World | India
Shops close on martyr's day in Nandigram
Shops remained closed in villages of Nandigram region in West Bengal on Monday following a 12-hour shutdown called by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) to protest the death of a party activist.
- IANS
- Published: 00:06 May 27, 2008
Kolkata: Shops remained closed in villages of Nandigram region in West Bengal on Monday following a 12-hour shutdown called by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) to protest the death of a party activist.
On the same day, the opposition Trinamool Congress observed Martyrs' Day in memory of the at least 35 people killed in the region since January 2007 when farmers supported by it clashed with CPM cadres to protest land acquisition plans for industry. There were no reports of violence.
But CPM said one of its activists died on Friday after he was beaten up by Trinamool Congress supporters.
Most shops at Nandigram remained closed from early morning. There were no buses and very few vehicles plied on the roads.
Lost elections
This month, the state's ruling CPM-led Left Front lost elections to the zilla parishad or district council - the top tier of the state's local governance system - in East Midnapore district, where Nandigram is located, to the Trinamool Congress after an uninterrupted reign of over 30 years since 1977.
Meanwhile, senior CPM leader and former chief minister Jyoti Basu said it is impossible to return to farmers the land acquired for a Tata Motors project at Singur in Hoogly district as demanded by the Trinamool Congress.
"I don't understand where the Tata factory will be set up if we return the acquired land to the farmers? The demand of Trinamool Congress is baseless. Instead, they can demand higher compensation for the farmers from the government," Basu said.
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