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Reference to Nandigram violence in U.S. report evokes condemnation

Special Correspondent

It should be ignored with the contempt it deserves: Somnath

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Friday said the United States State Department’s report listing the violence in Nandigram among the human rights violations across the world “should be ignored with the contempt it deserves.”

The Speaker made these remarks when the matter was raised after Question Hour by Gurudas Dasgupta (Communist Party of India). He described the observations as a case of “grave interference in the internal affairs of India by the Bush administration.”

Stating that there could be different perceptions within India on what happened in Nandigram, Mr. Dasgupta said the U. S. State Department’s observations should be condemned by the entire House. Further, he submitted that anything that happened within the country was the internal matter of India and the U.S. had nothing to do with it.

At this juncture, the Speaker intervened and said the report should be ignored. As Mr. Dasgupta kept up his insistence on a condemnation from the entire House, Mr. Chatterjee pointed out that India was not bound by the Bush administration and steered the Lok Sabha to other business.

Unwarranted: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday termed the reference to Nandigram an “interference” in India’s affairs and asked Washington to concentrate on alleged gross human rights violations in Iraq and in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement here, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) said the reference to last year’s incidents in Nandigram in the U.S. report was “unnecessary and unwarranted.” It said the report was based on “totally misplaced facts.”

“The Polit Bureau urges all right-thinking people to reject this contention and the interference of the U.S. government with all the contempt that it deserves,” it said.

At a press conference, CPI(M) leader Mohd. Salim said normality, peace and democracy had been restored in Nandigram.

“There is well-documented information about the presence and participation of Maoist elements in violence there. We want that the peace should not be fragile and development work should go on,” he said.

He slammed the U.S. for taking upon itself the mantle of being “the custodian or champion of human rights.” He said that some people in the country thought the Bush administration was the champion of human rights but added that “the Left and the CPI(M) does not suffer from any such illusion.”

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