New Delhi: The West Bengal government may have gone ahead with the Tata Motors small car project in Singur despite violence and protests, but trouble is not over yet.
Just a day after the Tata Motors officials commenced work for the factory, women activists of the Trinamool Congress went on a rampage, holding a demonstration in front of the Tata Centre in Central Kolkata, pelting stones and smearing the gate of the building with tar.
The women, who clearly caught the police and security guards unawares at the building on Jawaharlal Nehru Road, in the heart of the city, left after their "job" was done.
''About a dozen women demonstrators suddenly appeared in front of the Tata Centre building, throwing tar at the on duty security men and smearing the gate,'' City Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee told news agency UNI.
The protests began on Sunday itself when some protestors set on fire the poles erected for the Tata plant on the controversial land, hours after a 'bhumi puja' ritual was held.
The protestors also conducted another 'bhumi puja' in front of the Tata Centre gate mocking the ceremonial rites the Tata Motors officials performed.
On Monday the protests took an ugly turn when eyewitnesses said the demonstrators also pelted stones at the 18-storied building, housing the TISCO headquarters as well as a number of other companies.
The police who arrived nearly 15 minutes late couldn’t do much to bring the situation under control or offer resistance to the demonstrators in the absence of women constables.
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Trinamool Congress sources claimed that the group of demonstrators included members from the displaced families of Singur.
A statement from the company said that it had begun construction work Sunday but without detailing the exact nature of the first step.
Trinamool Congress chief wasn’t silent either. Mamata Banerjee alleged on Sunday that the Left Front Government had broken its promise for a negotiated settlement of the Singur problem.
"People will not forgive the Tatas or the Left government," she was quoted as saying by news agencies.
Mamata, who had undertaken a 25-day-long protest fast, said she was under treatment but will continue her boycott. "I am unwell and under treatment. The surreptitious way in which construction work started is shocking because the government had promised to hold talks with me as a precondition to the withdrawal of my fast," she was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said the period of prohibitory orders under Section 144 Cr P C had been extended for another ten days. The prohibitory orders were clamped in the area following a clash between villagers and police on December 3.
Singur, about 40 km from here in Hooghly district, has been chosen by Tata for its car project over 997 acres of land. This has triggered a violent face-off between the government and farmers.
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