Hilsa Politics as Bangla Brahminical Communalism takes on Dalit Muslim Insurrection!

Hilsa Politics as Bangla Brahminical Communalism takes on Dalit Muslim Insurrection!

Fresh violence broke out in troubled Nandigram

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551

Nandigram flares up yet again! Fresh violence broke out in troubled Nandigram in West Bengal Sunday as Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) supporters and a Trinamool Congress-backed group clashed while taking out separate processions.Police used batons to disperse the clashing mobs, East Midnapore Superintendent of Police G. Srinivas told IANS. Both the CPI-M and the Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), which opposes government takeover of farmland for industry, had taken out processions when the fighting occurred. The CPI-M supporters were celebrating the party's win in the Haldia municipal elections while BUPC wanted to surround the Nandigram police station.

CPIM is cashing Bangla Brhminical Communal nationality on the same line as the Bangladeshi Muslim Nationality has taken over Bangla nationality in Dhaka. Facing stiff resistance of United Dalit MMuslim Insurrection against Buddh Brand Capitalist development, indiscriminate land acquisition for Urbanisation and Industrialisation the Post Modern Marxists, comradors of US Hindu Zionist Post Modern Galaxy order plays Bangla Nationality Card so well to keep the Vote Bank Intact! Thus, Hilsa and Moitri Express have taken over every other issues. Buddha declared that there won`t be no SEZ in Nandigram, but just after romping home in Laxman Seth Tamalika Seth stronghold Haldia, Nandigram has to feel the heat and fire of the state sponsored violence!

Meanwhile, Scientists and teachers today predicted disastrous effects for the proposed chemical hub in Haldia and urged the state government to provide a detailed report of the proposal to the public.
In a letter written to the chief minister, the Teachers and Scientists Against Maldevelopment (TASAM) warned that "the proposed hub will effectively become an instrument for providing cheap labour and dumping ground for the toxic material due to the relaxed environmental laws of our country".
The state government should have consulted the experts before proceeding with the proposal. "The decision taken by the government was solely an administrative one. It should have discussed the matter with researchers and scientists of this field", said Prof. Partha Sarathi Ray, chemical technology professor at Calcutta University.
Prof. Rabindra Nath Majumdar, another professor at Calcutta University, said that the government’s decision of selecting Haldia to set up the chemical hub was wrong because it is dangerous to set up such a hub in any fertile land or even coastal area. Though the government has publicly announced that the hub would be "environment friendly" and "less polluting", it has not provided any substantial data to support it.

After political parties, the chemical hub proposed by the Left Front government has come into the bad books of a section of teachers and scientists.

The members said it was wrong of the government to acquire land at Nandigram without putting to rest problems pertaining to pollution, waste management, disposal of effluents, etc. They demanded to know the details about the design, the investors and other players in the setting up of the proposed hub.

"Chemical pollution is as detrimental to the environment as nuclear pollution. Moreover, such an activity cannot be allowed in a densely populated state like West Bengal," said Manindra Narayan Majumdar, former Professor of chemistry and Dean Faculty of Science, Kalyani University. Citing various disasters in chemical factories, he added that accidents are highly possible in such plants.

Abhee Dutt Majumdar from Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics said they have conveyed their concerns to the chief minister several times but to no avail.

"Our state is rich in biodegradable and renewable resources like plant biomass. The government should try to utilise these resources instead of setting up petro-chemical hubs," he added.

The project in Nandigram has become a flashpoint between the state's long-ruling communists and farmers who say their prime agriculture land is being taken away.West Bengal has witnessed regular protests over acquisition of agriculture land for industry this year, with violence in Singur, near Kolkata, where Tata Motors is building a small car factory.The project, billed as key to the rejuvenation of West Bengal and a test case for the communists, has been mired in trouble with some farmers saying the government took their land against their will.The government says it has compensated most of the affected farmers and is unwilling to halt the project.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee appealed to the central government to take action against the West Bengal government.She said that if the Centre can take action against the Andhra government then action should be taken against the Bengal government.

In the wake of the Bangladesh government’s six-month ban on export of hilsa, the state fisheries department, keen to boost the sale of the fish from Bangladesh in local market, has taken up the matter with the central government. While at least 25 people have been injured in a clash between ruling CPI (M) and opposition Trinamool Congress supporters that took place in Nandigram on Sunday.According to reports, trouble started after a victory procession of the Trinamool Congress that won seven of the 26 seats in the recently concluded Haldia civic polls turned violent. here are reports of bomb explosion in the area and a CPI (M) party office was also attacked.

