Amit Bhattacharya, January 11, Times of India
Singur protesters show up at launch, raise slogans
NEW DELHI: Amid the huge mass of mediapersons and other people gathered inside Hall No. 11 for a first look at Tata's Nano car, a group of six women dressed in white T-shirts stood out.
Written in bold red on their T-shirts were provocative blurbs like "The Rs 1 lakh car has Singur people's blood on it" and other such slogans. Standing in a single line, the women were talking animatedly to curious journalists and distributing leaflets.
These were activists from a forum of left-leaning individuals and organizations that calls itself the Delhi
Solidarity Group, holding a protest against the "forcible" land acquisition at Singur, West Bengal, for the Tata plant to produce the Rs 1 lakh car.
The protesters couldn't have chosen a better place for grabbing eyeballs — they stood just metres away from the car which the world was gaping at. As the women attracted the attention of mediapersons, security persons stood like a shield behind them to stop cameras catching the Nano car in the backdrop of the protest. But to Tata's credit, no move was made to evict the protesters from the hall.
The group, which said it was holding the protest in solidarity with the Tata project-affected peasants' "struggle to reclaim their land", demanded that work at the Singur plant be stopped till all issues related to it can be discussed with the persons affected.
"We are not against industrialization," said Rakhi, a member of the group, "but why should the poor always sacrifice their lives and livelihood for the dreams of the middle class? The Singur farmers say their lands yielded multiple crops and no compensation can match the loss."
The group claimed that the lands of many farmers at Singur were forcibly taken away by the West Bengal government which used CPM cadre for the purpose. At a press conference later in the day, six farmers from Singur claimed they had not taken the compensation being offered for their farmland. The press conference was addressed by Medha Patkar, among others.
"There are many other farmers who now want to return the cheques they received as compensation. They say, 'we will not encash these cheques'." Rakhi claimed.
The protesters also questioned Tata's claim that they would provide employment to locals at the plant, saying only 12 people had been given jobs so far and that too as security guards. "Tatas are training some local youths at ITIs, but they have given no assurances on whether they would be absorbed," Rakhi added.
Singur protesters show up at launch, raise slogans
NEW DELHI: Amid the huge mass of mediapersons and other people gathered inside Hall No. 11 for a first look at Tata's Nano car, a group of six women dressed in white T-shirts stood out.
Written in bold red on their T-shirts were provocative blurbs like "The Rs 1 lakh car has Singur people's blood on it" and other such slogans. Standing in a single line, the women were talking animatedly to curious journalists and distributing leaflets.
These were activists from a forum of left-leaning individuals and organizations that calls itself the Delhi
Solidarity Group, holding a protest against the "forcible" land acquisition at Singur, West Bengal, for the Tata plant to produce the Rs 1 lakh car.
The protesters couldn't have chosen a better place for grabbing eyeballs — they stood just metres away from the car which the world was gaping at. As the women attracted the attention of mediapersons, security persons stood like a shield behind them to stop cameras catching the Nano car in the backdrop of the protest. But to Tata's credit, no move was made to evict the protesters from the hall.
The group, which said it was holding the protest in solidarity with the Tata project-affected peasants' "struggle to reclaim their land", demanded that work at the Singur plant be stopped till all issues related to it can be discussed with the persons affected.
"We are not against industrialization," said Rakhi, a member of the group, "but why should the poor always sacrifice their lives and livelihood for the dreams of the middle class? The Singur farmers say their lands yielded multiple crops and no compensation can match the loss."
The group claimed that the lands of many farmers at Singur were forcibly taken away by the West Bengal government which used CPM cadre for the purpose. At a press conference later in the day, six farmers from Singur claimed they had not taken the compensation being offered for their farmland. The press conference was addressed by Medha Patkar, among others.
"There are many other farmers who now want to return the cheques they received as compensation. They say, 'we will not encash these cheques'." Rakhi claimed.
The protesters also questioned Tata's claim that they would provide employment to locals at the plant, saying only 12 people had been given jobs so far and that too as security guards. "Tatas are training some local youths at ITIs, but they have given no assurances on whether they would be absorbed," Rakhi added.
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