By Soudhriti Bhabani, IANS,
Singur (West Bengal) : Milan Samanta, a village boy studying in Class 8 at Singur, never thought he could soak in the festive spirit this year.
But with the accord reached between the West Bengal government and the farmers’ body that was agitating for the return of 400 acres of land acquired from ‘unwilling’ farmers for the Tata Motors’ Nano project, he is upbeat about celebrating the state’s biggest annual festival – Durga Puja – just like his friends living in the neighbouring villages of Hooghly district.
The residents of Singur – about 40 km from state capital Kolkata – may be oscillating between hope, despair and confusion with contradictory signals emerging about the agreement, but boys like Milan have started counting the days before the festival starts.
“I am very happy that we’ll again celebrate Durga Puja this year in our locality. We didn’t celebrate Puja for past two years because of the land row continuing in our village over the Tata Motors small car factory,” Milan told IANS.
Trouble was sparked off in Singur after the government announced the project in May 2006, with a section of those who had lost land, led by the opposition Trinamool Congress and some other parties, launching violent protests.
Later, the protesters formed the Krishijami Jiban Jibika Raksha Committee which continued the struggle that culminated in a siege of the Singur plant that forced the company to suspend operations. The siege was lifted Sunday after a pact mediated by Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi.
Recalling the Durga Puja he celebrated three years ago at his village, Milan said: “I always wait for the four festive days of Durga Puja as nobody asks me to study during those days. But in the past few years, we could not arrange the Puja as we were busy protesting the land seizure by the state government for the Tata Motors’ Nano plant.”
Like Milan, thousands of residents of Beraberi, Khaserbheri, Gopalnagar and Bajemelia villages thought they would not to able to celebrate Durga Puja this year, as the land row between the agitating farmers’ group and the state government would continue.
According to Singur villagers, about six Durga Pujas – at Bajemelia Ujjal Sangha, two at Gopalnagar Ghoshpara, Khaserbheri, Beraberi Mandirtala, Malpara Rabindra Seba Sagha – were stopped in 2006 due to the political turmoil over the land dispute.
“This year we’ve started gearing up for the Puja, though it’s already late. We’ve placed an order for the Durga idol and also given an advance to the decorators for pandals (marquees),” Neelkantha Ghosh, the organiser of the Gopalnagar Ghoshpara Durga puja, told IANS.
He said this year their idol would be brought in from Singur station bazaar.
But not everyone is in a festive mood. “We have not got payment for the last month as the work stopped after Aug 28. The factory is yet to open. I don’t know how we would celebrate Durga Puja,” said a worker at the Nano plant, who chose to remain anonymous.
“We don’t know what exactly the agreement (arrived at last Sunday) says. We hear too many versions. We don’t know whether any of those who lost land will get it back. And even if they get it back, can they till it,” asks Ranjan Ghosh of Ghoshpara.
“People in Singur started building hope with the promise by the state government they would get back their farmland inside the Tata Motor’ factory site. Thus, this year they’ve decided to celebrate puja,” said Mihir Mal, a resident of Beraberi who lost his plot inside the Nano project area.
A total of 997.11 acres was acquired for the project, of which 691.66 acres belonged to farmers who sold their plots willingly.