By IANS
New Delhi : Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MPs Tuesday took strong exception to Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi’s remarks that Nandigram in West Bengal was hit by “CPI-M-led state sponsored massacre”.
“The statement issued by Dasmunsi terming the events in Nandigram as ‘CPI-M-led state-sponsored massacre’ is condemnable. That Dasmunsi is a union cabinet minister makes this assertion all the more shocking,” said a statement issued by Sitaram Yechury, CPI-M leader in the Rajya Sabha, and Basudev Acharia, the party leader in Lok Sabha.
They alleged that Dasmunsi, who is also the parliamentary affairs minister, had been “aiding and abetting” the “armed hoodlums backed by the Trinamul Congress”.
The region has been witnessing violent clashes between cadres of the state’s ruling CPI-M and local villagers opposed to land acquisition for industry, leading to 34 killings since January.
The statement said the minister had condemned the police when they sought to intervene and restore communications in the region on March 14, when 14 people were killed in police firing there.
Pointing out that Dasmunsi had made a public statement opposing the paramilitary force’s deployment, the CPI-M leader said: “He must therefore be accountable for the delay in sending the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Forces) to Nandigram which would have helped in tackling the situation earlier. It is the height of hypocrisy for Dasmunsi to now complain that the CRPF is being prevented from moving into Nandigram.”
The statement said Dasmunsi had “adopted a stance” that has “aided and abetted the nefarious activities of such armed squads whose ultimate aim was to destabilise the Left Front government”.