Opposition not sincere in Nandigram peace process: Basu

Kolkata, May 27 (UNI) Accusing the opposition parties of being insincere in the ongoing peace move for Nandigram, CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu today said restoration of peace in the strife-torn area appeared to be difficult.

''Going by their attitude, I do not think that they want peace to return. There is a dearth of sincerity among the Opposition, which they will have to show. It appears to me that restoration of peace in Nandigram will be a very tough job to do,'' he told reporters after attending an emergency meeting of the CPI(M) state Secretariat.

The nonagenarian leader, however, said Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was trying his best to ensure the peace process was not derailed.

The meeting was called to review the situation after an all-party meeting failed on March 24 following a walk-out by the Trinamool Congress, led by party chief Mamata Banerjee.

The Chief Minister and CPI(M) state Committee Secretary Biman Basu, who were in Delhi for the party's Polit Bureau and Central Committee meetings, also attended today's meeting.

Referring to the demand of the Trinamool Congress and Congress that any all-party meeting must take up for discussion the alleged mass-killing and rape in Nandigram, Mr Basu said the opposition was insisting on this despite knowing that a case on the subject was pending with the court while an Executive Inquiry by a Divisional Commissioner was going on.

In a bid to counter the allegation that the CPI(M) was unleashing terror in Nandigram, he said few thousand party supporters, driven out by the Trinamool Congress-led Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee, have still not returned.

''I can only say that restoration of peace in Nandigram is urgently needed. An area cannot remain isolated from rest of the state. The Chief Minister told me during the meeting that he is trying his best,'' the CPI(M) veteran said.

Peace continued to elude Nandigram and its adjoining areas for more than four months now as political violence continued to rage since January when villagers attacked police and went on a rampage in protest against the government's alleged move to take over land for a proposed chemical hub.

The situation worsened when 14 people were killed in police firing on March 14 as the administration tried to take control of the area that remained cut-off from rest of the state with roads being dug up and incidents of arsoning and clahses.

Even after the government declared that no land would be acquired, the unrest refused to die down as all economic and development activities in the area came to a standstill.

UNI