Tata bye, bye? Singur sows seeds of unrest

HOT WHEELS: A file photograph of protests against Nano in West Bengal (L) and the much-hyped Tata small car.

        

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The stalemate over the Tata Motors small car project in Singur, West Bengal, continues with Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee refusing to end her protest against the factory.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who on Monday again urged Banerjee to end her protest, has said the car project is vital for Bengal’s process and cannot be abandoned. "We have to solve the issue for the sake of industrialisation in the state. We can't let the Tatas to move out of West Bengal," he said.

Banerjee remains firm on her demand that 400 acres of farmland taken for ancillary units to the plant from "unwilling farmers" must be returned to the owners before she begins dialogue with the state government.

Opponents of the car project say their fight is for the farmer whose land is being taken away for industrialisation without his consent and fair compensation. People who want industries say farming can’t support the state’s economy for long and West Bengal must catch up on progress.

The state government had to abandon a plan to build a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Nandigram district after clashes between farmers and CPI-M workers last year.

Is Nandigram going to be repeated in Singur? Should farms be sacrificed for industrialisation? CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose asked this on Face The Nation to Derek O’Brien, quizmaster and spokesperson for the Trinamool Congress, Tarun Das, chief mentor of business chamber Confederation of Indian Industries, and Union Commerce Secretary G K Pillai.

Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Chittaroopa Palit was also on the show.

The opposition to the Tata car project in Singur is justified, said O’Brien. “The Trinamool Congress is pro-industry and pro-farmer but the Communists are pro-industry and they make no pretence of being pro-farmer. The basic issue is that the Chief Minister should have got the consensus of all shareholders and all people in Singur when he brought the Tatas here,” he said. “We want dialogue but first 400 acres of farmland taken from unwilling farmers must be returned.”

Are people like Mamata Banerjee and Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, an opponent of mega projects that displace people, blocking development or are they reminding the nation farmers and the poor must not be trampled over?

India’s land acquisition laws were enacted long ago and they have outlived their utility, said Pillai. “Recent agitations by farmers and landowners highlight the inadequacies of the land acquisition laws. This is something which needs urgent correction.”