Controversial car project tests Indian communists
Source: Reuters
By Bappa Majumdar SINGUR, India, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Indian police stopped thousands of protesters on Thursday from storming the site of a proposed car factory in West Bengal state, which has become a test for the new economic policies of the ruling communists. West Bengal, which has the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, is wooing foreign and domestic investment after years of focusing on land reforms and empowering poor peasants. But a move to hand over nearly 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of a prime agricultural land to Tata Motors Ltd for a small-car project in Singur, about 50 km (30 miles) north of the state capital, Kolkata, has come under scathing criticism. In the past month, there have been three general strikes in the state and occasionally violent protests. On Thursday, thousands of protesters, including members of the opposition Trinamul Congress, marched towards Singur carrying flags and placards, but were stopped by a large police contingent armed with water cannon, rubber bullets and tear gas shells. Thousands of people were also pulled out of crowded trains and stopped in their vehicles on highways en route to Singur. Many farmers and their leaders, who were sitting on a hunger strike in the small town for the past four days, were forcibly removed to a hospital. "How can you forcibly pull me out like this?" shouted a fasting Trinamul Congress lawmaker Robin Bhattacharya as policemen shoved him into an ambulance. "It appears the communist government is prevailing by sheer force and their party cadre strength," political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan told Reuters by telephone from New Delhi. "It is a moment of truth for the communists and a very, very big test," he added. Over the past few years, the West Bengal government has been pursuing an investor-friendly economic policy which has angered its hardcore supporters -- mostly poor farmers. In spite of the protests, an unperturbed chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, told reporters in Kolkata on Thursday that fencing of the controversial land was complete. "The Tatas can come any day to start work here," he added.
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