, numerous Kamtapuri and Great Cooch Bihar activists have been jailed on false charges. 29 members of SUCI and 11 people charged with Maoist connections are currently serving life in prison. Recently, the State arrested a number of activists associated with the Hindmotors movement. Swooping down late at night, the police arrested SSKU leaders Amitava Bhattacharya, Subhendu Biswas, and six others as they continued their hunger-strike. Sumit Sarkar was arrested simply for participating in the resistance, and sent to Midnapur Jail. In this context, we should remember that Sumit Sarkar had been arrested a few years ago, with his wife and newborn baby. He was kept in jail for over an year.
Click here for Bengali Leaflet page 1[PDF, .6 MB]
Click here for Bengali Leaflet page 2[PDF, .6 MB
Below for English:
Introductory Booklet on SEZs prepared by Citizens’ Research Collective, New Delhi
This booklet answers basic questions such as What is a SEZ, Why SEZs, How many SEZs, What has been the experience with SEZs so far, Will SEZs create jobs. It looks at the attendant displacement and loss of livelihood, the features of the emerging new corporate-city-state, and the immense usage (upto 75%) of SEZ land for real estate. It ends with a look at the many faces of resistance to neoliberalism, like the Coca-Cola Virudha Samara Samiti, Muthanga Forest Land Struggle, protests against land acquisitions for the Bangalore-Mysore highway and mining in the Krishna river by the Reliance Group, the Dalit struggle for Gairan under the Jameen Adhikar Andolan, struggle against Reliance Gas lines in Maharashtra, the 26 Gaon Bachao Sangharsh Samiti fighting SEZ in Raigad, etc.
Click to read booklet on SEZ [PDF, 2.88MB]
Leaflet from IFTU, AICCTU, Amco Sanhati Committee, National Tannery Bachao Committee, IndoJapan Steel Employees Union, etc.
Wages to survive on, work for workers, factories on industrial land - That is what we demand.
After IndoJapan Steel closed down, workers of the factory tried all through the 1990s to get the Minister to agree to a workers cooperative. They walked down countless michhils, sent many appeals. They didn’t want money - they simply wanted legal assistance from the government. These workers, who aspired to build an examplary workers intiative were converted into vagabonds. Their attempt at surviving with dignity, having control over their lives died a death in the hands of government apathy, and today the machinery has been dismantled, sold off in auction, under the protection of police. Workers have not received their 16 crore rupees in dues.
Click here to read page 1 in Bengali [PDF, 1.4 MB]
Click here to read page 2 in Bengali [PDF, 1.4 MB]
Below for English:
Fact-Finding Report on POSCO Project in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa
A strong people’s resistance has been going on in the parts of Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa against a steel plant and captive port proposed in the area, since July 2005, a month after the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the project was signed between the Government of Orissa and Pohang Steel Company Limited (POSCO). This fact-finding team (19-22 April) had the following objectives : to get an insight into the concerns being raised in relation to the project by the affected communities, to understand the steps being taken by the authorities concerned to address these issues, and to assess the processes that have taken place in the last two years in relation to the project.
Click to read Report [PDF, 13 pages] »
Read previous updates on state terror in Jagatsinghpur, and sign petition.
An APDR publication in Bengali - Land Acquisition in Singur, A Rights Perspective
This publication from APDR collects many documents related to Singur and Nandigram, as well as a detailed timeline. Included are fact-finding reports on the death of Rajkumar Bhul (7 pages), the original protest letter from his father Dwarikanath Bhul, a fact-finding report on Singur dated December 8th (17 pages), original Government and Tata notifications and press releases on land acquisition, APDR responses and letters, and the text of the Land Acquisition Act. Also included is an analytical piece by Amitdyuti Kumar (33 pages).
