Marxists do secret post mortem on killings

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee may have faced the disapproval of his party comrades over the Nandigram police firing, but the CPM favours dissecting its ‘mistakes’ behind the iron curtain.

The CPM central committee, which was in introspection mode on Monday, was largely of the view that the police firing could have been avoided. But, so wary is the party of the attack from all quarters, including friends and foes, over Nandigram that the CPM would rather refrain from washing dirty linen in public.

After a three-day meeting during which Nandigram, land acquisition and SEZs were discussed threadbare, the party decided that “errors” committed by the party should be discussed only in the party fora.

The CPM, which apprehends an attempt by rival parties to isolate it, has decided to stick together to face the onslaught from the opposition as well as allies. The central committee has also backed the state government’s decision to put on hold all land acquisition till the government made changes in the SEZ and Land Acquisition Act.

So while Mr Bhattacharjee has got the message that his party comrades are not happy about the police firing despite his detailed explanation on the events that led to it, the chief minister has the party’s backing.

The central committee, while discussing the issue of land acquisition, decided to press the centre to make changes in the SEZ Act, which included a change in the land use policy, reviewing tax exemptions and capping the quantum of land in an SEZ.

The party, which has rubbished the CBI findings about the CPM cadres’ involvement in Nandigram, wants a judicial inquiry into the March 14 episode. The CPM is planning to launch a state-wide campaign to convince the people on the need for industrialisation and that this would require some land. The party will drive home the point that of the one crore acres in the state, industrialisation would require only one lakh acres.

Party general secretary Prakash Karat had already made it clear that the Left Front would go ahead with industrialisation and SEZs. He said the years of de-industrialisation in West Bengal had to be reversed and balanced economic development required industrialisation within the capitalist framework too.