VZCZCXRO9043
OO RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCI #0092/01 0781332
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191332Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1461
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI IMMEDIATE 1372
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 0600
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 0594
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 0376
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0379
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 0242
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0303
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEIDN/DNI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 1804

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000092 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV ECON SOCI ASEC IN
SUBJECT: WEST BENGAL FACES FALLOUT FROM NANDIGRAM VIOLENCE 
 
REF: A)   KOLKATA 088  B)  CALCUTTA 0011  C) CALCUTTA 0017  D)  06  CALCUTTA 0578 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  The rural West Bengal district of Nandigram 
remains tense but quiet following the March 14 violence between 
police, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) activists and 
local villagers, which resulted in at least 14 deaths and 71 
injuries  (REF. A).  Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and 
CPM officials have not apologized for the deaths but have 
conceded that the police were too aggressive in quelling the 
protests against land acquisition for a Special Economic Zone 
(SEZ).  The GOWB leadership now says that land in Nandigram will 
not be acquired for an SEZ.  A team from the national Central 
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has started its inquiry into the 
incident and initial reports reveal the participation of CPM 
members in the killings.  CM Bhattacharjee has faced criticism 
from many sources, with outsiders such as Bharatiya Janata Party 
(BJP) leader L. K. Advani and social activist Medha Patkar 
traveling to the area to express solidarity with the villagers. 
However, Bhattacharjee told visiting National Intelligence 
Council (NIC) Vice Chairman Dr. David Gordon and National 
Intelligence Officer for South Asia (NIO-SA) Ambassador Nancy 
Powell that the greatest challenge he faces is from the Left 
Front coalition members, the Forward Bloc, the Revolutionary 
Socialist Party (RSP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI), 
who have demanded a larger role in policy planning.  On March 
18, the CM and his party accepted the coalition members' demands 
and promised to accept their input on future policies.  The 
Nandigram violence has created a crisis of confidence in CM 
Bhattacharjee and his efforts for rapid industrialization in 
West Bengal and has brought into full relief the complex layers 
of political intrigue in the state as each group or interest 
seeks to extract its advantage:  the marginalized opposition 
hopes to use the issue to achieve relevance, Muslim groups see a 
catalyst to create a new "Muslim League," and even Left Front 
members now demand their pound of flesh from the CPM.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) West Bengal continues to face the political fallout from 
the deaths of 14 people on March 14 in the rural district of 
Nandigram, located approximately 150 km southwest of Kolkata. 
The deaths resulted from violent clashes between the police 
(supported by CPM activists) and local villagers opposed to 
their land being acquired for an SEZ.  On March 16, West Bengal 
and Kolkata came to a standstill when opposition parties, 
Trinamul Congress, Congress Party, BJP, Socialist Unity Center 
for India (SUCI) and Maoist faction CPI-(Marxist-Leninist), 
called for a general strike or "bandh"  to protest the killings. 
 Strike enforcers torched a bus in Kolkata and police stations 
in other parts of the state but no serious injuries were 
reported. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) CM Bhattacharjee admitted that the authorities did not 
anticipate the level of violence that would result from the 
police's efforts to enter Nandigram, but he did not apologize 
for deaths, expressing only regret for the incident.  WB Home 
Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray, speaking to NIO-SA Ambassador 
 
SIPDIS 
Powell and NIC Vice Chairman Dr. Gordon on the day of the 
general strike, conceded that the police had over-reacted and 
attributed it to poor training.  He said that protestors 
confronted the police with women and children in the front 
ranks.  The men in the back ranks used homemade bombs and 
simple, single-shot country guns and initially the police 
responded with tear gas and batons but as the violence 
escalated, the police began shooting.  The authorities have 
backed down from further confrontation and have pulled the 
police back from the contentious areas.  In addition, the CM 
promised that Nandigram would not be part of any future SEZ 
plans. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) A CBI team arrived on Friday, March 16 and its initial 
investigations indicate that the death toll may be higher than 
14 people and point to the participation of CPM activists in the 
killings.  While investigating in one village near the clash, 
CBI officials arrested ten suspected CPM members with weapons, 
ammunitions and police helmets.  According to reports, there was 
also a blood trail, indicating the possibility that additional 
unidentified bodies were removed from the area and hidden or 
disposed.  BBC reporter Subir Bhaumick (protect) told Ambassador 
Powell and Dr. Gordon during their March 15-18 visit to Kolkata 
that the CPM cadres were armed and participated in the attacks 
on the protesting villagers and likely contributed to the 
escalation of the violence.  Footage of victims of the attack, 
 
KOLKATA 00000092  002 OF 003 
 
 
labeled, "Nandigram Mass Killing" is available at 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-G5NCSqvSM. 
 
