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Resolution Condemning the Massacre in Nandigram
14 and 15 March 2007
We the members of the Task Force on Food Sovereignty and Ecological Agriculture of the Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP), which is having its 3rd meeting in Penang, Malaysia (March 14 and 15, 2007) strongly condemn the West Bengal government led by the C.P.I. (M) for the massacre of more than 20 peasants from Nandigram, East Midnapore District in West Bengal.
The massacre was reportedly committed on 14 March 2007 by the 4000-member police force under the "Operation Nandigram" which was formed to suppress the growing protest of the Nandigram farming communities who are fighting against the land acquisition for the proposed establishment of the US$ 4.2 billion mega-Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
This is not an isolated case as the state government has been aggressively promoting West Bengal as the new haven for foreign investors in the name of "development". This is the second instance of violence in Nandigram, the first being in January when six (6) people were killed by the police and goons by the ruling party. Aside from Nandigram, social unrests among peasants are also taking place in Singur in Hooghly (), another district in West Bengal where Tata Corporation, a giant Indian motor company, plans to build its plant with the support of the West Bengal government.
The West Bengal Left government, which ironically was put into power based on its "pro-people" platform, has been hell-bent to hand over more than 20,000 acres of fertile agricultural land to Salim Group, an Indonesian company closely associated with the former Indonesian dictator Suharto who was responsible for the genocide of half a million Indonesian activists during his rule in the 1960s.
The proposed SEZs in Nandigram will displace approximately 300,000 people, mostly small and marginal farmers, sharecroppers and agricultural labourers who depend on their land for their survival. It will also bulldoze 142 temples, 45 mosques and 4 high schools to give way to chemical industries under the SEZs.
We condemn the fascist move by the state government to kill the dissent of the people and pressurise them to give-up their only source of livelihood which is land.
The members of the 3rd Task Force Meeting of the Food Sovereignty and Ecological Agriculture demand the West Bengal government to:
- Stop the killings in Nandigram!
- Respect and uphold human rights, deliver justice and just compensation to the victims and families.
- Stop any forced and violent eviction and respect the communities' decision to keep their land and their demand for a community-led agricultural development plan.
- Immediately release the arrested peasants and withdraw the police cases against them.
- Punish the guilty police, government officials and other actors responsible for this massacre.
- Scrap SEZs in Nandrigam and other parts of the state.
- Constitute a judicial commission to make an immediate inquiry, with a sitting judge from the High Court/Supreme Court as its Chair.
If the state government fails to comply with the above demands, then the government of India must come forward to take appropriate steps to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people.
Signed and endorsed by the following Task Force members:
Mr. Rafael Mariano, KMP, Philippines
Azra Talat Sayeed, Roots, Pakistan
Mr. Hari Parajuli, ANPA, Nepal
Mr. P. Chennaiah, APVVU, India
Mr. Biplab Halim, IMSE India
Mr. Sharad Joschi, CECOEDECON, India
Ms. Sayyida Akhter, UBINIG, Bangladesh
Mr. Nugroho Wienarto FIELD, Indonesia
Ms. Indrani Thuraisingham, ERA, Malaysia
Ms. Rosario Bella Guzman, IBON, Philippines
Mr. Yang Saing Koma, CEDAC, Cambodia
Mr. Erpan Faryadi, AGRA, Indonesia
Ms. Rey Asis, Asian Students Association, Hong Kong
Ms. Urantsooj Gombursen, CHRD, Mongolia
Ms. Sarojeni Rengam, PAN AP
Mr. Gilbert Sape, PAN AP
Contact details:
Food Sovereignty and Ecological Agriculture Programme
PAN Asia and the Pacific
P.O. Box 1170, Penang 10850, Malaysia
Tel: 604-6570271 or 604-6560381
Fax: 604-6583960
Email:
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