Click to read publication [PDF, 56 pages] »
Discussion Forum in Panjab University on SEZ and Nandigram - Press Clippings
Arranged by friends of Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, Panjab
The meeting was held on April 17, 2007, in Panjab University. It was attended by around a hundred people. All the four speakers - Prof. Sumit Sarkar, Sumit Choudhury, Vaskar Nandy, and Sukhdev Singh — spoke with spirit and substance. Sardara Singh Mahal could not attend as he was unwell. The news was carried by as many as 8 newspapers of the city (English, Hindi, Punjabi put together). In this part of the country land and agriculture is an extremely emotive issue.
Click here for Press Clippings [PDF, 7 pgs] »
Assorted leaflets from Sanhati Mancha, graffiti from Jadavpur University - following Nandigram massacre
This is the story of that night. The night of 14th March. The CPIM call a local 12-hour bandh after the end of “Operation Nandigram” during the day. In this remote area, where people don’t come out after dark anyway, why would they call a bandh? During the day, as we had watched the police attack unfurl in all its fury, shivered in terror as we heard that perhaps sixty people had been killed, we could never have imagined that the most horrifying episodes, the most brutal events had yet to unfold.
Read the leaflet - page 1 [JPG] »
Read the leaflet - page 2 [JPG] »
Read the leaflet - page 3 [JPG] »
![Read the leaflet - page 1 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leafletmcdsapg1.jpg){kind=link}
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And now? After 14th March, after this massacre, do we not understand what Narendra Modi did in Gujarat? Have we not seen world (bank) capital, flowing out of constricted first world markets and jumping hungrily into the third world, with its allure of “industrialisation” - have we not seen what it translates to?
Sanhati Mancha Leaflet [JPG] »
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Even after the massacre of Nandigram - those of you who have chosen not to choose sides - I leave behind a rifle. Kill yourself if you can.
Graffiti in Jadavpur University [JPG] »
![Graffiti in Jadavpur University [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/posterinju.jpg){kind=link}
Medical Team report in Bengali, Poster from MCDSA
Report of Team of Doctor’s visit to Nandigram
On March 18, 2007, a group consisting of Sramajibi Swathya Udyog, Dr. Bhaskar Rao Janaswasthya Committee, Peoples Health, Janaswasthya Adhikar Mancha, Peoples Right to Health, and MCDSA (represented by six doctors, three junior doctors, three nurses and two health workers), visited Nandigram, Sonachura and Gokulnagar to treat people injured in the police firing of March 14th.
Click here to read latest report in English
Read their Report in Bengali- Page 1 [JPG] »
Read their Report in Bengali- Page 2 [JPG] »
![Read their Report in Bengali- Page 1 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/medicalteamreport.jpg){kind=link}
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Poster from MCDSA: Singur to Nandigram, Bangla will be Vietnam
Friend,
Nandigram is bleeding again. After 7th January, 14th March. The so-called “peasant-workers loving” Left Front snuffed out more than a hundred lives with their murderous police force and army of cadres. Their crime - they protested, they protested against the government’s advertisement of “development and progress”. Not for petty electoral games - they protested to save their land, their homes, their food, clothes, and the fundamental right to live.
Click here to read poster [JPG] »
![Click here to read poster [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/mcdsa1.jpg){kind=link}
Then Came the End of Beliefs - Pamphlet from students in JNU
Source : Anandaroop, Anil, Banojyotsna, Bodhisattva, Jeet, Kaustubhmani, Oeendrila, Sanjukta, Sukanya, Upal
Then came the end of beliefs. In our half-reached, quarter-dreamt, woken-in-between, little-believed and broadly accepted CPI (M) parenthetic lives. Development in Nandigram is now measured as the investor-friendly space between the legs of nine year old girls.
14th March. Nandigram. 100 people mowed down. Firing squads replicated.
Poster of Sanhati Mancha (announcing Mahamichhil), 2 posters of PDSF
In Protest of Nandigram Massacre - unite for Mahamichhil on
24th March, 1:30 p.m. , Deshbandhu Park. We invite people from every
stratum of society, and every social organisation to join us in solidarity.
Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha
Click here to see poster 1 [JPG] »
Click here to see poster of PDSF 1 [JPG] »
Click here to see poster of PDSF 2 [JPG] »
![Click here to see poster 1 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/poster.jpg){kind=link}
![Click here to see poster of PDSF 1 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/poster2.jpg){kind=link}
![Click here to see poster of PDSF 2 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/poster3.jpg){kind=link}
Leaflet from Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, December 18th, 2006
The following is a leaflet announcing the first convention of the Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, December 18th, 2006. Around 300 students from more than a dozen organisations attended the convention in Students Hall, near College Square. Speakers included Subhendu Dasgupta, Srijan Sen, representatives from all participating groups, and a number of other intellectuals. This was also the day Tapasi Malik was murdered in Singur. After the convention, hundreds of students organized into a spontaneous march down College Street, thundering slogans against the State.
Click here to read page 1 [JPG] »
Click here to read page 2 [JPG] »
![Click here to read page 1 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_ccsm_d18_1.jpg){kind=link}
![Click here to read page 2 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_ccsm_d18_2.jpg){kind=link}
Leaflet from Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, December 28th, 2006
A leaflet from the Chhatra Chhatri Sanhati Mancha, December 28th, 2006. Around 250 students marched down Central and Southern Calcutta, carrying posters, shouting slogans, distributing leaflets. 84 were arrested near Hazra crossing. Spirits remained high, with arrested students shouting slogans from within prison vans.
![Click here to read [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_ccsm_d28.jpg){kind=link}
Leaflet from Paramanu Chulli Birodhi Committee, Haripur.
A leaflet from the Paramanu Chulli Birodhi Committee, published by Sukumar Bhuyia, from Haripur - the site of the proposed nuclear power plant. Points discussed include the real cost of power plants (fighting State propaganda that it is cheap), the fact that power plants are expensive to keep functional (combating the myth that long-term costs are low), the real amount of coal reserves as quoted by the Geological Survey of India (fighting the popular myth that coal reserves are low and dwindling), the hazards of nuclear power (against the propaganda that it is actually safe), etc.
The leaflet ends with a passionate call to join the struggle against nuclear power in Bengal, India, and all over the world.
Click here to read page 1 [JPG] »
Click here to read page 2 [JPG] »
![Click here to read page 1 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_pcbc_1.jpg){kind=link}
![Click here to read page 2 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_pcbc_2.jpg){kind=link}
Leaflet from Teachers and Scientists Opposed to Mal-development
A leaflet from the Teachers and Scientists Opposed to Mal-development, published by Prof. Meher Engineer. Among various points, this leaflet busts the myth that the Tatas are a responsible corporation and their company would contribute to local development. It argues that land acquisition by large corporations is a brutal process and the only index is the profit of the company.
Click here to read page 1 [JPG] »
Click here to read page 2 [JPG] »
Click here to read page 3 [JPG] »
Click here to read page 4 [JPG] »
![Click here to read page 1 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_teach_1.jpg){kind=link}
![Click here to read page 2 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_teach_2.jpg){kind=link}
![Click here to read page 3 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_teach_3.jpg){kind=link}
![Click here to read page 4 [JPG] »](http://sanhati.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/leaflet_teach_4.jpg){kind=link}
Appeal from MASUM (human rights organisation) on police violence, Feb 4, 2007
On 4 th of February 2007 nearly 150 villagers of Beraberi and adjoining villages under Singur Police Station assembled near the fences erected by the administration as acquired for Tata motors. The protest was a peaceful one and led by Krishi Jami Rakha Committee. When the protestors assembled at the fence at about 10.30 AM to lodge their protest and shouted slogans, a large number of police bodily resisted them.
Among many protesters, Amitabha Bhattacharya, Sudip Sarkar, Partha Chakraborty, Ajoy Das, Becharam Manna, Ganga Das, Kabita Bag, and Mamata Manna were beaten, some with serious head injuries. Anuradha Talwar of the Right to Food Network was arrested.
