Nanoor massacre
Encyclopedia
Nanoor massacre refers to the massacre
of 11 landless labourers allegedly by CPI(M)
activists in Suchpur, near Nanoor
and under Nanoor police station, in Birbhum district
in the India
n state
of West Bengal
, on 27 July 2000.
and Mayurakshi River
. It has hot and dry summers, spread over March – May, followed by the monsoon from June to September. 78 per cent of the rainfall occurs during this period.
As per historical records there have been at least 13 ntensive droughts between the years 1799 and 1855. The drought of 1836-37 was particularly severe. Floods also wreak havoc. Some 7,000 mud houses either collapsed or remained in bad shape in Nanoor and three other blocks, affecting around 15,000 villagers in 2004.
Nanoor Block covering 24 villages, is economically backward. It has many artisan families who live below the poverty line. A large secion of the population is either Muslim
or belong to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Although the population is talented they hardly had an opprtunity to earn a decent living.
Nanoor was described by The Statesman
in 2003 as "the most politically disturbed area in Birbhum district". With acute poverty it has been a disturbed area for ages.
, then speaker of the Lok Sabha
, in whose parliamentary constituency Nanoor fell, described those killed as "hired goons, dacoits
and dreaded anti-socials".The CPI(M) had earlier been trying to analyse what happened in Nanoor as a fight between farmers and landlords desperate to recapture land they had lost earlier but they late changed course.Anil Biswas and Biman Bose
, both politburo members and senior leaders of CPI(M), condemned the Nanoor killings and also the violence caused by political rivalry resulting in deaths earlier in the area.
The Hindu
wrote, "On a long term, the killings, symbolizing the birth of a new theater of violence after Keshpur in district Midnapore - where deaths and maiming in political clashes have become a bizarre routine - constitute an extremely disturbing augury for the society in Bengal". The West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu
, said that at least 800 Left Front
party workers, mostly belonging to the CPI(M) had been killed in clashes with the supporters of the Trinamool-BJP combine. He felt that everybody, including Left party workers had the right of self-defence, but appealed to them to restrain themselves even in the face of atrocities.
The Statesman in an editorial wrote, "The sole purpose in attacking the prime witness in the gruesome Nanoor massacre of July 2000 in which 11 Trinamul Congress
supporters were slaughtered by armed CPI(M) cadres was to shield those responsible and abort their trial, by hook or by crook. The irony is that although five years have elapsed since the occurrence of the horrendous killings by the Marxists, the trial of their 79 accused comrades had not begun". In 2005, The Statesman in an editorial said, "Repeated postponement of hearing (at least seven in the last two years) because of failure of the accused to turn up in court has made the outcome uncertain."
Just before start of the Nannor massacre trials in 2005 CPI(M) cadre were allegedly creating panic in the area threatening the witnesses repeatedly.A Trinamul Congress delegation visiting the villages to is reported that though there were a few police camps, the villages in the area were still in the grip of CPI(M) men.
Two main accused in the Nanoor massacre, Nitya Chatterjee and Manirujjaman, filed nominations as CPI(M) candidates for the panchayat polls in 2003.
In 2004, the West Bengal Government was reprimanded by Kolkata High Court for slow progress in the Nanoor massacre trial.
The Nanoor area has continued to be turbulent, with political clashes and murders continuing.. There are certain villages in the area which are known as Trinamool Congress strongholds and CPI(M) has been trying to capture such villages.On the basis of a FIR (first information report) lodged with the police against CPI(M) men, the police made arrests and in August 2001 the police submitted charge sheets against 82 accused. The trial started in 2000 and continued for eight years. During the trial 10 accused persons have died. The police has not been able to arrest five of the accused. Thirty-two witnesses have appeared in court. The court verdict is expected in November 2010.
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
of 11 landless labourers allegedly by CPI(M)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
activists in Suchpur, near Nanoor
Nanoor
Nanoor , is a town with a police station in Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Nanoor is the birthplace of 14th century lyric poet Chandidas of Vaishnava Padavali fame. It is developing as a craft centre with NGO support...
and under Nanoor police station, in Birbhum district
Birbhum district
Birbhum district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the three administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is located at Suri...
in the India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n state
States and territories of India
India is a federal union of states comprising twenty-eight states and seven union territories. The states and territories are further subdivided into districts and so on.-List of states and territories:...
of West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, on 27 July 2000.
Background
Nanoor is located in the south-eastern corner of the district which is an alluvial plain between Ajay RiverAjay River
The Ajay River is a major river in Jharkhand and West Bengal. The word “Ajay” means “not conquered”.-Geography:The Ajay River originates on a small hill about 300 metres high, south west of Munger in Bihar. It then flows through Jharkhand and enters West Bengal at Simjuri, near Chittaranjan...
and Mayurakshi River
Mayurakshi River
Mayurakshi River is a major river in West Bengal, India, with a long history of devastating floods.It has its source on Trikut hill, about 16 km from Deoghar in Jharkhand state. It flows through Jharkhand and then through the districts of Birbhum and Murshidabad in West Bengal before flowing...
. It has hot and dry summers, spread over March – May, followed by the monsoon from June to September. 78 per cent of the rainfall occurs during this period.
As per historical records there have been at least 13 ntensive droughts between the years 1799 and 1855. The drought of 1836-37 was particularly severe. Floods also wreak havoc. Some 7,000 mud houses either collapsed or remained in bad shape in Nanoor and three other blocks, affecting around 15,000 villagers in 2004.
