Coming down against the Trinamool Congress, intellectuals and other ??reactionary forces aided by a section of media,?? the CPI(M) reiterated that the fresh violence and killings at Nandigram were aided by the Maoists. The party, in an editorial in the forthcoming issue of its mouthpiece People?s Democracy, also justified the ?recapturing? of villages by the CPI(M) cadre by asserting that they were trying to end the illegitimate occupation of the Maoists and the Trinamool Congress in Nandigram.

??From the 3rd of January 2007, under the pretext of not permitting any land acquisition for a chemical hub, an unholy nexus of Maoists-Naxalites under the banner of the Trinamool took control of the area. They prevented any sort of administration to enter the area. They forcibly evicted thousands of villagers from their homes and lands. This ?occupation? continued until recently when the legitimate owners of homes and property in the area forced their way after eleven months of living as refugees to restore their disrupted lives and activities,?? the editorial said.

In a veiled attack to the intellectuals and artistes in the stete, who came out open against the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee regime, the editorial said they failed to oppose when the CPI(M) sympathisers were evicted from Nandigram earlier. ??Is the return of the legitimate owners to their homes a crime? Is it not a crime to evict people, in several thousands, from their homes and force them to spend a life of squalor in refugee camps? Where was the conscience of the so-called intellectuals who are crying hoarse against the CPI(M) now??? the editorial asked.

Alleging that those who are criticising the CPI(M) over Nandigram are ?the friends of BJP,? the editorial said: ??Those who are now railing against the CPI(M) must realise the company that they are keeping. Advani?s double-speak became clear when he opportunistically sought to reap political benefits by hailing the perpetrators of such crimes. The BJP’s NDA ally, Trinamool, is the one patronising the Maoist elements. The intellectuals of all hues and colours must realise where they are ranging themselves in their eagerness to heap calumny on the CPI(M).??