By IANS
Kolkata : The central government Monday rejected Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s demand for imposition of Article 356 in West Bengal following violence in Nandigram even as the police ruled out shifting central forces from the trouble-torn area.
“I don’t know what Mamata has said, but the situation does not warrant imposition of the president’s rule. Article 356 cannot be a remedy for all ills,” Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said here.
“We are concerned about the situation in Nandigram. We want peace there. The state government should take adequate steps to bring peace in the area,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an official function.
Commenting on armed assaults on villagers in Nandigram allegedly by cadres of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the minister said: “No one should take law into their own hands, irrespective of political affiliations, and when this happens, violence takes place.”
Nandigram, about 150 km from here, has seen violence since January over a proposed special economic zone the state government wanted to set up on farmland. The decision, later scrapped, sparked a turf war between the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and a Trinamool Congress-backed group.
A total of 34 people have been killed since January, according to official figures. But the opposition maintains that many more have died and that CPI-M activists have chased away many more from there.
After the latest round of arson and killings earlier this month, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were deployed in the area in East Midnapore district.
After a furore over reports of shifting of the CRPF camps from violence-torn villages in Nandigram, the state police Monday clarified there was no such move.
“We are not shifting the CRPF camps from Nandigram. The paramilitary forces will remain there,” state Director General of Police D.P. Vohra told mediapersons.
He was earlier reported to have ordered the shifting of the CRPF camps from troubled zones to less sensitive areas. The opposition, including the Trinamool Congress, said this would rekindle violence in the area.
Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia described as “misplaced” the reports of removal of CRPF camps from the troubled areas.
“It is an unnecessary controversy. There is no question of shifting of CRPF camps. We are not even contemplating it. The camps are there to stay,” Kanojia said.
“The camps may be relocated in the future according to the situation. But for now they will remain there,” he said.
Kanojia said the main task of the security forces was to instil a sense of security among the people.
“The situation is now peaceful in Nandigram. We are conducting joint patrolling with the CRPF and have set up joint camps there. We are presently carrying out area domination exercises there,” he said.
He said the CRPF camps were set up not only in Nandigram but also in nearby Khejuri, a CPI-M stronghold.