Anti-displacement leaders oppose forcible acquisition of land

Anti-land acquisition leaders who congregated at Balitutha, the entry point of the proposed site of Posco’s mega steel project in Jagatsinghpur district, on Thursday vehemently opposed the use of forces by the state government against the tribals at Kalinga Nagar and Narayanpatna.

They also took exception to the forceful land acquisition by the state government for industrialization and vowed not to cede even an inch of land for the Posco project. These leaders have decided to project the issue of forcible land acquisition in Orissa at the national level.

Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organization spearheading the anti-Posco movement in the state for more than four years, had organized a 'Bikalp Bikash Sambesh' at Balilutha. Besides hundreds of affected people from Dhinkia, Gadakujang and Nuagaon, the gathering was attended by prominent anti-land acquisition leaders from states like Maharashtra, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

At this meeting, presided over by PPSS leader Abhaya Sahoo, the anti-land acquisition leaders vowed to fight against Posco steel project with the cooperation of villagers.

Taking a swipe at the use of forces by the state government against the tribals at Kalinga Nagar and Narayanpatna, the anti-displacement leaders said, the move to take away land forcibly from the people will not be tolerated.

While these leaders are not against industrialization per se, they are opposed to the setting up of Posco project on fertile land.

Before the beginning of the meeting, the anti-displacement leaders drew 'lakshman rekha' (a border line) to prevent the entry of the police and government officials to the site.

It may be noted that PPSS has been staging a mass dharana at Balilutha for over two months as a mark of protest against the Posco project.

The meet was attended by anti-displacement leaders like Kulsi Patil from Maharashtra, Dayamani Barla from Jharkhand, Parthasarthi Roy and Amrit Paira from West Bengal.

The meet also witnessed the participation of anti-Posco leaders from Orissa like Praffulla Samantray of Lokashakti Abhijan; Bijoy Pradhan of Ekata Parishad and Narayan Reddy, the former legilator of CPI.