Then there is the reference the National Human Rights Commission has made to Gujarat in its indictment of the state government. And, ironically, the CPM, at pains to draw a distinction between Gujarat and Nandigram to argue against a debate in Parliament, has ended up reinforcing this aspect.

Ask CPM MP Mohammed Salim and he says this is a mere coincidence. “Those who are trying to draw the Gujarat-Nandigram parallel are trying to undermine the seriousness of the Gujarat riots. If a particular area has 46% Muslim population it is natural that they will also be affected.”

When contacted, Abdus Sattar, Minister of State for Minorities Welfare and Development and Madrassa Education, says: “A large number of Muslims might have been affected but what happened in Nandigram was not on the basis of religion. The Chief Minister is the minister for minorities, I have no other comment to make.”

What both the MP and the Minister do not admit is that sections in the party are concerned over a possible backlash given how a majority of the victims in Nandigram are Muslim.

Consider the following:

•In areas where the Government proposed land acquisition for the chemical SEZ, almost 65% of the population is Muslim, largely the middle peasantry and sharecroppers. Says Siddiqullah Chowdhury of Jamiat-e-Ulema-Hind which became the backbone of the political opposition: “We could mobilise Muslims because they are the ones most dependent on land for livelihood. Most of them are unrecorded sharecroppers haunted by the fear that they might not get any compensation for not possessing any valid documents. In the core area of the proposed SEZ, a large number of Muslims owned small shops and were engaged in tailoring and zari work.”

... contd.