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Call for boycott of government programmes

Kolkata: Social activist Medha Patkar on Saturday began a two-day fast over the Nandigram issue. Film personalities Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh and writer Mahasweta Devi joined her, calling for a boycott of the International Film Festival that began in Kolkata on Saturday, and other programmes organised by the State Government.

Speaking to a gathering of people, some of whom were from Nandigram, Ms. Patkar she said this was an hour of test for the CPI(M) which had so vociferously protested against the Gujarat riots. She said the next course of action would be decided through consensus. However, she repeatedly appealed to the gathering to roll up their party banners (SUCI and CPI(ML) flags were flying high at the gathering) and band together only as opponents of the Nandigram violence, shedding their political colours. SUCI has made a call for strike too.

Describing this as a dark Deepavali, Ms. Patkar launched her fast in the morning demanding a political decision by the West Bengal government to stop killings in Nandigram. She said she and her supporters were not allowed to enter Nandigram on Friday. Sustaining herself on water, Ms. Patkar and her supporters started their sit-in fast at the very place in downtown Kolkata where Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee observed her 25-day fast last year.

While director Rituparno Ghosh left without making any statement after sitting for a while, Aparna Sen joined Ms. Patkar to laud Governor Gopal Gandhi’s statement made on Friday, saying he was a very sensitive person. “Is supporting the CPI(M) the only way of remaining neutral? ” she asked.

She wanted urban citizens to empathise with the sufferings of the common people at Nandigram and launch an intense campaign as was done in the case of computer graphics teacher Rizwanur. “Let us organise a silent candlelight procession to save democracy in the State,” she said.

She told The Hindu that she would not attend the weeklong Kolkata festival.

Ms. Patkar read out a statement from the Amnesty International that expressed concern over the Nandigram events and said the organisation was putting pressure on the government to stop the killings and the harassment of common people.

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