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Mamata: cultivation on acquired land soon

SINGUR: Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee announced here on Tuesday that the “unwilling” farmers, whose land she alleged was forcibly acquired for the Tata Motors small car project, as well as the sharecroppers will start cultivation on the acquired land very soon.

Ms. Banerjee was addressing a rally to observe as a “black day” the second anniversary of police atrocities on the farmers during the land acquisition process.

The Durgapur Expressway remained blocked for nearly three hours as Trinamool Congress supporters from several districts trooped in for the rally.

“Now that Tata Motors has departed from Singur the land that had been forcibly acquired should not be lying vacant. So the Singur Krishi Jami Raksha [Protection of Farmland at Singur] Committee will lead the farmers and sow potato and brinjal on the vacant lands very soon,” she said.

Ms. Banerjee reiterated her demand for the return of 400 acres of land to the ‘unwilling’ farmers. Industry can be set up on the remaining 600 acres only after the floating of a global tender, she added.

She said the Tata Motors authorities had retreated from the State as it could not have delivered the Nano at the promised price of Rs.1 lakh. “The Tata group is well known to have cheated people in a similar manner while going on to acquire land in Bangladesh, Gopalpur in Orissa and Tuticorin in Tamilnadu.”

“The people’s movements in Singur and Nandigram have showed the way for the country against forcible acquisition in the name of industrialisation and setting up special economic zones… ,” Ms. Banerjee added.

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