Nandigram and beyond

The brutal and premeditated massacre of men, women and children by police in Nandigram in West Bengal on 14 and 15 March this year brought into sharp focus the fact that across India thousands of people are resisting the seizure of their land in the biggest land-grab since the colonial period. Under the Special Economic Zones Act (2005) vast swathes of fertile agricultural land are being forcibly acquired to be handed over to transnational corporations. These SEZs will be virtually foreign territories controlled by the corporations labour and tax laws will not apply, elected local government will be replaced by an unelected development commissionerâ and local people will need passes to enter the land they used to cultivate. And while the government claims that the land will be used for productive industry, in reality the SEZs Act is a cover for global real-estate speculation; a large proportion of the land will be used for luxury housing developments, shopping malls, and exclusive tourist 'enclaves' which Indians will be forbidden to enter.

The film "This land is mine" hears from the residents of Nandigram about the horrific police attacks of 14 and 15 March, the ongoing violence and attempts to starve them into submission through an economic blockade, the repression being unleashed on the movement of workers, activists, intellectuals and artists who have come out in their support, and their determination to continue to resist. We will be discussing how to build solidarity with the peasants of Nandigram and the many other parts of India where local people are taking on the state and corporate capital over SEZs.


This meeting is part of a series of events organised by South Asia Solidarity Group and the 1857 Committee in the context of the 150th anniversary of the 1857 uprisings. For more details, contact:  sasg@southasiasolidarity.org