National
Will BJP be able to replicate the Nandigram model in Sandeshkhali?
Kolkata, Feb 25 (IANS) As Sandeshkhali, a conglomerate of islands in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, continues to boil over agitation of local women against the sexual harassment of local Trinamool Congress leader, the BJP has gone all out to replicate the Nandigram model in Sandeshkhali.
During the Nandigram movement, the incumbent Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari (then in Trinamool Congress) became an pivot around which the movement shaped and took place, forcing one of the most regimented ruling regime in the history of India — 34 years of Left Front rule — first to bend, then to collapse and finally face a dishonorable exit from the state’s political landscape.
The BJP now dreams to replicate the same Nandigram-model in Sandeshkhali against the ruling Trinamool Congress.
“Be it Nandigram or Sandeshkhali, the movement is against rulers’ boisterous autocracy. The common factors remain the same which are: forceful land grabbing, harassment of women and suppressing the democratic space. These factors have led to spontaneous outburst of mass outrage,” (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari explained.
Land grabbing is a common and root issue in both Nandigram and Sandeshkhali, however, with a difference. The tension in Nandigram flickered from an official government notification from the local Haldia Development Authority (HDA) expressing the intention of land acquisition for a petrochemicals hub to be incorporated by Indonesia-based Salim Group.
The notification was enough to flicker the fear of losing farmland among the local people which subsequently led to a spontaneous mass movement against the then ruling Left Front led by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
At that point, the Trinamool Congress entered the scene and Mamata Banerjee became the face of the Nandigram movement.
In the case of Nandigram, the land acquisition never actually took place. The then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Battacharjee himself announced the withdrawal of the notification which had ignited the movement.
However, it was too late for him and for his party to regain the peoples’ confidence, resulting in collapse of the ‘Red Fort’ first during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and then the subsequent eviction of 34-year rule of Left Front in the 2011 assembly elections.
In the case of Sandeshkhali, there are cases of unofficial, forceful and illegal grabbing of farmland and illegally converting them into pisciculture farms by forcefully flowing in saline water.
Those infuriating zealots blindfolded by the patronage of the ruling dispensation have resorted to blatant sexual harassment and violence against the local women for almost a decade now.
LoP Suvendu Adhikari said that the secrets of illegal land grabbing and harassment of women would have never come to light had the ED and CAPF personnel not been attacked by a crowd allegedly orchestrated by the absconding Trinamool Congress leader on January 5.
The Trinamool leader Sheikh Shahjahan has gone into hiding since January 5, giving courage to the local people, especially women, to hit the streets and narrating the gory tales of forceful land grabbing and sexual harassment by the ruling government.
The spontaneous mass uprising of the local women at Sandeshkhali has now opened the avenues for BJP to enter the scene at Sandeshkhali, a virtual fortress of Trinamool Congress since last one decade.
Just like the Nandigram movement, Suvendua Adhikari has again emerged as the vanguard in shaping and leading the protest against the incumbent ruling dispensation.
Political observers find another resemblance between the Nandigram and Sandeshkhali movements that is: “what happened” or “what is happening” is nothing but an “orchestrated propaganda against the ruling dispensation jointly led by the opposition and a section of the media.”
“History teaches us that fortresses do fall. Nandigram was the key component leading to the collapse of the 34-year regime of Left Front rule in West Bengal. Time will decide whether Sandeshkhali will turn to be the waterloo for Trinamool Congress or not,” a city- based political observer said.
–IANS
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Kochi, July 6 (IANS) The Kerala High Court has slammed Indian Railways for the waste found besides tracks and directed it to ensure proper disposal of garbage.
A Division Bench of the High Court made these observations while hearing the case that was registered by it suo motu after a fire broke out at Brahmapuram, near here and also dealing with the management of gypsum generated by Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT).
The court observed that Railways has a duty to prevent the disposal of waste on tracks.
It said that while the waste generated near the railway stations was managed, not much was being done to remove garbage from the side of the tracks.
