I have been writing about Singur, where the West Bengal govt is forcibly acquiring land from farmers to hand over to Tata Motors for their small car project.
My friend Sumit Chowdhury, who is a film-maker, writer and activist, has written a detailed article on the Singur land acquisition. That is available here.
Image: poster from Bangladesh, “Let the paddy no longer be sown with our blood, our life: fifty years of Tebhaga peasants uprising”, National Committee for the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Tebhaga Uprising, 1998; designer: Qayum Chowdhury.
2 comments:
Thank you for your excellent write-up on this shameful event. It is impossible to believe that this left government who always pretended to represent the poor and the landless have metamorphosed into such a hard rightwing and oppotunistic government. As a lifelong admirer of Salil Chowdhury I studied the pre-independence period and his struggle for the peasants. "Hei Samalo" was only one of those songs he composed. Buddhadeb was also a friend of Salil and so was Jyotibabu but I can't understand why these so-called "baamponthi" leaders switched their allegience and turned into opressors of their own people. Greed and Power ?
We must show them that the times have changed and we will fight hard. I support "Man kobul ar jan kobul,Aar debo na, aar debo na
Rokte bona dhan, moder pran ho".
Gautam Choudhury
Netherlands
http://www.salilda.com/
Sitting thousands of miles away from Singur, I am closely following the situation there. I am very worried about the outcome of this struggle. If the farmers loose, Tata motors will be laying the foundation for destruction of not just the families in Singur but the basic right of the poor to survive in this world and all of us (including the TATA household) whose survival depends on these farmers. Being here in Australia I feel helpless and frustated that I am not able to convey my support to the families. If you get a chance please convey to the people of Singur that their struggle is our struggle too and that I am sorry that I couldn't have done more.
Regards,
Bharathi
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