Sushma Swaraj, one of the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who toured Nandigram on Monday said residents requested them not to allow the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders to enter Parliament just as they did to them in the trouble-torn areas. She was addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday.
"Our delegations had visited the place in the past and on those occasions people would tell us about the horror, including incidents of rapes. But this time it was a different story. People are petrified. One old woman told us that her son has not come for the last three days. The moment she said, her daughter-in-law pulled her away, saying that they would kill her husband if they come to know that they had spoken to us," she said, while narrating her experience in Nandigram.
"We will raise the issue in Parliament in the winter session," said Swaraj. Chandan Mitra, editor in chief of Pioneer, and a Member of Parliament, will prepare a report.
She wanted to know if CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechuri could talk to Maoists in Nepal, why could not he do the same in Nandigram.
"There are contradictory reports from Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his home home secretary. While chief minister says that Maoists were involved in the attack, his home secretary says that there is no evidence about their involvement," she said.
More from rediff