Trinamool along with Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC), which is opposing the land acquisition for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nandigram, has called for a shutdown on Monday.

Meanwhile, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee demanded dismissal of the State government and asked the Centre to intervene.Banerjee held the state government responsible for the murder of Tapasi Malik at Singur, site of the Tata Motors'
small car project, and threatened to continue its agitation
till the forcibly-acquired land was returned to the owners.
Condemning the police firing that killed seven farmers
in Khammam district in Andra Pradesh, Banerjee said, "We
don't support what happened in Andhra Pradesh and this is our
stand for any such incident anywhere in the country, unlike
the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in West Bengal".
Appreciating the Andhra Pradesh government's steps
ordering a judicial probe into the police firing that killed
farmers, announcement of compensation for the families of the
deceased and the injured and anouncement of punishment for the
officials responsible for the incident, Banerjee regretted
that the Left Front government was yet to take any such step
here on the killing of 14 persons in police firing on March 14
at Nandigram.
"If the Centre can ask for report from the Andhra
Pradesh government on the incident, it should also ask for
reports on Nandigram and Singur from the West Bengal
Government on the same ground," she said.
Banerjee said that despite an assurance to look into
their demands during 26-day-long hunger strike, he did not
keep his word.
"No system worked properly in the state and the police
was not allowed to work independently," she regretted alleging
that after the L F win in the Haldia Municipality, the local
authority issued notification for acquisition of land in all
those wards where opposition candidates had won creating
tension among farmers.

Reports from Nandigram said 26 people who were injured were admitted to hospital. Srinivas, however, said only five people had sustained injuries and one bomb was hurled. He said there were no reports of firing.

"The situation is now under control," Srinivas said as tension gripped the area.

BUPC leader Abdus Samad said the CPI-M procession had ended peacefully. But when BUPC began marching, CPI-M workers hurled bombs at them.

CPI-M leader Ashok Guria, however, alleged that BUPC men attacked their party office, triggering the clash.

The BUPC has now called a 12-hour Nandigram shutdown Monday to protest against the latest violence. It said CPI-M men fired from Khejuri, a stronghold of the party and where most CPI-M supporters of Nandigram are now sheltered in camps.

"We will surround the Nandigram police station on Aug 1 to protest the firing," said Samad.

"The latest violence is because of comments made by Haldia MP Laxman Seth who dubbed the verdict in Haldia as a mandate for industrialisation and hinted at eyeing Nandigram again for an industrial complex," a BUPC supporter said.

Haldia is an industrial town close to Nandigram where the communists are planning to relocate the chemical hub that was originally planned in Nandigram triggering the saga of violence and killings.

The Left Front won the civic body elections held this month under the shadow of the violence in Nandigram.

Meanwhile, CPI-M patriarch Jyoti Basu said he was concerned over the latest reports of violence. "Nandigram is still violent and the peace process has to make headway," he said.

At least 22 people have been killed, hundreds injured and several raped in Nandigram in protests since January against the special economic zone (SEZ) and a chemical hub planned there in collaboration with Indonesia's Salim Group.

Following the violence, the SEZ plan was scrapped but thousands of people belonging to both the CPI-M and the BUPC have been living in camps.

The all-party talks to start a peace process in Nandigram and facilitate the return of terror-stricken villagers to their homes have not yielded much success.

Mr Kiranmay Nanda, minister-in-charge, today said that he has written to two Union ministers ~ Mr Jairam Ramesh and Mr Pranab Mukherjee ~ asking them to discuss the matter with Dhaka. "I have also requested the chief minister to discuss the matter with the Centre".
To stop the sale of local hilsa weighing around two kilos, the state government has decided to impose complete ban on the use of nets used by fishermen in south Bengal, Mr Nanda said.
"We issued a circular in June on the specification of nets to be used. But fishermen had already procured their nets for this season. So we are going to issue an order on the density of the knitting. This will ensure that only the bigger fish gets caught in the net", Mr Nanda said after discussion on his department’s budget.

