When CPM leaders, beginning from general secretary Prakash Karat down, claim that their cadres are only reclaiming what is rightfully theirs, what they do not say is the plight of people like Taslima who have beenm evicted from their homes and are now huddled in relief camps.

At the Brojomohan camp, women are cramped into classrooms while men sit in open verandahs. Other than being a stop in a Nandigram tour by a visiting Opposition leaders — L K Advani was here today too — these hapless villagers have nowhere to turn to.

For Rabia Bibi of Garchakraberia, today was her 17th day in the camp after she fled her village when CPM cadres killed her husband Sheikh Qayum Qazi. She ran away with her three sons a daughter. “I have lost both my husband and my home.What’s the point of returning home now?” she says. “My husband’s only fault was that he joined the BUPC like hundreds others, participated in processions and meetings since he wasn’t sure of what would happen to his land.”

Aware that the relief camps in Nandigram with thousands of inmates are a veritable visible blot on the party’s image, the CPM has begun using “peace and safety” as the biggest inducements to make them return. Emissaries are being sent by CPM local leaders to the relief camps regularly asking the people to return. Maqsuda Bibi of Amgachia and Sushobhan Patra of Shyam Sundar Chawk, both inmates at the camp, said how messengers were sent from the village asking them to return. “We were assured by the CPM leaders that no harm will be done. There was one condition, though. Everyone has to follow the CPM line. Everyone will have to speak their language. I am yet to decide whether to accept such a humiliating return home. But what are the options?” asks Patra.

... contd.