The Hindu Business Line : Singur unit must happen

On Monday, the CPI (M) patriarch, Mr Jyoti Basu — who took the initiative some time back to meet the Trinamul Congress leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, at his residence to forge a peaceful solution to the Nandigram-Singur problem — took a firm line on the ongoing agitation on the land-acquisition issue, indicating in no uncertain terms that a line has to be drawn somewhere to stop the propagation of law-breaking activities. The former Chief Minister said: "The Government will do whatever it has to do if the Trinamul Congress chief, Ms Mamata Banerjee, executes her threat to pull down the wall of the Tata Motors' factory in Singur".

Considering what has been happening in Singur and Nandigram over the past few months — and what has just begun to happen in the Asansol area of Burdwan district vis-à-vis IISCO's land-acquisition programme — it is time that the authorities cracked down on the attempts to break the law and restored some semblance of law and order in the areas concerned.

This is, of course, not to suggest that, if necessary, the tragic incident in March at Nandigram, which resulted in a number of deaths, should be taken in the Government's stride in the carrying out of its law-enforcement functions. Far from it. On the contrary, it will be the test of good governance if peace and tranquillity is restored in the areas concerned as efficiently as possible (using force if necessary but in as restrained a manner as possible despite the worst forms of provocation), which would not only improve the law and order image of West Bengal (now under a cloud) but would also reassure investors that putting their money into the State on a long-term basis would not be an insensible course of action.

It is clear that the Opposition parties in West Bengal (that is, the Congress and the Trinamul Congress) have latched on to the land-acquisition issue as a godsend to revive their spent fortunes, being fully aware of the fact that the more they can pump up the agitation on the subject the greater the mileage they will get on the political front. Further, the spin-off will be progressively more helpful if the `struggle' leads to casualties, such as the March 14 deaths. There is little doubt that this makes the task of the law-enforcers even more difficult because while, on the one hand, they owe it to the large majority of the law-abiding citizens of West Bengal to put down localized hooliganism (mostly politically-fuelled and orchestrated), they have got to restrain themselves in the execution of the job by showing exemplary patience in the face of calculated provocation — a subject which is easy to pontificate on but devilishly difficult to negotiate in the first person.

The one silver lining is the almost stoic determination being shown by the Tatas in getting through the project — literally brick by brick, girder by girder — in the face of intense pressure to weaken at the knees. It is not only the building of the factory premises that is going on in full swing, recent reports indicate that the backward and forward-integration units are also going ahead with their planning for the project, which provides some satisfaction to those who believe that the Singur project must happen if West Bengal's economic rejuvenation is going to be taken seriously by the world at large.

Ranabir Ray Choudhury

More Stories on : Politics | New Projects | View Point

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Power of efficiency

Is India ready to reap demographic dividends?

A `Third' aspect to the Presidential race

Safeguarding sanctity of nation's first office

Singur unit must happen

Why India is an FDI magnet

Global trends in tourism — Breaking the billion barrier

Theatre of the absurd