Nandigram resistance group walk out of peace meeting

Nandigram/Kolkata, Jan 11(UNI) Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's move to give a healing touch took a tumble in Nandigram today as a peace meeting fell through demanding assurance that no land would be acquired.

While no incidents of fresh violence were reported from anywhere in the strife-torn area in the past 48 hours, roads and bridges remained damaged and many people were yet to return home.

With the area remaining inaccessible and the situation still to settle down, police kept staying away, patrolling only the fringe areas.

With support from the representatives of Trinamool Congress and Congress, members of 'Bhumi Uchched Protirodh Committee', the local resistance group, walked out of the meeting, called by Block Development Officer Ashok Sarkar, stating that the Government first make the commitment.

They also demanded a ban on setting up of camp office of any political party in a five km radius of the proposed site for SEZ.

Even as Mr Bhattacharjee assured that no acquisition would take place without talking to the people, members of 'Bhumi Uchched Protirodh Committee' made a door-to-door campaign here yesterday asserting that at no cost would land be given.

They had also set a rider for repairing the roads stating that no outsiders, except the labourers of contractors would be allowed to move inside the area.

Meanwhile, in the state Secretariat, the chief minister assured representatives of All India Milli Council and Jamat-E-Islam that religious places and burial grounds would be excluded from any plan for land acquisition in Nandigram.

During a meeting, the minority leaders also demanded that the Government set up a committee with cross-section of people for its proposed land acquisition move.

"The chief minister has assured us that the land acquisition plan does not include places of worship and burial grounds. We are satisfied with the meeting with him," All India Milli Council Bengal unit president Kari Fazlur Rahman told reporters.

"We said we are not against industrialisation. But the Government should adequately compensate the land losers and rehabilitate them properly," he said.

He said the chief minister had invited them to the meeting over the Nandigram issue.

Mr.Rahman said in reply to a question, Mr Bhattacharjee denied having described any organisation as fundamentalist. "He said he had only decried the way a campaign was carried out among the local farmers belonging to the minority community," Mr.Rahaman said.

UNI