New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday said the violence in Nandigram was “unfortunate” and it had asked the West Bengal government to protect people in the area.
"We have given directives to the state government in writing that no one should be forced to leave his or her home. Everybody should be brought back and given full protection," Home Minister Shivraj Patil told the Lok Sabha.
"Nobody should be made to leave their homes. Gangs on motorcycles should not be allowed to intimidate people and affected populace should be given adequate compensation."
Patil, however, wasn’t hard on his CPM ally, which leads the Bengal government, and claimed the Centre had information that people in Nanidgram were “instigated” to commit violence.
“People keep on asking me about the role of the Maoists in Nadigram. All I can say that there were elements that were involved in instigating people there and some arms and ammunition was also recovered there,'' he said.
Patil said the Centre’s directives to the Bengal government were “on the lines of what Leader of the Opposition L K Advani had spoken of.”
Advani, who spoke in Lok Sabha earlier, had asked the Centre to issue directions to the state government under Article 355 of the Constitution and dismiss it if it failed to follow them.
Patil informed the House the West Bengal government was doing its best to bring peace in Kolkata where hundreds people clashed with the police while protesting against the violence in Nandigram and controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen's stay in India.
"More than 50 people were injured including a DCP. But the police had brought the situation under control and the Rapid Action Force has also been deployed," he said.
"The state government has conveyed to us that the situation is tense but fully under control," Patil said.
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