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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Gobindpur villagers observe 'Black day' to protest Posco deal by Debabrata Mohanty

Gobindpur villagers observe 'Black day' to protest Posco deal by Debabrata Mohanty

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published Published on Jun 23, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 23, 2011

A day after the Orissa government halted land acquisition for the controversial Posco project, its detractors observed Wednesday as a 'Black Day' to protest the anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the state government and the steel giant six years ago.

On Tuesday, the Jagatsinghpur district administration suspended land acquisition for the 12-million tonne steel plant project after protests escalated in Gobindpur village with leaders of the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), BJP, NCP, SP and eminent social activists like Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar joining villagers.

Villagers and activists of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) carried on with their protests on Wednesday with the PPSS forming a human barricade, women and children at the forefront, to block the entry of officials and police.

June 22 is observed as a Black Day every year. Today is a day of mourning for us. The state government may have halted land acquisition, but what are 20 platoons of armed police doing in Dhinkia?” asked Prashant Paikray, spokesperson for Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti. Paikray alleged that 4 platoons of police and 1 platoon are at neighbouring Noliasahi village and Balitutha awaiting further orders to start a crackdown on villagers. Besides, 15 more platoons are waiting at school buildings of Kanaguli, Balia and Balitutha, he said.

The support for anti-Posco front seems to be increasing with retired judge of Mumbai High Court B G Kolse Patil joining protestors at Gobindpur.

Patil is spearheading the agitation against the creation of a Reliance Industries special economic zone at Raigad, Maharashtra.

Besides, politicians from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, CPI, CPI(M), All India Forward Block and Samajwadi Party have also joined protests at Gobindpur. CPI deputy general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy, who visited Gobindpur today, announced his party would observe June 24 as Black Day in the country to protest forcible land acquisition. Tomorrow, eminent environment activist Vandana Shiva would join the protest at Gobindpur while Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey would be there on June 24. On July 5, 6 and 7, several Gandhian leaders would launch protests before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's residence protesting the land acquisition. In Bhubaneswar today, Nationalist Congress Party continued to sit on dharna protesting forceful land acquisition for Posco.

On the other hand, the district administration has started demarcating the boundary for the 12-million tonne project at Polang area under Gadakujang panchayat. Ground-levelling and tree cutting was going on likewise at Nuagaon and Gadkujang.

Meanwhile, the Orissa High Court was likely to hear today two separate writ petitions filed by villagers of Gobindpur and Nuagaon challenging the land acquisition.

Nishakar Khatua, Bairagi Charan Nayak, Pramod Bardhan, Debendra Swain, Tushar Kanti Dalei and Nityananda Behera of Govindpur and Nuagaon villages had filed the petitions in the High Court. The petitioners had prayed the High Court to stop land acquisition work as a forest Act has been violated. They also alleged the government was acquiring land for a private limited company like Posco in violation of Land Acquisition Act.

The Indian Express, 22 June, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gobindpur-villagers-observe-black-day-to-protest-posco/807196/


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