Khammam incident no comparison to Nandigam:Jyoti Basu

Kolkata, July 30 (UNI) A day after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee accused the CPI(M) of playing a double role over police firing at Nandigram and Khammam, veteran Marxist leader Jyoti Basu today said there could be no comparison between the two incidents.

''In no way are the incidents of Nandigram and Khammam comparable. Police were forced to fire in Nandigram when they were constantly attacked with bombs and other weapons...but at Khammam police fired on a peaceful gathering,'' he told reporters after attending the CPI(M) State Committee meeting.

The nonagenarian CPI(M) patriarch, who had demanded an inquiry into the Khammam incident in Andhra Pradesh, in which six people were killed, said there was no provocation from the agitators to prompt police to open fire.

''We have gathered from an investigation conducted by the party's Polit Bureau that the rally was peaceful and no bombs were hurled.

We have demanded an inquiry, but the Andhra Pradesh Government has only offered compensation,'' he said.

Stressing that police had acted under far more pressing situation in Nandigram, Mr.Basu said the incident took place only after the state government waited with patience for three months before ordering the law keepers to move in.

The entire area was ''virtually made a free zone and isolated from rest of the world'' by members of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhoomi Uchched Protirodh Committee who dug up roads and destroyed bridges and culverts, he said.

However, even though she condemned the police firing at Khammam, Ms.Banerjee alleged yesterday that the magnitude of the Nandigram incident was much greater.

Alleging that CPI(M) men from outside were attacking Nandigram everyday with bombs and bullets, Ms Banerjee warned that if this continued, the Trinamool Congress would 'immobilise' all government functioning.

Her allegation came the day fresh violence broke out in Nandigram in which one CPI(M) man was shot dead and two Trinamool Congress supporters were injured.

UNI