Nanoor Block covering 24 villages, is economically backward. It has many artisan families who live below the poverty line. A large secion of the population is either Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
or belong to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Although the population is talented they hardly had an opprtunity to earn a decent living.
Nanoor was described by The Statesman
The Statesman
The Statesman is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper founded in 1875 and published simultaneously in Kolkata, New Delhi, Siliguri and Bhubaneswar. The Statesman is owned by The Statesman Ltd., its headquarters at Statesman House, Chowringhee Square, Calcutta and its national...
in 2003 as "the most politically disturbed area in Birbhum district". With acute poverty it has been a disturbed area for ages.
The massacre
Immediately after the Nanoor massacre, the CPI(M) had tried to confuse the public by initially referring to those killed as dacoits and so on. However, when a spate of reports appeared in the press they were forced to admit that they were indeed landless agricultural wage workers, who were killed because of a land dispute.Somnath ChatterjeeSomnath Chatterjee
Somnath Chatterjee is an Indian politician who had been associated with the Communist Party of India for most of his life, though he is currently an independent...
, then speaker of the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
, in whose parliamentary constituency Nanoor fell, described those killed as "hired goons, dacoits
Dacoity
Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in India. The spelling is the anglicized version of the Hindi word and as a colloquial Anglo-Indian word with this meaning, also appears in the Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases Banditry is criminal activity involving robbery by groups of...
and dreaded anti-socials".The CPI(M) had earlier been trying to analyse what happened in Nanoor as a fight between farmers and landlords desperate to recapture land they had lost earlier but they late changed course.Anil Biswas and Biman Bose
Biman Bose
Biman Bose is the state chief of the West Bengal Communist Party of India . He is also a Politburo member of the party. Besides, he is the present Chairman of the Left Front committee of West Bengal.-Notes:...
, both politburo members and senior leaders of CPI(M), condemned the Nanoor killings and also the violence caused by political rivalry resulting in deaths earlier in the area.
The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
wrote, "On a long term, the killings, symbolizing the birth of a new theater of violence after Keshpur in district Midnapore - where deaths and maiming in political clashes have become a bizarre routine - constitute an extremely disturbing augury for the society in Bengal". The West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu
Jyoti Basu
Jyoti Basu was an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India from West Bengal, India. He served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal from 1977 to 2000, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister of any Indian state. Basu was a member of the CPI Politburo from the time of the...
, said that at least 800 Left Front
Left Front
The Left Front is an alliance of Indian leftist parties. After a 34-year reign in West Bengal, the Left Front was swept from power in the 2011 election...
party workers, mostly belonging to the CPI(M) had been killed in clashes with the supporters of the Trinamool-BJP combine. He felt that everybody, including Left party workers had the right of self-defence, but appealed to them to restrain themselves even in the face of atrocities.
Aftermath
Abdul Khalek, the prime witness to the Nanoor killings, and his guard, Jahangir Alam, were injured in an attack allegedly by CPI(M) activists, on May 12 2005.Four people were arrested for the attack, the next day. Although local people thought of the arrested as having links with the ruling party, police were yet to ascertain their political connections.The Statesman in an editorial wrote, "The sole purpose in attacking the prime witness in the gruesome Nanoor massacre of July 2000 in which 11 Trinamul Congress
All India Trinamool Congress
The All India Trinamool Congress is a state political party in West Bengal. Founded in 1 January 1998, the party is led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Trinamool Congress is currently the second largest member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition...
supporters were slaughtered by armed CPI(M) cadres was to shield those responsible and abort their trial, by hook or by crook. The irony is that although five years have elapsed since the occurrence of the horrendous killings by the Marxists, the trial of their 79 accused comrades had not begun". In 2005, The Statesman in an editorial said, "Repeated postponement of hearing (at least seven in the last two years) because of failure of the accused to turn up in court has made the outcome uncertain."
Just before start of the Nannor massacre trials in 2005 CPI(M) cadre were allegedly creating panic in the area threatening the witnesses repeatedly.A Trinamul Congress delegation visiting the villages to is reported that though there were a few police camps, the villages in the area were still in the grip of CPI(M) men.
Two main accused in the Nanoor massacre, Nitya Chatterjee and Manirujjaman, filed nominations as CPI(M) candidates for the panchayat polls in 2003.
In 2004, the West Bengal Government was reprimanded by Kolkata High Court for slow progress in the Nanoor massacre trial.
Political equations
Nanoor was traditionally considered one of the strongest bastions of CPI(M) in Birbhum district. However, the Nanoor massacres brought about a considerable change in the scenario. The Trinamul Congress started building on the unfortunate and has developed a base in the area.The changing scenario has been rather noticeable. In 2003, the CPI(M) charged Trinamul Congress with terrorising voters in the area, and demanded fresh poling in a majority of the booths in the Thupsara panchayat area in Nanoor block.The Nanoor area has continued to be turbulent, with political clashes and murders continuing.. There are certain villages in the area which are known as Trinamool Congress strongholds and CPI(M) has been trying to capture such villages.On the basis of a FIR (first information report) lodged with the police against CPI(M) men, the police made arrests and in August 2001 the police submitted charge sheets against 82 accused. The trial started in 2000 and continued for eight years. During the trial 10 accused persons have died. The police has not been able to arrest five of the accused. Thirty-two witnesses have appeared in court. The court verdict is expected in November 2010.