Kolkata: With the Calcutta High Court striking down the law undoing the Singur land acquisition, CPI-M lawmaker Abdur Rezzak Mollah on Sunday said he wants to organise an ‘Occupy Singur’ on the lines of ‘Occupy Wall Street’ for the benefit of the unwilling farmers of the rural belt.
“Yes, I am planning to launch “Occupy Singur” movement. It will be on the lines of the “Occupy Wall Street movement” that shook the entire world last year. Though the circumstances of the cases are totally different, the flavour of the movement will be same,” Mollah told IANS.
The veteran Communist, who was land reforms minister during the Left regime, is known as a loose cannon in political circles for his repeated out-of-turn remarks against a section of the party leadership, especially former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and former industries minister Nirupam Sen.
During his tenure as land reforms minister, Mollah had openly protested against the procedure of land acquisition in the Singur area of Hooghly district for the car plant.
On the “Occupy Singur” movement, he said the agitation will benefit the unwilling farmers of Singur who have received nothing and are leading a tough life after losing all means of livelihood.
“My movement is aimed at providing the unwilling farmers with a livelihood. We want that till the matter is resolved legally – as the state government is planning to go to the Supreme Court – either the unwilling farmers be allowed to cultivate their land inside the factory premises or they be provided with alternative fertile plot outside the plant area by the state government. This should be done so that they can at least feed their families,” said Mollah.
Mollah said the state government was pretending to stand by the farmers. (IANS)