One of them is Gopana Naik, the slain brother of Taal Kumar Naik, whose heart-rending story was published in these columns yesterday. The police record of Gopana Naik reads: “Decomposed body of an SC Christian found near the church in Gandaguda area under Raikia police station.” 

The other recovered body is of Dinabandhu Pradhan, a resident of Lamungia village in Raikia block, where maximum official deaths (five) have been reported so far; the number now is seven. 

“Pradhan was an ST Christian. Nothing was left of his body except bones. We have sent the messages of recovery to the respective families,” inspector in charge of the district intelligence bureau today told The Tribune. 

But the families of the deceased were shattered that it took this long to find the remains of their kin when the police had been informed well in time of the place and manner of death. 

“I kept telling them that the rioters had torched my brother to death near Gandaguda church. But they just wouldn’t listen. What else could they have recovered but ashes and bones? It’s tragic that we couldn’t even honour our dead,” Taal Naik today said, even as the district remained under a heavy security blanket ahead of the mammoth prayer meeting tomorrow in the memory of Laxmananda Saraswati.

Leaders of all major Hindu outfits and over 5,000 disciples of Saraswati are expected to attend the meeting at Chakapadh ashram, around 50 km from Phulbani, the district headquarters. VHP’s international general secretary Praveeen Togadia also might come to Chakapadh, where the ashes of Saraswati are lying.

While the threat of fresh violence looms large in the wake of tomorrow’s meeting, the district administration said it would not allow outsiders to enter Kandhmal. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC were enforced in all the sensitive blocks of the area from 3 pm today until 3 pm tomorrow. These blocks include the worst-hit areas of Balliguda, Nuangan, Tikabali, Raikia, Udaygiri and Tumrigund. Tumrigund is particularly sensitive as it houses the Jalaspeta ashram, where Saraswati was killed on August 23.

That apart, the district remained deserted for the 15th day in a row. All the 11 blocks have been under night curfew (6 pm to 9 am) since August 24 when anti-Christian violence broke out. But there have been several reports of the breach of curfew, much to the discomfort of Christians, who continue to feel unsafe.

On September 4, two miscreants had sneaked into the Hubbac high school camp at G Udaygiri, the largest camp in the area housing 3,400 people. They reportedly poisoned the drinking water stored in the tank. “The water was eventually discarded and another tanker called for.

There was panic in the camp while the persons escaped,” Kavita Digal, a resident told The Tribune. A similar case was reported from the Bijaya high school relief camp at Raikia, currently housing 2,500 people. 

Albeit the district authorities dismiss these reports as rumours, Christians say their fears are for real. “The rioters could not kill us that day. Now they are finding other ways,” says Galyat Digal, residing at Raikia relief camp. In this claim, he has the support of every other camper.

New Delhi, September 6
The Opposition BJP and the Left have dismissed the “clean waiver” by the NSG to India’s request for nuclear commerce as an attempt to compromise India’s sovereignty.

While the leaders were still awaiting the full text of the draft cleared by the NSG in Vienna today, their immediate reactions showed no climb down in their opposition to the deal, even at this late stage.

Instead they have raked up the Bush administration’s letter to the chairman of their Foreign Relations Committee, disclosed earlier this week. 

BJP vice-president Yashwant Sinha reacted to the waiver by referring to that letter and said it had “clearly stated that after the deal India would lose its right to conduct nuclear tests.”

He also said the US was eager to enter into the civilian nuclear agreement with India because “India is a big market that the US is keen to exploit for its commerce”. Russia and France supported the waiver for the same reason, he added.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad went a step further and said, “This is a sad day for the country. They have compromised India’s sovereignty. Now we will be left with no weapon to fight China and Pakistan. After all there is nothing to prevent China and Pakistan from conducting more nuclear tests.”

The Left, too, dismissed the waiver as of little consequence. CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said, “The waiver has come because India’s external affairs minister in his earlier statement had in effect accepted the conditionalities placed in the Hyde Act as well as the restrictions of the NPT.”

