Activist Medha Patkar was assaulted on Thursday, allegedly by CPI(M) activists, at Kapaseberia in East Midnapore district while she was on her way to Nandigram. “They were CPI(M) men carrying red flags who blocked my car and some other vehicles on way to Nandigram. I was hit on the face and they tried to pull my hair and drag me out of the car,” Patkar said. Patkar said she and her associates squatted on the road in protest against the attack.IGP (Law and Order), West Bengal, Raj Kanojia said in Kolkata that one of the vehicles in Patkar’s convoy was damaged. Patkar said policemen escorting her convoy in four jeeps and a pilot car remained “silent spectators” when she was attacked. Describing the incident as “horrifying”, she said, “It is unimaginable that a riot-like situation is existing and people in Nandigram are crying as the CPI(M) has started its operation for retrieving lost ground at Nandigram.”“How is it that as citizens of the country we are being stopped from going to Nandigram? Is this the kind of example of the state machinery functioning?” Patkar asked. Mamata condemns attack: The Trinamool Congress condemned the assault on Patkar and heckling of party leader Mukul Roy allegedly by CPI(M) activists near Nandigram. “The CPI-M activists attacked Medha Patkar, heckled and stopped TC General Secretary Mukul Roy from going to Nandigram. We strongly condemn these incidents. This shows there is total lawlessness in the state,” Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee said.
