Fresh violence erupts at Nandigram

By PARWEZ HAFEEZ

Kolkata, May 22: A day after the Left Front suffered an electoral debacle in panchayat elections in East Medinipur district where Nandigram is located, fresh violence erupted in the trouble-torn block.

The Trinamul Congress and the CPI(M) supporters clashed at several places, leaving over a dozen injured.

The warring groups ransacked and looted several houses. The state administration in Kolkata, however, said that the incidents in Nandigram were of minor nature. "We have not received reports of any major incident of violence," the state home secretary Ashok Mohan Chakraborty said.

The violence broke out on Wednesday night after the capture of three out of four Zila Parishad seats in Nandigram by the Trinamul Congress.

There were attacks and counter-attacks in Gokulnagar, Balarampur, Bhangabera, Dandpur and Dekutia villages.

The members of the Trinamul Congress-led Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee took out a victory rally. The local CPI(M) leader, Ashok Ghuria, alleged that emboldened by their electoral success, the Trinamul Congress supporters attacked his party cadre. "They went on a rampage in Balarampur, Sonachura and Kalicharanpur et al," he added.

The CPI(M) lodged a complaint with the police, which itself appeared in a shock after the ruling party’s rout.

The Trinamul Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, had in the past alleged that the officer in-charge of Nandigram police station, Debashis Chakraborty, was "a CPI(M) stooge" who persecuted her partymen.

***

China may consider joining IPI project

Beijing, May 22: China on Thursday said it would study "carefully and very seriously" a proposal that Beijing also join the India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project "once issues are clearer".

"We are also very much aware of the proposal to explore the possibility of extending and transporting natural gas. We do not know the details. We do not know whether it is feasible or not. But once issues are clearer... We will study that carefully and very seriously," Chinese assistant minister of foreign affairs He Yafei told a delegation of Saarc journalists.

China, he said, was in urgent need of more energy. "Of course, we will be interested. But it depends on a lot of things. As far as I know, this is a proposal, just a proposal. So, whether it becomes a reality, we do not know or even if it is feasible or it is workable, we do not know."

Asked if it would be feasible for both China and India to draw from the same pipeline given various factors, he said, it was a "specific question that is for experts to answer". "I can give you a general answer".

He said China had been discussing with India and other countries how best the energy needs could be met "for all of us". (PTI)