I was looking for the full text of Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s statement on Nandigram and found it here.

The ardour of Deepavali has been dampened in the whole State by the events in Nandigram. Several villages in Nandigram are oscillating from the deepest gloom to panic. Large numbers of armed persons from outside the district have, it is undeniable, forced themselves onto villages in Nandigram Block I and II for territorial assertion. Thousands of villagers have consequently been intimidated into leaving their homes in villages such as Daudpur, Amgachi, Jambani, Simulkundu, Brindvanchak, Tekhali, Nainan, Kanongochak, Takpara, Satengabari, Ranichak, Kamalpur, and Keyakhali.
Even as of 4 p.m. this day, I have received phone calls from responsible persons in Nandigram saying that several huts are ablaze. Large numbers of villagers have taken refuge in the local high school in Nandigram, bereft of food and personal security.
At the time of writing, the most accurate description for Nandigram is the one used by our Home Secretary, namely, it has become “a war zone”. No Government or society can allow a war zone to exist without immediate and effective action.

The entire statement has been published in today’s issue of The Stateman.


Some more quotes……
From an NDTV article:

About 2,000 people fled from their homes in Nandigram since Tuesday to escape an offensive launched by CPI(M) activists from the adjoining base of Khejuri to regain control of their lost ground.

From Prasad Ranjan Roy, West Bengal Home Secretary:

”About 2,000 people, largely Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) supporters, are homeless. The CPI-M has gained ground in Maheshpur and adjoining areas of Nandigram. Many CPI-M supporters have returned home,”

From Public Works Department Minister Kshiti Goswami

”It is a planned attack. The CPI(M) has assembled its armed supporters to mount the attack with the backing of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) and crush the opposition,”

Yesterday there was a massive attack by the CPI(M) activists, and though the official death toll is two, according to local sources, many more dead bodies (and injured people) have been dragged in towards the Khejuri “base” by the attackers so that they do not figure in the list of dead. Today the entire Nandigram is back under the control of the CPI(M) activists, and they have, according to local reports, taken out a procession which covered all the major geographical points in the region, as a mark of their “victory”.
Kolkata saw a day of protests today, with a large number of people (mostly film personalities, artists, theatre personalities) being arrested, and put in Lalbazar, the city police head quarters. They have been released in the evening after protests in front of the polic head quarters. Interestingly, the Left Front partners (CPI, FB and RSP) have blamed the CPI(M) for the current situation in Nandigram.