Three POSCO Resisters Killed In Bomb Attack
By Countercurrents.org
02 March, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Three villagers who are on a historical struggle against land acquistion for a POSCO steel plant in Patna village, Dhinkia , Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa state, India, died after a group of people threw bomb at the villagers. Manas Jena (32) died on the spot. Two injured persons, Nabanu Mandal (35) Narahari Sahoo (52) died after waiting for half an hour for an ambulance to take them to hospital. Another villager, Laxman Paramanik is critically injured and is admitted to a hospital. The attack took place around 6.30 PM today evening.
Prashant Paikary, Spokesperson for POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti said the assailants were POSCO company and state-sponsored goons. He said the villagers informed the police about the incident , asking for an ambulance to take the injured to the hospital, but the police didn’t respond. POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti condemned this barbaric and inhuman killing of innocent villagers and demanded to arrest the culprit immediately.
Earlier today the government of Odisha sent around six platoons of police at Badagabapur (near POSCO transit camp). It’s highly possible that they repeat a forceful police operation tomorrow. Our villagers are in high alert to face any forceful land acquisition for POSCO steel plant.
The state assembly session is in interegnum from February 25- March 7, the Odisha government has begun preparations to resume forceful land acquisition in the village. The government was forced to stop land takeover activities at Gobindapur village in the proposed project site in the first week of February owing to stiff opposition from the villagers and concerned people across the globe.
The Odisha government is going ahead with the forceful land acquisition process for the steel plant despite the fact that Posco does not have an environmental clearance for the project. The environmental clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on January 31, 2011 was suspended by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on March 30 of 2012.Posco does not even have a memorandum of understanding with the state government now. The one it had signed on July 22, 2005 lapsed on July 21, 2010 and no fresh MoU has been signed so far.
Even, the palli sabha meeting of Govindpur, and the gram sabha meeting of Dhinkia panchayat on 18 October, 2012, more than 2000 residents unanimously voted against diversion of land for Posco’s project under provisions of the Forest Rights Act 2006. The ongoing land acquisition is a blatant violation of the Forest Rights Act as the rights over forest lands in the area are not being recognized and vested and consent of the Palli Sabhas has not been obtained by the State government.
For more information contact
Prashant Paikary
Spokesperson, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti
Mobile no - 09437571547
E-Mail - [email protected]
You can read more articles on the POCSO struggle here
Nation's Conscience Must Be Awakened To Anti-POSCO Struggle
http://www.countercurrents.org/posco080611A.htm
Orissa: Profiteers vs The People
http://www.countercurrents.org/abeson060608.htm
Scrap POSCO
http://www.countercurrents.org/fft270510.htm
POSCO Needs Immediate Rethink Or Recall
http://www.countercurrents.org/alam220711.htm
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