NEW DELHI: Activists, representatives of people's movements, members of voluntary organisations and concerned citizens came together here to kick-start a month-long nationwide protest under the "Sangharsh-2007" banner.

In a collective struggle to "defend the right to life, livelihood, habitat," several groups, including the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), the National Alliance of Peoples' Movements, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Bharat Jan Andolan and the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, joined the initiative and presented a list of 96 demands. They also protested against the recent police action in Nandigram.

Addressing a public meeting at Jantar Mantar, NBA leader Medha Patkar said the police action in Nandigram was `brutal' and a `violation' of the people's democratic rights.

"Our team visited Nandigram area and PG Hospital, Kolkata, and other sites. It has come to the conclusion that what happened is not right and that the ruling party in the State is at fault. In this case, women were targeted. We never expected that the ruling party would behave in such a heartless manner. The police is not normalising the situation, but is causing disturbance in the area."

A member of the team that visited Nandigram, D. Thankappan of the New Trade Union Initiative, said: "We are demanding the resignation of the West Bengal Chief Minister and a public apology. Among the other demands that we submitted include a formal and official announcement with a written notification of the withdrawal of the proposal of the Nandigram Special Economic Zone chemical hub allotted to the developer. But having taken account of the incident, we have come to the conclusion that the police firing was a brutal act."

Demanding the repeal of the Special Economic Zone Act, 2005, Magsaysay Award winner Aruna Roy said: "There should be a judicial enquiry into the massacre at Nandigram. The Government should end use of all force in Nandigram and provide access to land and livelihood resources to all the local people until the issue is resolved to the satisfaction of the people. Further, acquisition of land should be stopped until a democratic and just industrial and land-use policy and legislation on rehabilitation is put in place."

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