KOLKATA, India (UCAN) -- Some Church officials in West Bengal state say the Church there supports farmers fighting eviction but cannot join them because the issue has been politicized.

About 150,000 people, or 22,000 families, are resisting the eastern Indian state's attempt to evict them from farmlands in Singur to make way for a private car manufacturer.

Singur is in Hooghly district, some 30 kilometers northeast of Kolkata, the state capital, which lies 1,460 kilometers southeast of New Delhi. The area comes under Calcutta archdiocese, which retains the city's old name.

The controversy arose after Tata Motors, India's leading automobile manufacturer, announced plans to set up a plant at Singur to produce the country's cheapest car, which would sell for 100,000 rupees (US$2,380). The company said it required 404 hectares of land for the project, and the state government acquired half of this.

Despite opposition from farmers, Tata started constructing its plant in January 2007, after the government promised to acquire the rest of the land. However, the project ran into trouble as farmers and their supporters intensified their opposition, saying the acquisition was unjust.

Opposition politicians and national figures joined the protesters in Singur, demanding West Bengal's communist-led coalition government return the land to the farmers.

Opponents of the car project say Singur has the most fertile land in the state, on which about 150,000 people depend for their livelihood.

The project is expected to generate not more than 1,000 jobs. Moreover, its detractors say most of the jobs would go to outsiders, because local people are unskilled and uneducated. Opponents also voiced fears the project would pollute the environment.

On Sept. 2, Tata Motors threatened to back out of the project in Singur, forcing the state government to start another round of negotiations.

Bishop Salvadore Lobo of neighboring Baruipur diocese says the Church supports the farmers' rights. However, he admitted it is not directly involved, because the controversy has polarized people politically.

Nonetheless, the prelate said he wants people treated justly. "The government should sit with the farmers who have lost their fertile land and work out a just compensation package," he told UCA News.

The bishop explained that the ruling and opposition parties have their political interests linked with the controversy, making it difficult for the Church to openly support the poor.

However, this has not prevented Father Reginald Fernandes of Calcutta archdiocese from demanding the automaker get out of Singur "immediately." The company has no right to build a factory on the people's farmland, according to the priest, who directs the archdiocesan social center, Seva Kendra (service center).

In his view, Tata's threat to withdraw is just for show. "They want to show their money-power," he told UCA News on Sept. 3, saying the company was "reacting and not proacting." Tata cannot quit, he maintained, because it has already invested "so much in building the infrastructure."

Father Fernandes clarified that he finds nothing wrong in government taking over private land for public use. However, he rejects the government's move to take over "fertile agricultural land" for a private company. The priest also clarified that he is not against industry, but cannot understand why the government insists on building a car factory on fertile land when the state has many other places for such a venture.

Father Yesukani Soosaiappan, who directs Palli Unnayan Samity (Church society for development), Baruipur diocese's social center, told UCA News the state has about 15,000 defunct factories and the automaker could use the land of any of them. The priest added that he is not happy with Tata's threatened move out of the state, even though he insists agricultural land should not be used for industry.

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