VZCZCXRO9868
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0351/01 3231201
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191201Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1766
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0060
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0049
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0136
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2160

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000351 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KWMN IN
SUBJECT: COMMUNISTS DEFIANT ON NANDIGRAM HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES 
 
REF: A) KOLKATA 345   B) KOLKATA 88 
 
KOLKATA 00000351  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  During November 6-11, Communist Party of 
India-Marxist (CPM) activists violently assaulted villages under 
the control of the opposition Bhumi Ucched Protirodh Committee 
(BUPC) in West Bengal's rural Nandigram area.  CPM cadres, 
locally called "Harmad Bahini" (Portuguese pirates), assaulted 
the local political opposition, torched homes, raped women and 
killed an unspecified number of people.   Human rights groups 
and the media are still assessing the extent of the killing and 
damage.  An unapologetic Chief Minister Bhuddadeb Bhattacharjee 
defended the CPM's carnage, saying the opposition was "paid back 
in their own coin," as CPM leaders lashed out at the WB 
Governor, the media, and anyone else who criticized their brutal 
tactics.  The Calcutta High Court released its ruling on the 
earlier March 14 killings in Nandigram, finding the GOWB's 
actions unconstitutional and unjustified.  It has ordered the 
CBI to begin filing charges and to submit a report in 30 days. 
The CPM, by attacking its critics, is circling the wagons to 
weather the storm, as its UPA coalition partners remain reticent 
in condemning the human rights abuses.  End Summary. 
 
 
Red Terror 
 
¶2.  (SBU) As reported in Reftel A, from November 6-11, CPM 
activists assaulted villages in the Nandigram under the control 
of opposition BUPC and  seized control through a campaign of 
violence, rape and intimidation.  Until November 12, CPM cadres 
not only blocked all entry points to Nandigram, but also the 
national highways passing through the area.  While armed CPM 
workers and hired criminals brutally attacked villagers 
supporting the BUPC, the police stood by under official orders 
not to interfere.  The media, leaders of the political 
opposition and others not supporting the CPM were not allowed to 
enter the "war zone."  With five deaths confirmed, the BUPC has 
alleged that a more bodies have been hidden and dumped by CPM 
cadres.  Human rights activists allowed into Nandigram after 
November 13, estimate about 43 deaths in the carnage.  One 
pregnant woman was among the 6 rape victims reported so far. 
The first officially confirmed case of gang-rape by armed CPM 
cadres in Nandigram on November 6 was recounted to the media by 
the victim, Sabita Patra.  She said that after she was raped, 
she saw her two teenage daughters raped as well and then 
abducted by CPM cadres.  She has named the attackers in her 
complaint to the police.  An estimated 1,000 homes were burned 
or destroyed during the CPM's recapture of Nandigram.  Human 
rights activist Medha Patkar likened Nandigram to a 
concentration camp, where apathy, inaction and both direct and 
indirect support of the police to CPM hooligans indicated a 
breakdown of state machinery. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On November 16, East Midnapore district officials 
entered Nandigram for the first time in 10 months to take stock 
of the devastation.  A National Human Rights Commission team 
also visited the area..  Initially, about 10,000 BUPC supporters 
were rendered homeless by the CPM attack.   Media reports 
indicate that since November 13 some had begun returning to 
their homes. The GOWB claimed that all the ousted BUPC villagers 
were returning home, but media estimates are that around 2,000 
BUPC supporters remain in relief camps, because they are afraid 
of a CPM backlash if they return to Nandigram.  Local CPM 
workers reportedly ordered BUPC supporters to pay a "fine" of Rs 
2,000 (USD $50) to Rs 10,000 (USD $250) if they intended to 
return to Nandigram.  They are also being required to fly the 
CPM's red flag at their homes and join all CPM processions to 
show their support for the party. 
 
 
Chief Minister Bhattacharjee Defends His Party 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In the immediate aftermath of the violence WB Chief 
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee defended the recapture of 
Nandigram, saying that the opposition were "paid back in their 
own coin."   He explained the CPM action by stating that "our 
[the CPM's] people" were desperate to return to Nandigram after 
remaining away from their homes for 11 months.  Bhattacharjee 
went on to accuse the GOI of delaying the deployment of the 
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to Nandigram, which left his 
party with "no option" but to support the CPM supporters' return 
to the area.  He also indicated that the situation was to some 
extent a result of the failure of the WB police to enter 
 
KOLKATA 00000351  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Nandigram.  Bhattacharjee asserted that the CPM's actions in 
Nandigram were morally and legally justifiable as the BUPC 
activists had resorted to violence when they drove out CPM 
supporters in January.  On November 14, he emphasized that he 
still represented the interests of his party while Chief 
Minister of the state, saying "I cannot and should not disown my 
political character and identity." 
 
