Kolkata, March 14 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee remembered those who died in the Nandigram land movement on its 10th anniversary on Tuesday and said the state government was committed to protect the farmers.
"To mark the occasion we will honour farmers with Krishak Ratna Samman at a function at Nazrul Mancha", she said.
A total of 14 people were killed in Nandigram in East Midnapore district on March 14, 2007, in police firing following a farmers protest triggered by the acquisition of land for a chemical hub by the then Left Front (LF) government.
The incident, coupled with the farmers' movement in Hooghly district's Singur over the LF regime's land acquisition for a Tata Motors Nano plant, played a major role in bringing about the downfall of the 34-year-old communist government and catapulting Banerjee's Trinamool Congress to power in 2011.