Mistrust prevails over Nandigram peace talks

Kolkata, May 23 (UNI) Amid boycott and mistrust, the all-party peace talks on Nandigram take place tomorrow with major political forces joining dialogues for restoration of normalcy in the embattled area.

The SUCI boycotted the proposed meeting describing it as ''futile'', while the BJP, one of the few parties not invited, alleged that it was a ''farce''. Kept away from the talks after getting invitation, the CPI(ML) Liberation said the party was skeptic about the success of the peace process.

Though Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPI (M) state Secretary Biman Basu will not be present, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is expected to attend the crucial meet with representatives from most other parties, including the CPI (M), joining the talks.

According to CPI (M) sources, party's state Secretariat members Madan Ghosh and Shyamal Chakraborty and Transport Minister Subhash Chakraborty would represent the party.

The parties not invited in the meeting were the BJP and Left Front partners Revolutionary Communist Party of India (RCPI) and Biplabi Bangla Congress--all without having representation in the state Assembly. An invitation extended to the CPI(ML) Liberation, also non existent in the legislature, was later revoked.

Jamait-Ulema-i-Hind, which had been playing a major role in the Nandigram agitation, has also not been called in the meeting because of it being a non-political entity.

Meanwhile, the SUCI sent a letter to Forward Bloc state Secretary Ashok Ghosh, the convener of the meeting, stating that the party would not participate in the talks which amounted to a ''meaningless exercise'' without the presence of the Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee, a platform of several opposition parties that spearheaded the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram.

SUCI state Secretary Provas Ghosh told reporters today that the party also wanted participation of different mass organisations and the intellecutals who had been protesting the Left Front Government's industrial policy.

He said the SUCI had put a precondition of handing out 'exemplary punishment' to those guilty for the March 14 'mass killing and rape' and adequate compensation to the victims in Nandigram before starting a dialogue. ''Unless these demands are met no peace talks will succeed. For us, joining the all party meet under this circumstances will amount to betraying the Nandigram victims,'' he said.

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