 
Central Police, State Control 
 
¶5.  (SBU) When the CRPF arrived in the state on November 11, 
they were unable to deploy to Nandigram as they were blocked 
from entering for over a day by the CPM   (Note: Because the 
area was not officially declared "disturbed," the CRPF were 
required to function under GOWB direction.  End Note).  On 
November 18, in a move apparently aimed at limiting the CRPF's 
independence, the GOWB directed them to shift their five camps 
from Nandigram, Gokulnagar and Rajaram Chowk, and Khodambari-I 
and II to Temgua, Pankhai, Jellingham, Teropeksha and Khejuri 
Mahila Vidyapith.  This means shifting of CRPF personnel from 
trouble-prone areas to pockets that have been CPM strongholds 
for the past 10 months. The state police chief instructed the 
CRPF to work in areas assigned by East Midnapore district police 
superintendent SS Panda (instead of the area of operation 
assigned to it by the administration.)  However, after the press 
reported the order to shift CRPF, the GOWB denied any such move. 
 
 
The Court Weighs In 
 
¶6.  (SBU) On November 16, the Calcutta High Court held that the 
police firing that killed 14 and injured 162 Nandigram villagers 
on March 14 (Reftel B) was wholly unconstitutional and 
unjustifiable.  The 172-page judgment rejected the GOWB's 
version of events and criticized the indiscriminate police 
firing on innocent villagers.   The court also rejected the 
government's claim that the villagers were armed, writing that 
the intention of the police seemed to be "to crush the 
demonstration rather than to control or disperse an unlawful 
assembly," and that there was not enough provocation to justify 
firing.  The court gave liberty to the Central Bureau of 
Investigation (CBI) to file cases against the accused (including 
the police), and to start criminal proceedings.  The court said 
it was legally justified in asking the CBI to conduct a 
preliminary investigation on the basis of media reports and 
based upon the statement issued by the WB Governor Gopalkrishna 
Gandhi expressing "cold horror" at the killings.  (Note: The 
GOWB had challenged the authority of the court to order a CBI 
inquiry on the basis of the governor's statement, but the court 
said it was within its jurisdiction to seek a CBI probe without 
taking the consent of the state government.  End Note).  The 
court ordered the CBI to investigate the March 14 incident and 
submit its report within a month.  Further, the court directed 
the government to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh (USD $11,000) 
to the families of those killed, Rs 2 lakhs (USD $4400) to those 
raped, and Rs 1 lakh (USD $2200) each to 162 people injured on 
March 14.  The GOWB may appeal the decision to the Indian 
Supreme Court. 
 
 
CPM vs. the Rest 
 
¶7.  (SBU) On November 17 at a CPM party meeting where senior 
leaders addressed their supporters, the CPM leaders accused 
Governor Gandhi of hypocrisy for his remarks against the recent 
violence in Nandigram and asked him to quit his office and join 
the Trinamul Congress since he was not impartial.  Party leaders 
also accused the Calcutta High Court of conspiring against the 
CPM and  threatened Kolkata's protesting intellectuals (many 
from the Left) and press.  Even Left Front partners were not 
spared - they were publicly reminded that the Left Front can be 
stronger only if the CPM becomes stronger.  Some leaders hinted 
at a "foreign hand" in the Nandigram problem, a not so subtle 
reference to the United States.  The CPM leaders also argued 
that the Nandigram incident was a state subject and could not be 
discussed formally in the Indian Parliament. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment:  It is clear from Chief Minister 
Bhattacharjee's unapologetic endorsement of the Nandigram 
violence that the CPM, in typical fashion, is circling the 
 
KOLKATA 00000351  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
wagons until the storm passes.  This is also an attempt to 
please party hardliners and to unify the CPM rank and file in 
the run-up to the CPM's party congress (where major policies are 
formulated and senior party officials nominated) in March 2008. 
It demonstrates the default response of the CPM when faced with 
criticism and challenges to its authority - verbal attacks and 
paranoia.  The peaceful, non-political march of as many as 
100,000 citizens of W. Bengal is being interpreted by some as 
signs of the CPM's grip on the state weakening, but with the CPM 
receiving little condemnation from its UPA coalition partners, 
it appears that no one is willing to squarely confront the 
party's human rights atrocities. 
JUNGE