The court said the main reason for this dumping was that train compartments do not have adequate garbage bins.
It further pointed out that the waste disposed on the tracks flows into water bodies causing damage to the environment.
The court, looking into the two cases, directed Indian Railways to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken to clear the plastic waste from tracks.
On the second issue, the court expressed whether the gypsum generated could be used in road construction and asked FACT and the National Highway Authority of India to explore the possibility.
The court posted the case for further hearing on July 26.
–IANS
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Kolkata, July 6 (IANS) The police have arrested two persons, including a woman, in connection with the carnage at Bolpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district which killed three members of the same family.
The woman who has been arrested in this connection is Smirti Bibi, who is the wife of Sheikh Ratan, the younger brother of Sheikh Tuta, 40, who was killed in the carnage.
Besides, Sheikh Tuta, his wife Rumpa Bibi, 30, and son Ayan Sheikh, 94, were also killed in the carnage.
Sheikh Safiqul, a quack residing in an adjacent village, with whom Smirti Bibi allegedly had an extra-marital affair, had also been arrested in connection with the incident.
Based on the complaint lodged by other members of the family, there were often quarrels in the family over an alleged extra-marital affair.
The family members as well as the neighbours of the family have informed the police that since Sheikh Tuta was vocal against this extra-marital affair, both Smirti Bibi and her paramour had developed a grudge over the deceased person.
On early Friday morning, the room where the three deceased individuals were sleeping was set on fire.
While Rumpa Bibi and Ayan Sheikh died on Friday only after they were brought to the hospital, Sheikh Tuta died early Saturday morning.
The local police have started an investigation into the matter.
Sources said that based on statements of different persons as well as some circumstantial evidence, the two persons were arrested on Saturday.
–IANS
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Bengaluru, June 6 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Saturday that rowdy elements should be afraid of the police, adding that it is a shame that some policemen do not even know that the e-beat system is in place.
“Why are you given guns? Why are rowdies not afraid of it,” Siddaramaiah questioned the state police while speaking after the inauguration of the 2024 Senior Police Officers Conference at the police headquarters here.
He also released a new software on the occasion.
“Who are the drug dealers? The respective station officials know who the rowdies and real estate agents are.” He asked why it was not stopping.
He congratulated Home Minister G. Parameshwara and the Karnataka Police for maintaining law and order without communal riots in the state in the last one year.
The CM gave a clear instruction that it is mandatory for every SP-DCP-IG to visit and inspect every station in their jurisdiction as per the police manual.
–IANS
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New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian for his election as Iran’s new President.
“Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our people and the region,” PM Modi said in a post on X.
India-Iran partnership in various sectors, including connectivity, has expanded tremendously in recent times, especially during the tenure of Iran’s late President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi who passed away in a helicopter crash in May this year.
India had also observed a day’s state mourning as a mark of respect to the late Iranian President and other eight people, including the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who lost their lives in the tragic accident.
It was also under India’s presidency that Iran joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Both countries have fast-tracked infrastructure cooperation, focusing especially on the Chabahar project and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) – the 7,200 km-long multimodal trade corridor linking Russia with India via the ports of Iran.
–IANS
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Hyderabad, July 6 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) received another jolt when its MLA joined the Congress on Saturday, just a day after six of its Members in the Legislative Council crossed over to the ruling party.
Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, the MLA from Gadwal constituency, joined Congress in the presence of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
The Chief Minister welcomed the MLA into the party.
Krishna Mohan represents the Gadwal constituency in Revanth Reddy’s home district of Mahabubnagar.
Krishna Mohan is the seventh MLA to switch to the ruling party since BRS lost power in December 2023.
BRS’ strength in the 119-member Assembly has come down to 31. It also lost the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly by-election to Congress.
The tally of Congress party has now gone up to 72.
The main opposition party has lost several senior leaders to Congress during the last seven months.
–IANS
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