India, Bangladesh to resume train service after 36 yrs

India and Bangladesh are all set to resume cross-border passenger train services after 36 years. Two trains will start to ply between Kolkata and Dhaka in September. Meet 10-year-old Sridhar Das, he is going back home to Bangladesh after one of his frequent visits to India where his father Nirmalendu Das works. For this father and son, and thousands of others like them, this journey is an arduous one. To get to Dhaka, they must alight at the Gede Railway Station in India, and walk three kilometers to catch a connecting train from the Darshana railway station in Bangladesh.

Little wonder then that the resumption of direct trains from Kolkata to Dhaka is eagerly awaited.
Nirmalendu Das says, "No doubt we will be benefited from this bus service. It’s going to help us."

Basu demands inquiry into AP police firing
Veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu today said there should be an impartial inquiry into the police firing in Andhra Pradesh to find whether the firing was unprovoked.

"I hope there will be an inquiry to find out whether the firing was unprovoked or absolutely necessary. I hope that our party's Andhra unit will raise demand for an inquiry into the incident," Basu told reporters here.

Referring to report of attack on CPI(M) zonal office in Nandigram today, the veteran Marxist said "This is unfortunate. It seems Nandigram is not within West Bengal."

"However, despite all such provocations we won the Haldia Municipal polls recently. It (the Haldia civic poll result) is a matter of pride for Left Front that people are with us."

Basu came to state party headquarters to attend the state committee meeting.

Six persons were killed and eight others injured when police opened fire yesterday to quell violence in Khammam district during a state-wide shutdown called by Left parties in AP to demand the distribution of land to the poor.

Board set to clear more SEZ proposals
New Delh): The board of approval for special economic zones will meet on August 8 to consider eight cases, including two from Infosys, as the process gathers momentum after a change in norms and less political resistance.

"After the August 8 meeting, we will have a large chunk of SEZ proposals — that had piled up before the assembly polls because of political opposition in various parts of the country — cleared," a government official said.

With the empowered group of ministers changing the rules and putting a cap of 5,000 hectares on multi-product zones in April, the stage was set for faster clearances.

As of now, the board had approved 547 zones, of which 132 had been notified. The board has given formal clearances to 362 and in-principle clearance to 177 zones. Nearly 200 cases had been considered in five meetings since May 9.

Listed for in-principle approval at the August 8 meeting are Adarsh Prime Project’s 468-hectare IT SEZ in Karnataka, Enfield Infrastructure’s 16-hectare IT Zone in Bengal and the 10-hectare Genpact project in Rajasthan.

Other proposals include two from Infosys Technologies for IT Zones in Andhra Pradesh and a biotech SEZ by Veritas Infrastructure Development Ltd.

Singur: Govt should have issued single notification, not 13

Express News Service

Kolkata: The former secretary of the land and land revenue department of the state had filed a writ petition in the form of a public interest litigation (PIL) in Calcutta High Court challenging the acquisition of land at Singur for the Tata Motors’ small car project. The matter is being heard by a Division Bench of Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh. The counsel of the former land and land revenue secretary Soumendra Chandra Bose today contended that the notifications for land acquisition at Singur were virtually illegal.

The counsel added that Hooghly collector Binod Kumar who was in charge of land acquisition did not have the power to issue a notification for acquiring land at Singur on behalf of the Governor of the state. According to an existing order issued by the state government, only a person holding the rank of secretary or joint secretary was authorised to issue the notification. Further, there was no record to suggest that the Governor of the state had delegated this power to Kumar.

The state government had issued 13 notifications for acquiring 997.11 acres of land spread over five mouzas at Singur. But instead of doing so, the counsel argued, that the government should have issued only a single notice. All that the 13 notifications did was to create confusion among Singur residents. He added that the state government should produce all records related to land acquisition before the division bench so that malpractice during the acquisition process could be detected.

CPM seeks regulatory frame work for corporates

Madurai: Maintaining stiff opposition to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail the CPI(M) today sought a regulatory framework for domestic corporate houses entering the sector.

''Parliament should enact a model legislation to be followed suit by all the states, '' CPI(M) polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury said addressing the members of the Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TNCCI) here last night.

Mr Yechury, the second polit bureau member to address the TNCCI after a gap of 26 years after veteran Jyoti Basu, said the party was for a system of licensing to allow big business houses to venture into the sector, in order to prevent monopoly.

