Mind those talks

The CPM has objected to the interaction between the US consul general, Henry Jardin...

The CPM has objected to the interaction between the US consul general, Henry Jardin, with leaders of the Trinamul Congress on November 14, where they discussed the Nandigram issue for a long time, says the CPM in People8217;s Democracy. Said the CPM: 8220;Henry Jardin on earlier occasions had closeted himself with Bengal opposition leaders including the leaders of the Jamiat-i Ulama-e Hind. Two questions are of importance here. First, why did the US consul general and other consuls choose to discuss the Nandigram affair with the Trinamul Congress alone, of all political parties having units in Bengal? Second, why did not the consuls take the matter up with the state LF government in place instead of seeking to have information from a particular political party?8221;

In Taslima8217;s name

Lamenting the 8216;unique convergence8217; of 8216;reactionary anti-Communist forces8217; over the disturbances in Nandigram, the PD editorial says that a hastily-formed All India Minority Front had unleashed disturbances in Kolkata warranting the deployment of the army at the request of the state government.

The All India Minority Front has been ranged against the author8217;s views for a long time now, says the CPM organ. Anybody who knows the Indian system knows that the permission granted to any foreign national to visit or stay in India is on the basis of a visa granted by the central government, which alone has the exclusive right to do so.

8220;Hence, it is meaningless to target any state government on this count. The real reason for the protest, therefore, was obviously to highlight the Nandigram issues and, thus, unleash a fresh round of violence,8221; says the CPM.

If the Left party8217;s argument were to be believed, it would require another explanation as to why the Left Front government forced Nasreen out of Kolkata and was reluctant to allow her to return, if she was not the target of fundamentalist forces.

Dead man walking

Kanai Sheet was made the late Kanai Sheet by a section of the Bengali print media, according to the CPM. They described in exaggerated and gory detail the manner in which Kanai Sheet died a martyr8217;s death, no less, at the hands of the CPM workers, says a PD article.

Kanai Sheet, a resident of Bhangaberia village, is a Trinamul Congress loyalist, as indeed is his whole family, especially his son Khokan Sheet, 8220;killer-at-large-cum-Maoist gunman8221;, the article goes on to say. 8220;But the fact of pleasant exception is that Kanai Sheet is very much alive, and can be found walking around the village in the morning and the evening, chewing paan betel nut, and spitting out juice, doing a spot of marketing, having a gossip or two with his friends, and even found speaking of the great betrayal that he, his worthy son Khokan on the run lately, and his family faced, with promises not being kept by the great leader from Kolkata,8221; it says.