Nandigram:Mother ready to lose another child
09 January, 2007
Land precious than sons
- Mother ready to lose another child
SIMI KAMBOJ
Nandigram, Jan. 8: Fatima has lost a son, but is determined not to leave her land even if it means “sacrificing” another.
“They might have killed my son, but I am willing to sacrifice another for the sake of our land. We can’t leave this place,” said the mother of Sheikh Salim, whose body was fished out of the Bhangabera canal last evening.
Slain Bharat Mondol’s
family atSonachura.(photo)
Salim was among the Sonachura men killed early on Sunday, when gunshots and bombs flew across the Talpatti bridge between Sonachura and Khejuri.
This afternoon, Sonachura went into mourning as the bereaved families waited for the bodies of their dead.
“We won’t give up our land. Jomi chhara jabo kothay (where do we go without the land)?” asked Bharat Mondol’s widow Rinku.
Bharat, 30, is also among the victims of the land war. He left behind Rinku, their four children and a 60-year-old mother.
Tension in the area ran high when members of the Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee brought three bodies to a rally of about 3,000 people before starting preparations for the last rites.
A shahid bedi (pillar for martyrs) was erected at Bhuta More, at the approach to the Talpatti bridge. A newspaper photo of Salim’s body was strung to the pillar’s base with garlands around it.
Farmers have formed groups to keep night vigil along the village borders. But, there are voices of despair, too. Some are disenchanted with the Bhoomi Uchchhed Pratirodh leadership and its failure to save lives.
“What’s the point of this agitation if we keep losing our men? In trying to fight the administration, our people are getting killed,” said Becharam Mondol.
“Era amaader andoloner faida lootchhe. Ekhon obdi, kon neta maar kheyechhe? Kar rokto jhorechhe? (The leaders are taking advanta-ge of our movement. Which leader has been beaten up? Who has shed blood)?”
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Labels: Bengal, Nandigram, News
posted by Bimal 9.1.07,
