The long dark tea time of the soul

Before proceeding further, I request the reader to undertake this simple exercise. Ananda Bazar Patrika is one of the most popular bengali newspaper. Visit their archives section and search for 15th march issue of the newspaper. You will find the page missing. So is the edition of 16th march. (the original source of this information is a message in orkut group) All other issues from 1st January 2001 till yesterday are accessible(I confirmed it using wget). So, what is there on the editions of 15th and 16th march, that the richest, largest, one-of-the-oldest and most influential media group was forced to remove the contents all-together from their website? They might be a genuine technical reason. But it is highly probable that somebody asked them to remove those But it is hard to believe that the state and party machinery did not berate it for its reporting of previous day’s massacre. The fact that Ananda Bazar Patrika was forced to remove contents critical of the ruling party from its internet edition is merely indicative of CPI(Marxist) ability to coax all and sundry in West Bengal.
Karl Marx died in London on 14th March 1883. The chief minister of West Bengal, who has Marx in his party’s name had devised an elaborate plan to celebrate his death anniversary. 124 years later, he was murdered in the fields of Nandigram, West Bengal, under the aegis of a political party that claims to follow his ideals. The massacre in Nandigram on that day, was the chief minister’s way of answering his critics. Planned from the top, and implemented with precision at the ground, the state government of gunned down at least 14 civilians. Independent reports reveal that many more might have been killed, at least 50-100 individuals are missing from Nandigram. There have been widespread allegations of sexual abuse in Nandigram on that fateful day. My heart goes to the deceased. That the party chose Karl Marx’s death anniversary to accomplish its murderous design is shameful.
For those who know the real character of CPM in West Bengal (and otherwise) the incidents of 14th March does not come as a surprise. The party has done this before without any significant after-effect, electorally or otherwise. The “intellectuals” rallied behind it then, and many are once again parroting its lines. In the immediate aftermath of the massacre, the party went on to justify the rape and killings in Nandigram, calling them mere unfortunate, and started blaming third parties. And now the party has gone into an overdrive, spreading the propaganda that CPI(M) party members were attacked there since last two and a half months. But then are the CPM party cadres not rapists and murderers, as proved on 14th March, and if the people of Nandigram resisted them, then we must hail their action. And if the villagers of Nandigram, decide to avenge the killings by the state forces by whatever means, then also we must support them. The party has enjoyed 35 years of communist rule in West Bengal. It claims to have turned the state into a communist utopia, despite central apathy. Yet the state of affairs of West Bengal is for all of us to see. Sachar committee report has proved as hollow claims that minorities are treated well in the state. Last week ‘fuhrer’ Prakash Karat claimed that his party was instrumental in NREGA. He forgot to mention one small fact, that the state ruled by his party has worst track record in implementing NREGA in past one year. The state was the last to implement the orders national RTI act 2005. Most of my queries to the state government under RTI have been unanswered.

Media, independent blogs (notable: this and this), and independent fact finding teams have done an incredible job in bringing out the truth. But will it change anything? Will there be any impact of state sponsored killings in Nandigram in wider policy debates. The prime minister has already gone on record saying that the SEZ policy is there to stay.
The CPM demands absolute loyalty. The so called “intellectuals” who rally behind the party have already parroted the party line. Some media groups are seen as sympathetic to CPM. The Hindu editorial a day after the carnage was attacking the WB governor for “extending his brief”, and less vocal on the killings. But the best of all, the one that most pleased the party bosses, was by Ananda Bazar Patrika. It deleted the issues of 15th and 16th march 2007 from its website. As if deleting the contents will force the issue out of public minds. That’s what Stalin used to do. But remember that Stalin also murdered nearly 20 million citizens. The CPM is merely following the footsteps.