The Hindu : National : Maoist presence only a bogey: Medha

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 21, 2007
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Maoist presence only a bogey: Medha

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Activist Medha Patkar said on Tuesday that there should be no deal between the United Progressive Alliance and the Left parties on the India-U.S. nuclear deal and the Nandigram issue. “The UPA government must ensure protection of the life, dignity and property of the people in Nandigram.”

Ms. Patkar, part of a people’s delegation that visited Nandigram, told journalists here that the bogey of a Maoist presence was being raised to justify the “subjugation of rebellious villages in the area.”

No physical evidence

Releasing a report of the team to the media here, she, along with journalist Sumit Chakravarty, said they did not find physical evidence to back the accusations. “In Sonachura we talked to at least 150 to 200 people, both from the CPI(M) and the Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee(BUPC). Not one of them mentioned armed resistance by the BUPC.”

She said it was clear that no matter how it was projected, this was not a Trinamool Congress versus CPI(M) fight. “The BUPC is not a TMC outfit. Nor is it a Maoist outfit. So this is not a Left versus ultra-Left issue. The BUPC consists of angry villagers from Nandigram who have rebelled against CPI(M)’s oppressive ways and its bullying tactics to take away their land [for Special Economic Zone

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