Domestic corporate houses, which initially supported the party’s stand on opposing FDI in retail have now become apologists, offering a fallacious rationale, he observed, expressing surprise. This was because they have resigned to the fate of being collaborators for the backdoor entry of foreign monopoly into this vital sector, he explained.

In this context, he welcomed the initiative of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to study the legal options adopted by other states to prevent the entry of corporate giants in this field.

Justifications by the Centre and ruling classes for FDI, including quality, competitive price and helping farmers, were all myths which, Mr Yechury said were exposed much earlier.

Police firing: Andhra govt announces compensation
A bandh to protest the death of six persons in police firing disrupted life here today even as the Left parties and main opposition TDP stepped up their attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, demanding his resignation for the incident. Tension gripped the town as hundreds of CPI(M) and CPI activists organised a sit-in at the district collectorate here with the bodies of those killed in the firing yesterday. The bodies, wrapped in red flags, were kept on a platform as the relatives of the victims sat wailing nearby.

The activists ended their protest after the chief minister announced compensation of Rs five lakh for the kin of the dead and said they would be given a government job, a house and three acres of land. The protestors then allowed the bodies to be taken for an autopsy.

There is tension in Khammam in Andhra Pradesh a day after six people were killed in police firing when a protest by CPM activists for land reform turned violent.Victims' families are refusing to cremate the bodies of those killed till action is taken against the concerned police officials.

The state government has announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the families of those who died. The government has also announced Rs 50,000 as compensation for the injured.

Land agitation

On Saturday, a three-month-old land agitation turned violent after a mob attacked the jeep of an Additional Superintendent of Police.

Security officials say there was a significant presence of Naxalites in the area last afternoon, which led to escalation of violence.

Khammam is a stronghold of Left parties, including CPI and the CPI(M).

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and opposition leader Chandrababu Naidu are expected to visit Khammam on Sunday.

Chief Minister YSR Reddy has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident.

On Saturday, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had asked the Andhra chief minister to submit a report on the firing incident.

The firing at a mob of Left activists at Mudigonda village yesterday during a state-wide bandh to press for the distribution of land among the poor triggered a political storm, with the entire opposition condemning the incident.

TDP President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechuri said the chief minister should immediately step down, owning moral responsibility for the "killing of innocent protestors".

Senior CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta, who visited Khammam with Yechuri, termed the deaths as a "case of ghastly murder" and said it would have "far-reaching repercussions at the national level". Naidu and Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrashekhar Rao too visited Mudigonda and Khammam.

The state government has ordered a judicial probe into the firing, transferred Khammam's Superintendent of Police R K Meena and suspended Additional SP Ramesh Babu and two other officers.

Chief Minister Reddy appealed to the Left parties to call off their three-month-old protest for the distribution of land to the poor as his government was already implementing a programme for this.

Left activists who staged the sit-in for over 20 hours in Khammam, however, demanded that a case should be filed against police personnel responsible for the firing.

Emotions ran high as the protestors shouted slogans against the government. Opposition leaders including Naidu and TRS chief Chandrasekhar Rao, who visited the site of the protest, expressed solidarity with the demonstrators.

Naidu said the TDP would give Rs 1 lakh to the family of the victims and provide free education to their children.

In Hyderabad, the Left parties and TDP organised a rally to protest the firing. Leaders who addressed the rally demanded the chief minister's resignation.

Yechuri said the chief minister "is trying to suppress a peaceful movement for land reforms". The Left parties would continue their land struggle, he said.

The CPI's Dasgupta said: "We will raise the issue in the coming session of Parliament. The Congress government here cannot get away with a fascist approach towards a peaceful movement for land reforms."

Yesterday's violence-marred bandh came a day after talks between the government and representatives of Left parties failed to break the impasse over the distribution of land to the poor. The Left parties have been insisting on the setting up of an autonomous commission to monitor the land distribution.

Development policy flawed, says Patkar
While blasting the state for its industrialist-friendly policies, social activist Medha Patkar dared the government with another ‘freedom struggle’. Patkar, who on Monday led a protest against the displacement of the poor due to misplaced ‘development’ policies like the formation of Special Economic Zones in Maharashtra, alleged that while the government’s was favouring big names in the industrial sector, it was least bothered about the displacement it was causing.

