Dainik Statesman, a sister daily (in Bengali) of The Statesman, recently published an article highlighting the recent event of police-rendered brutalities on local farmers in the Singur region of West Bengal. This article also features the efforts of NRIs in the US, toward petitioning against the aforementioned event. Following is a translation of the article from Dainik Statesman.  

5th Dec. 2006

US Based Indian Intellectuals Register Their Protest Against the Police Brutalities in Singur

Staff Reporter

People from all walks of life have stood up against the use of force by the West Bengal Government to bring about a wave of industrialisation in the state. NRIs in the US have also been vocal
against it. Criticising the police brutalities, technologists, scientists and academics fromt the US have jointly issued a statement saying that the government is forcibly acquiring agricultural land to
achieve rapid industrialisation.The proposed car factory is to be set up by Tata Motors. Thousands of farmers are trying to resist this acquisition. This will seal their only source of livelihood and render
them homeless. This resistance is not acceptable to the government. Hence, on 2nd Dec. police brutalities were unleashed on the villagers.

The trauma of the Bhopal Gas Disaster of 2nd Dec. 1984 is still fresh in our minds. We have seen how the government has attacked the people using police force in Singur. Both of these incidents point to the
insensitivity of the government towards the marginalized people. We stand by the side of the common people of Singur and protest against the injustices of the state. The government should compensate the
victims of police force used on 2nd Dec. We are appealing to the government that incidents such as these are not repeated in the future. We are afraid that this kind of policy will affect the democracy of West Bengal.

Several people across the US have signed the petition.


(Translated by Smt. Nandita Mukherjee and Sri. SP Mukherjee)