By IANS
New Delhi : Two international rights organisations – Amnesty International India and Human Rights Watch – Monday announced they would send a joint team to Nandigram in West Bengal to assess the ground situation and make recommendations to authorities.
The four-member team, expected to go later this week, will comprise Justice (retd) S.N. Bhargava, former chief justice of Sikkim High Court, Vrinda Grover, advocate, Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia researcher with the Human Rights Watch and Mukul Sharma, director, Amnesty International India.
It will visit the region and meet with the victims; different parties involved in the violent flare-up and the government authorities.
“It (team) will inquire into the events leading to violence in October-November this year and will also inquire about the social, economic impact and the violations of national and international human rights standards,” said Amnesty International in a press release.
The death toll in Nandigram violence has risen to 34 since January this year when the region flared up over proposed land acquisition for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) including a chemical hub. The plan was later scrapped by the state government.