Patkar was forced to hold the meeting at the starting point of the rally — Sandhurst Road near Dongri — when the protestors, including hundreds of displaced hawkers, peasants, labourers, Project Affected Persons (PAPs) and civil liberty groups from various parts of the state, were stopped by the city police in their steps.

Speaking at Azad Maidan,Mumbai, Patkar pointed out that development and displacement are the two sides of the same coin. "To displace people from their livelihood by evicting the urban poor from their homes, taking away fertile lands of farmers and tribals, depriving fishermen from fishing are some of the grave issues of misplaced development plaguing the country," Patkar said.

Upping the ante against the ill-planned development, Patkar demanded a true and just development of all people. "Our leaders should stop uprooting and displacing poor and working class people from their livelihoods in the name of development," she said.

Simpreet Singh, an activist, said "We oppose the Maharashtra government’s decision to repeal the Urban Land and Ceiling Act, as it will further help the interests of the builder lobby and a few elite people."

"On the contrary, the state government should implement ULCA to buy or seize surplus lands and re-distribute the same among displaced people after asking them to form societies," she added.

The protestors also decided to submit a memorandum to CM Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy CM R R Patil, demanding immediate revoking of the SEZ Act, cessation to demolition of slums and illegal encroachment of land by builders.

Jairam pep talk on Singur

KOLKATA: "Singur will be the catalyst of industrial revival in eastern India," Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union minister of state for commerce said today. The restriction on foreign direct investment from Bangladesh would be lifted on a case by case basis this year, he earlier told reporters during the day after the AGM of the Indian Tea Association.
"I know this is a controversial statement, but I am known to stir up controversies," he said. SNS

DLF launches its first IT SEZ in Gujarat

DLF Ltd has launched its first IT SEZ at Gandhinagar. This is its first commercial venture in Gujarat. This will be followed by projects in other cities in Gujarat. The SEZ will have state of the art, world-class facilities.

Speaking about DLF’s entry in Gujarat, its spokesperson said that after successfully launching our first IT SEZ complex in Gujarat, we propose to launch IT SEZ in Ahmedabad with 3.5 million sq.ft in next 3-4 months. We are aspiring to set up townships in all the major cities of Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat.

We are also planning to participate in development of International Convention Centre in Ahmedabad, development of modern state-of-the-art Bus Stand in various cities. Beside this, DLF would also like to get involved in the development of Japanese’s City and Sabarmati River Front Development".

The IT space is spread over 25 acres and offers 2.5 million sq ft of developed workspace, is all set to revolutionize IT workspace in Gujarat. It is a ready-built IT workspace to offer unmatched scalable advantages.

This SEZ project at an estimated cost of Rs.850 crores will be developed over two phases. The first phase is expected to be operational in next 15 months and being an IT SEZ, it would cater to all the international and national IT/ ITES companies. The project can generate jobs for 30,000 direct and indirectly.

Tin-pot riot squad brings tears to top cops’ eyes

Rajib Chatterjee
KOLKATA, July 27: The recent agitation in Singur, which saw farmers retaliating even after teargas shells and rubber bullets were fired upon them, may not only be because of their undaunted spirit. Senior police officers have found out the reason, that a large number of police personnel do not have the required skill to use these non-lethal weapons and disperse mob.
The state has in the past year, witnessed many agitations, at times violent ones, particularly in Nandigram and Singur. Investigating the reasons behind the failure of police to disperse the mob, officers found out that a large number of police personnel, some aged above 45, don't know the "right technique" to use non-lethal weapons such as teargas shells and rubber bullets, often used to quell mob and restore normality. Some of the policemen have not held such a weapon in the past three years.
"Most policemen don't know the number of teargas shells needs to be fired to restore normality in an area. They are also unaware of the distance between the policemen and mob that needs to be maintained while firing teargas shells," Mr RK Majumdar, director general and inspector general of state armed police, said. Now, it has been decided that such police personnel would be sent for retraining. Senior police officers have been asked to prepare a list of policemen who require training regarding effective use of non-lethal weapons.
"Policemen have started receiving training on effective use of teargas shells at the Barrackpore armed police brigade.
"Instruction has been issued to district police authorities to prepare a list of those willing to enlist for the training," Mr Majumdar said. The state home department has also sent a team to the Mob Dispersal Training Academy of the Central Industrial Security Force at Coimbatore recently. Now, they will in turn impart training to their colleagues on effective use of teargas shells and rubber bullets. It has been decided that a separate mob disposal squad will be set up in each district in future.
Three batches of police personnel from North and South 24-Parganas have been trained in Barrackpore.
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=6&theme=&usrsess=1&id=164298

Tata Steel TN project faces opposition

CHENNAI: Tata Steel's move to set up a titanium dioxide plant in Tamil Nadu faces criticism from opposition parties barely a month after the company entered into an agreement with the state government for the second time.

