Never abandon the battlefield, exhorts Mamata in Singur

THE CM WAS SPEAKING AT A PROGRAMME TO MARK THE RESUMPTION OF FARMING ACTIVITY IN SINGUR

SINGUR: Never abandon the battle field, for none will fight for your rights if you don’t, said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, articulating the lesson of the Singur experience.

Standing on a dais, the chief minister was relishing every moment of the programme to mark the resumption of farming activity in Singur that defined the crowning glory of her political career of nearly four decades.

“None hands out rights on a platter. One has to fight for rights,” said the chief minister before proceeding to explain, for the umpteenth time, how she relentlessly fought to return the land to the farmers between 2006 and 2008. (In October 2008, Ratan Tata announced his decision to exit Singur.)

“Singur will become an example in front of the whole world,” remarked Banerjee, before announcing that she has asked the district administration to erect a monument in the memory of farmers who made sacrifices for the anti-acquisition struggle.

“We did not quit. The administration used all types of methods to oppress and coerce the people. We were even attacked inside the block development office, where lights were switched off and the media was kept at bay,” she recalled.

It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the chief minister owes a lot of her political career to the land movements in Singur and Nandigram. The vindication of her stand, both in the electoral and judicial fields, has not only turned her into an undisputed leader in Bengal, but also helped her emerge as a face championing farmer rights in the country.

In 2006, after the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government announced that about 1,000 acre of land in Singur — located in one of the most fertile tracts of the state — will be acquired for setting up the Nano plant of Tata Motors, Banerjee immediately sensed great opportunity to build political capital out of the ill-advised move of the government.

She carried out dharnas, fasts and faced police lathis, but did not give up despite the full force of the Left that enjoyed 235 MLAs in the assembly of 294 members.

The Singur movement will now be included in the school syllabus.

“It’s a victory of the farmers of the entire country. Such a fight for farmers’ rights has rarely been seen in the country,” said minister Subrata Mukherjee.