Click here to download the leaflet [PDF] »
Special Bulletin from Mazdoor Kranti Parishad (MKP), December 2006
Articles include : a discussion of Singur and the Posco project, and why the MKP is fighting - by Biswajit Hazra, an introduction to SEZs, a call for solidarity against the brutal murder of Tapasi Malik, an article explaining that farmers of Singur hadn’t given their land (opposing State propaganda that farmers had spontaneously sold their land) - by Amrita Poira, and the two sides of “development” - “Oder Unnoyon, Amader Unnyon” - by Kushal Debnath.
Click here to download the booklet [PDF] »
Bikalpa : A publication from PDSF
A publication called Bikalpa from Progressive Democratic Students Federation (PDSF), edited by Amit, published by Sourav.
Articles include: The role of students in the movement against land acquisition (by Arijit), A summary of the movement in Nandigram (by Parag), Data analysis of land acquisition in Singur ( by MunMun), A discussion of nuclear power plants and their implications ( by Somnath), and an open letter to Tapasi Malik.
This publication came out soon after 11 students including Jishnu Dasgupta and Parag were arrested during a peaceful rally near Alimuddin Street. Many other students were beaten. Arrested students were kept in jail for a number of days.
Click here to download the booklet [PDF] »
Analytical booklet on government policy : In the Clutches of Development - Singur, Nandigram
“Unnayoner J(N)atakole Singur, Nandigram…” ( In the Clutches of Development - Singur, Nandigram…) - a booklet by academics and intellectuals.
Includes articles by Pinaki Mitra “Singur, mithye bolchhe Sarkar” (Singur - The Government is Lying), Shakti Das “CPM-er unnoyon dorshone Marx(bad)” (Marxism and the CPM’s Philosophy of Development), Anindita Sanyal “Shilpayan : Bhobishyoter bhittihin swapno” (Industrialisation : The Utopia of the Future).
The first article contains detailed data analysis of the nature of land acquisition and peasant “consent” in Singur, “compensation” by the government, and an analysis of the prospect of creation of new jobs by the Tata plant there.
The second article critically examines various slogans of the State such as “Agriculture is our foundation, Industry is our Future”, “Industry is needed for the uplift of peasants”, “This model of Industrialisation will create jobs, reduce unemployment”, “If we don’t give Corporations what they want, they will go to other States”, and “This is not the time for revolution, but for bargaining with world capital”.
The third article contains detailed discussions of the nature of industrialisation and its relation to jobless growth.
Click here to download the booklet [PDF] »
Booklet by female activists : Singur Movement : Our Thoughts, Our Resistance
SINGUR ANDOLAN : AAMADER BHABNA AAMADER PRATIBAD
Edited by : Emancipation Publication
A compilation of articles by women intellectuals and artists. Articles range from detailed analysis of land acquisition in Singur, the nature and personalities of the struggle, to an interview of 80-year old activist Saraswati Das.
Includes pieces by Poushali Thakur, Saraswati Das, Tanika Sarkar, Minakshi Sen, Sarmistha Chaudhuri, Prathama Bandyopadhyay, Aparajita Mukherjee, Sudeshna Chakraborty, Shaoli Mitra, Miratun Nahar, Bolan Gangopadhyay, Taslima Nasreen, Saswati Ghosh, Chandreyee Niyogi, Sumita Das, Krishna Bandyopadhyay, Ishita Pain, Barnali Pain, Rajasri Mukhopadhyay, Jolly Bagchi, Chandana Mitra, Anindita Sanyal, Anuradha Deb, Chaitali Sen, Soma Mukherjee, Jashodhara Bagchi, Nandini Dhar, Susmita De, Neha Hui, Munmun.
Poems by Maitreyi Chattopadhyay, Swapna Ghosh, Susmita Bhattacharya, Swapna.
Interviews with Mahasweta Devi, Jaya Mitra.