PaRCha - JNU - AISA material - 2007 ID-17700
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Says, give up anti-land grab stir or else... .
A day after an alleged CPI(M) worker threatened Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind convener Siddiqulla Chowdhury with "dire consequences" if he kept on organising anti-land grab protests at Nandigram, leaders of the Muslim organisation said the "latest incident could adversely affect" the prospects of proposed peace talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. .
Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind has been spearheading the anti-land acquisition protests at Nandigram in East Midnapore district that saw seven deaths a fortnight ago when efforts were made by the Government to survey acquirable land for Salem Group's SEZ project. The Government had proposed to acquire in phases 10,000 acres of agricultural land in the zone adjacent to the port-cum-industrial town of Haldia. .
The Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind has shot into prominence after the violence at Nandigram and emerged as a mouthpiece of Muslims who constitute little more than 24 per cent of West Bengal's population. The Trinamool Congress, along with some splinter Maoist organisations, immediately grabbed the opportunity to strike a chord with Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind and swelled the group's ranks. .
Subsequently, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee even wrote to Chowdhury to attend her anti-land grab rallies, particularly at Singur, the latter said, adding he was still considering the Trinamool offer. .
The impact was such that a bunch of CPI(M) stalwarts, realising their blunder, at once suggested peace talks with the group that was peeved with the Government. After the Nandigram incident, the Chief Minister and some of his Marxist colleagues had described the organisation as communal. .
According to Chowdhury, both Transport and Sports Minister Subhas Chakroborty and senior CPI(M) State secretariat member Madan Ghosh had "approached me with the offer for talks that I accepted. But I said that I would talk only if the Chief Minister writes to me personally." .
Though a section of the CPI(M) considers a formal letter to the organisation would only give it undue publicity and importance, others feel there is no alternative to swallow the bitter pill, at least for the time being. "It is advisable to launch a peace process by initiating talks rather than alienating them," a State committee member said. .
Chowdhury, who was reportedly travelling to north Bengal, was accosted at Sealdah station when he was about to board Malda-bound Gour Express. A person claiming to be a CPI(M) cadre threatened him with "dire consequences". Chowdhury said, "Phone calls were also made to my wife, saying my life would be in danger if I pursued with the movement at Nandigram." .
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PaRCha - JNU - AISA material - 2007 ID-17700
.
Says, give up anti-land grab stir or else... .
A day after an alleged CPI(M) worker threatened Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind convener Siddiqulla Chowdhury with "dire consequences" if he kept on organising anti-land grab protests at Nandigram, leaders of the Muslim organisation said the "latest incident could adversely affect" the prospects of proposed peace talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. .
Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind has been spearheading the anti-land acquisition protests at Nandigram in East Midnapore district that saw seven deaths a fortnight ago when efforts were made by the Government to survey acquirable land for Salem Group's SEZ project. The Government had proposed to acquire in phases 10,000 acres of agricultural land in the zone adjacent to the port-cum-industrial town of Haldia. .
The Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind has shot into prominence after the violence at Nandigram and emerged as a mouthpiece of Muslims who constitute little more than 24 per cent of West Bengal's population. The Trinamool Congress, along with some splinter Maoist organisations, immediately grabbed the opportunity to strike a chord with Jamaat-e-Ulema Hind and swelled the group's ranks. .
Subsequently, Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee even wrote to Chowdhury to attend her anti-land grab rallies, particularly at Singur, the latter said, adding he was still considering the Trinamool offer. .
The impact was such that a bunch of CPI(M) stalwarts, realising their blunder, at once suggested peace talks with the group that was peeved with the Government. After the Nandigram incident, the Chief Minister and some of his Marxist colleagues had described the organisation as communal. .
According to Chowdhury, both Transport and Sports Minister Subhas Chakroborty and senior CPI(M) State secretariat member Madan Ghosh had "approached me with the offer for talks that I accepted. But I said that I would talk only if the Chief Minister writes to me personally." .
Though a section of the CPI(M) considers a formal letter to the organisation would only give it undue publicity and importance, others feel there is no alternative to swallow the bitter pill, at least for the time being. "It is advisable to launch a peace process by initiating talks rather than alienating them," a State committee member said. .
Chowdhury, who was reportedly travelling to north Bengal, was accosted at Sealdah station when he was about to board Malda-bound Gour Express. A person claiming to be a CPI(M) cadre threatened him with "dire consequences". Chowdhury said, "Phone calls were also made to my wife, saying my life would be in danger if I pursued with the movement at Nandigram." .
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