Yechury recalled the nine points he in particular had raised on behalf of his party in Parliament and said, “Several of the assurances given by the Prime Minister on these nine points have been belied, now in the light of the latest letter that has come up.”
A similar reaction came from CPI national secretary D. Raja, who said, “We opposed the deal and would continue to do so. Pranab Mukherjee has sold the country’s sovereignty and rights. It seems the country’s sovereignty is being completely lost,” Raja concluded.

But new found UPA friend and ally Amar Singh of the Samajwadi Party complimented the Prime Minister on the passage of the waiver in Veinna. He said, “I congratulate Manmohan Singh. This deal will herald a new beginning for India’s progress and development.”

Kolkata, September 6
The Singur impasse meeting at the Raj Bhavan on the second day today ended in a fiasco as no acceptable compromise could be reached for resolving the present crisis. Both the state government and the aggrieved farmers stuck to their respective stands.

However, after the marathon meeting of about five hours in two phases in the morning and evening, Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi told media persons that he would be meeting both the parties again on Monday.

Since both parties did not come to any agreement, Gandhi personally wanted to talk to the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee before holding his third day conciliatory meeting on Monday. It is likely that he would be meeting them separately, Raj Bhavan sources said.

However, at today’s meeting, the government accepted in principle Mamata’s demand for returning of lands to the unwilling farmers whose lands had been forcibly acquired at Singur for Tata Motors project.

The government made it clear that in no case the 400 acres of land allotted to the Tata Motors would be returned to the farmers. Tatas also conveyed to the state government that they would not allow their plans and design at Singur be disturbed and they would not also re-open the Singur plant till the situation was normalised.

Though no details about today’s meeting were officially known, the sources disclosed that the government agreed to immediately return 49.5 acres of land, which was owned by the WBSEB, to the unwilling farmers.

Another 50 acres in the vicinity which the WBSEB owned, could also be handed over to the farmers. The government further agreed to assist the landowners financially in the purchasing of additional 100 acres in and around Singur but the lands should be acquired by the local Trinamool-led panchayats.

However, the TMC leader and others representing the aggrieved farmers demanded the return of at least 300 acres, against their specific demand of 400 acres of lands which the state industries minister Nirupam Sen, heading the state representatives, downrightly rejected.

TMC leader Partha Chatterjee, former land reforms commissioner D. Bandopadhyya and the Krishi Jivan committee leader, Purnendu Bose, however, still stuck to their demand for returning of 300 acres to the unwilling farmers. The governor regretted that despite their sincere efforts, no acceptable solution could be reached. 

Guwahati, September 6
The flood in Assam has so far claimed 23 lives besides rendering about 20.68 lakh people homeless from 2,424 villages spread over 13 affected districts. Standing crops on 3.77 lakh hectares of land has also been were damaged.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today announced a relief package for the flood-hit saying the state had Rs 783.74 crore for relief operations. He also announced compensation of Rs 1 lakh each for flood-related deaths.

The government has so far set up 279 relief camps. The flood-hit will be compensated at the rate of Rs 6,000 per hectare each for flood-ravaged crop land, land under siltation and revitalisation of fisheries. Rs 15,000 per hectare will be given to those who completely lost their land due to erosion, Rs 25,000 for those who lost their ‘pucca’ houses, Rs 10,000 for ones who lost their ‘kuccha’ houses and Rs 10,000 for those who lost their cattle.

Informing that flood had breached 54 river embankments all over the state, Gogoi today termed the accompanying erosion of land as a more dangerous problem than flood. He informed that the perennial problem of erosion have eaten away 4.25 lakh hectares of land in the state since 1954 thereby displacing over eight lakh persons.

The Assam government has requested the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, to prepare a blue print for a permanent solution to the flood problem. The state government would bear the cost of the entire exercise.