On Sunday, AIADMK leader J. Jayalalitha threatened to demonstrate against the project.

Last month, the Tatas had announced that they would set up the plant to make titanium dioxide - used as a base for paints - from ilmenite, mined from the beach sands of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts in southern Tamil Nadu.

Former MP and actor R. Sarath Kumar, who is planning to launch a political outfit soon, has set up a "fact-finding team" to investigate the sale of land to the Tatas in 50 villages in Sathankulam, Radhapuram and Tiruchendur areas of the district.

PMK chief S. Ramadoss said, "Ilmenite should not be a private property and the government should itself set up the plant instead of giving it to a private party like the Tatas.

"When the government is finding it tough to set up desalination plants in Tamil Nadu, the Tatas' talk of desalination plant, reclamation of land and agro-based employment is simply unbelievable," Ramadoss said.

The plant, entailing an investment of Rs.25 billion, will have a capacity to mine 500,000 tonnes of ilmenite and make 100,000 tonnes of titanium dioxide a year.

India imports about 70,000 tonnes of titanium dioxide every year.

Political outfits are alarmed that huge chunks of Tamil Nadu's southern beaches will go to private hands as the project needs a huge area of land - for every 100 tonnes of sand mined for ilmenite, 90 tonnes of sand will go waste.

Tata Steel had first signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jayalalitha government in 2002, but the project failed to take off.

The AIADMK now alleges that the ruling DMK is acquiring land from farmers in Santhankulam taluk at very low prices and the Tata project "would affect the livelihood of around 20,000 families".

"Moreover, Karunanidhi has created an impression among farmers that as many as 1,000 people would get direct employment and indirect employment for 3,000 in the proposed plant," she said.

"The AIADMK party condemns the DMK government's initiative in acquiring land indiscriminately from poor farmers to hand it over to entrepreneurs."

Ramadoss said, "It is simply shocking to learn that the government would acquire 10,600 acres of land for the Tatas".

He warned Tata's Tamil Nadu plans would soon turn into another Singur - the town near Kolkata where a project of another Tata firm, Tata Motors, has been facing violent protests. 

Mainstream, VOL XLV, No 32

Culpable Derelection of Duty by Police Officers
by D. Bandyopadhyay

Sunday 29 July 2007
http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article250.html

constituencies of Chitrakut district. In addition Dadua’s brother contested from a constituency of Pratapgarh district on the SP ticket. The mother of Thokia dacoit Piyariya Devi contested on the Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket from Naraini (Banda). All this poses a serious danger to the basic tenets of democracy. How can we expect the true voice of people to emerge when voters are pressurised increasingly by the threats of dacoits and how can we expect corruption to be curbed when the utilisation of development funds in a panchayat starts with paying a share to the dacoit gang? Clearly the dacoit menance has to be brought to the centre-stage of protecting democracy in areas like Chitrakut. In the legends of the Ramayana, it is Lord Rama who provided protection to villagers threatened by monsters. In modern times, helpless people are still waiting for a protector. n

It is quite heartening that after some initial delay the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is proceeding with the investigation of the Tapasi Malik rape-and-murder case with expedition and dexterity. They are showing their professionalism for which they have made a name for themselves.

Delay undoubtedly hampered the quality and speed of investigation because many of the important clues and vital evidence must have been lost or deliberately suppressed or concealed due to both the efflux of time and interference by interested persons and groups.

It was the duty of the State Police to do what the CBI is doing now. They were on the spot immediately after the event when much of the evidence now lost or not easily retrievable could have been easily gathered and the culprits could have been arrested pending further investigation.

It is now clear that this rape and murder was not a crime of passion. It was a deliberate act of the party in power and its local leaders to send a clear message to the agitating farmers and their family members to desist from such "anti-party" activities.

The day before she was murdered, Tapasi appeared on the rostrum at Kolkata’s Chowringhee where Ms Mamata Banerjee was on an indefinite hunger-strike.