Mamata refuses to call off 48 hour Bangla Bandh

Kolkata, Dec 19 (UNI) All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) supremo Mamata Banerjee today refused to call off the 48-hour Bangla bandh from December 21 unless the West Bengal government decided ''within 24 hours'' to return the acquired farmlands to the Singur farmers.

In a sudden turnaround from her earlier decision to call off the strike to press for a CBI inquiry into the alleged rape and murder of a 19-year-old daughter of a farmer at Singur yesterday after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee had agreed to the demand, Ms Banerjee told reporters from her ''Dharna Manch'' that she refused to call it off unless the government announced its decision to return the acquired land at Singur to farmers within 24 hours.

The sudden change in her stand despite the positive response from the Chief minister today towards her earlier demand, had not only put a question mark on her real intention behind sponsoring a 48-hour bandh, but also regarding her attitude towards the overall industrialisation programme of the state government.

Incidentally, the two days strike has been convened in the state after a gap of nearly four decades and first time by the Trinamool Congress.

Meanwhile, as the indefinite fast of Ms Banerjee entered the 16th day today, life in parts of Central and downtown Kolkata came to a halt for several hours this afternoon following a series of demonstration and rallies by a number of opposition parties, including the BJP and SUCI, demanding exemplary punishment to the guilty for yesterday's murder of Tapasi Mullick at Singur.

The women's wing of AITC also did not lag behind in throwing the Central Kolkata traffic completely out of gear for a few hours when several members laid down on the street in different formation carrying placards and leaving the strong posse of policemen to be mute spectators.

However, this time the Congress has decided not to support the AITC-sponsored band call with WPCC Working President Pradip Bhattacharjee announcing the party's decision in this regard at a separate news conference here this evening.

Meanwhile, All India Minority fourm today filed a PIL in Calcuatta High court demanding that the bandh called by any political party be declared as illegal.

UNI ABA PC YA KN1820