The proposed  all-party meet convened by the Forward Bloc, one of the coalition partners of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal to give peace a chance in Nandigram in East Midnapore district, ran into serious trouble on Wednesday after some of the ‘stake-holders’ were denied an invitation by Bloc state secretary Ashok Ghosh.
The BJP, Jamat-Ulema-Hind, Farmland Resistance Committee and the CPI(M- Liberation) – all claiming to be a strong force in mobilising the farmers against the proposed chemical hub at Nandigram – have been left out of the purview of the meeting that is to take place on Thursday at Mahajati Sadan here.
Even as last ditch efforts were on to find way out of the imbroglio, eminent writer and Magsaysay award winner Mahasweta Devi described Thursday's meeting a total farce.
“Not a single senior leader from the ruling Left Front has so far paid a visit to Nandigram where we have been running medical and other camps to provide relief and succour to the villagers. How can they realise the ground situation without having ever gone there? Without the presence of representatives of the Farmland Resistance Committee and Mr Siddiqulla Choudhury of Jamat, the meeting will be a complete farce,” Ms Devi told newsmen here at the sidelines of the release of Amnesty International 's annual report. She was, however, silent on the inclusion of the BJP in the meeting.
Leaders of the Congress and its sibling Trinamool, maintain that without a discussion on issues like  punishment of the guilty, payment of compensation to the kin of those killed and missing after the March 14 police carnage and reopening of the CBI inquiry, peace will elude Nandigram. However, the CPI(M)-led Front is opposed to discussing these points.
According to Mr Ghosh who convened the meeting to mediate with the Opposition after being authorised to do so by the Left Front, chances of the Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee attending the meeting are high; but  he was not sure who will represent the CPI-M. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the state CPI-M secretary Biman Bose will not attend the meeting, it was announced earlier.  Among the invitees, the Congress said that unless the Jamat leadership is involved in the process, there is hardly a chance of peace getting restored at Nandigram.
The Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) declined to attend the meet alleging that issues of rape and murder in Nandigram had not been inquired into so far.