Police Resume Drive To Take Over Land For Posco
By Prashant Paikray
27 June, 2011
Countercurrents.org
Dear Friends,
Around 3 PM today, the police again gone back from the protest site.
However our people are in high alert. The police may again come back
tomorrow. In the morning, the administration re-deployed hundreds of
policemen and staged a flag march near Govindpur village boarder.
Our thousands of villagers have formed a human barricade and made
continuous slogan against these illegal and irresponsible behavior of
the administration. Our people were determined to democratically
prevent any forceful entry of officials into our areas. Our
resistance to land acquisition gained further strength when Mr. Jual
Oram, the state leader of BJP visited the protest site to lend his
support.
Meanwhile a medical team of three doctors from Delhi Jan Hastakhep are
camping in our villages Dhinkia, Govindpur which is deprived of State
health care system.
On the other hand, the district administration went ahead with
building the project’s boundary wall besides doing ground-levelling
and tree-felling exercises in Polang, Noliasahi, Bayanalakanda and
Nuagaon villages. Today, for the second consecutive day, hundreds of
people of Pro-Posco United Action Committee (UAC), rushed to the site
and prevented officials from continuing work. The UAC people say that
the govt. is yet to fulfill the promises it made to them but starting
the work without taking them into confidence.
On 26th June 2011, Mr. Sandeep Pandey, Magsaysay Award winner joined
our protest. Addressing our villagers, he said “People have been
building up their lives on this land for generations so they have the
right to protest. The setting up of industry should not be at the cost
of larger public interest. People here are leading decent life through
multi-crop cultivation, betel vines growing and fisheries. The steel
project would in no way compensate the loss of livelihood resources of
the displaced villagers. Without the consent of the villagers, how can
the government acquire land? It is gross human rights violation.”
Informing that the MoEF has violated the law and its own orders, he
said the forest land acquisition was a violation of the Forest Rights
Act. He also questioned the decision to establish a new port apart
from the existing Paradip port saying, “It will affect environment and
take away the livelihood of thousands more, so Posco port should be
stopped.” Our children enacted street plays wearing the masks of
Manmohan Singh and Jairam Ramesh at the agitation site in Gobindpur
village .
Today, the writ petitions were listed before the high court of Odisha.
However the court matter did not reach for hearing today as well. The
matter is now posted for tomorrow.
We will keep updating you with the latest developments. Kindly
circulate this mail widely.
In solidarity,
Prashant Paikray
Spokesperson, POSCO Protirodh Sangram Samiti
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