¶5.  (U) The violence in West Bengal attracted the attention of 
many outsiders, including BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Sushma 
Swaraj, Janata Dal (United) leader George Fernandes and a 
10-member national opposition coalition National Democratic 
Alliance (NDA) team.   Advani and the NDA leaders traveled to WB 
on March 17 to condemn the CPM, a political rival at the 
national level, on their home turf.  Advani demanded that the 
GOI impose central rule on the state.  However, dropping into a 
state with a limited BJP presence and giving remarks in Hindi to 
a mostly Bengali-speaking rural community, the NDA leaders' 
presence did not generate a significant response from the 
villagers.  Social activist Medha Patkar also returned to the 
state after early forays in December and February following 
violence in Singur, where clashes occurred over plans for a new 
Tata car factory in that rural area just west of Kolkata (REF. 
D).  Patkar's on-again, off-again presence in the state has also 
not resulted in a significant impact. 
 
¶6.  (U) Local opposition groups such as the Trinamul Congress, 
Congress and fringe Maoist factions have been attempting to 
capitalize on the land issue as well.  However, Trinamul leader 
Mamata Banjerjee is widely seen as erratic and unable to mount a 
coherent opposition to the CPM-led GOWB.  The other parties are 
too small and their organization too limited to effectively 
confront the GOWB. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Muslim organization Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind (JUH), led by 
General Secretary Siddiqullah Chowdhury, has also jumped into 
the fray, claiming that the development plan for Nandigram is an 
effort to disenfranchise the sizeable Muslim minority. 
Chowdhury had earlier told ConGen that following the round of 
violence in Nandigram in January, JUH was intent on forming a 
new Muslim political party (REFS B & C).  BBC reporter Bhaumick 
told Ambassador Powell and Dr. Gordon that the JUH is hoping to 
form a new "Muslim League" along with the newly formed Muslim 
Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) and will try to pull votes 
from the mainstream secular parties.  Lending credence to 
Bhaumick's comments, a March 18 report in the "Panchjanya 
Weekly" noted that in the northeastern state of Tripura, also 
run by the CPM, state JUH leader Assad Madin held a public 
meeting to demand a new Muslim political party.  In attendance 
at the Tripura meeting was AUDF leader Badruddin Amjal and party 
president Hafeez Rashee Ahmed Choudhury.  (Note:  AUDF was 
formed in December 2005 prior to the Assam state assembly 
elections because state Muslim Congress leaders felt the 
Congress Party was ignoring Muslim concerns in Assam.)  On March 
19, approximately 10,000 JUH supporters attempted to charge the 
West Bengal state secretariat, the "Writers Building," but were 
beaten back by the police. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) However, CM Bhattacharjee seemed less worried about 
external threats and more focused on internal conflict with his 
Left Front allies:  the Forward Bloc, RSP and CPI.  On March 16, 
when asked by NIO-SA Ambassador Powell what was his greatest 
concern for the state's future development, Bhattacharjee 
responded that it was in dealing with the other Left Front 
parties.  The CM noted that even though the CPM maintains a 
dominant majority in the state assembly in its own right, the 
many decades of collective struggle meant that the other Left 
parties cannot be easily dismissed and that his policies would 
have to be accepted by the other parties.  BBC Reporter Bhaumick 
told ConGen later that evening that the Left Front gave an 
ultimatum to the CM and the CPM that unless the Left parties had 
more input on policies, they would withdraw their ministers from 
the government.  The following day, the press reported that the 
CPM and Bhattacharjee had conceded to most of the Left parties' 
demands:  1) Fix responsibility - Bhattacharjee conceded some 
responsibility for the tragedy but would wait for the CBI 
report;  2)  Withdraw police from Nandigram - police are being 
pulled out in phases;  3)  The Left Front should condemn the 
carnage - CPM will express regret but offer no condemnation;  4) 
 No land will be acquired in Nandigram for an SEZ - the CPM will 
not acquire land in the area;  5)  Finally and critically,  only 
the cabinet core committee or front committee should make major 
policy decisions - the CPM accepted only that it would consult 
the cabinet and front committees. 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  Comment:  The Nandigram conflagration has become a 
 
KOLKATA 00000092  003 OF 003 
 
 
veritable "Bonfire of the Vanities,"  with the many political 
players all maneuvering for advantage.  Even outside national 
leaders like the BJP's L.K. Advani have come to pick-over the 
carnage.  It is too early to tell if the JUH will be successful 
in using Nandigram as the catalyst to create a separate Muslim 
party and one in conjunction with the AUDF that could capture 
the Muslim voters in the eastern region.  However, the greatest 
immediate fallout appears to be within the CPM's Left Front, 
with CM Bhattacharjee's effort at rapid industrial development 
now likely to suffer a serious setback and the Leftist 
ideologues gaining an upper hand in internal policy disputes. 
Bhattacharjee's position within the coalition and among 
sympathetic supporters, such as the academics, intellectuals and 
other Leftist sympathizers has been weakened, and many have 
called for him to step down.  Bhattacharjee is unlikely to 
resign but he will certainly be constrained by the damage from 
the Nandigram violence and the state will continue to experience 
residual effects, with demonstrations and protests as opposition 
parties seek to further inflame resentment against the CPM 
government in order to expand their limited political influence. 
JARDINE