By IANS
Kolkata : Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will visit Nandigram Friday to observe the first anniversary of the March 14 police firing which killed 14 people and injured over 100.
“We will visit Nandigram March 14 and salute all brave villagers who fought a great battle against land acquisition and died in police firing.
“We would gather near the Tekhali Bridge where the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) hooligans and the police opened fire targeting the unarmed villagers who were protesting against acquisition,” Banerjee said here at a press conference jointly organised with the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI).
“We would bring the soil of the battlefield in Nandigram where villagers embraced death. Our party along with the SUCI has also organised a rally Friday afternoon in Kolkata to remember all the martyrs,” she said.
Trinamool has forged an alliance with SUCI, a communist outfit not part of the Left Front government.
She said the coalition was formed to fight CPI-M in the coming local body polls.
“We would jointly build a movement against the CPI-M in West Bengal. The TMC-SUCI coalition would maintain a safe distance from both the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the coming days,” Banerjee said.
Violence in West Bengal’s Nandigram since January 2007 has claimed 35 lives so far while several were injured and many women raped.
The region flared up over proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ), including a chemical hub, a plan that was scrapped by the state government later in the face of stiff resistance.
The police firing took place while the people tried to prevent entry of cops to retake control of the areas cut off by villagers over proposed land acquisition for an industrial complex.