PHOTO PTI

UP IN ARMS: Kalinga Sena activists demonstrate against the proposed Posco plant in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

BHUBANESWAR: Any decision on lifting of the road blockade agitation by the tribals of Kalinga Nagar will be taken only after the panchayat polls. The polls are scheduled to end on February 21.

According to the leaders of Visthapan Virodhi Janmanch, any decision on the question of removal of the road blockade will be taken only after consulting the villagers of the area who were supporting the one-year-old agitation. A meeting to consult the people will be convened after the polls, they said on Thursday.

The Janmanch, which was under pressure from the Jajpur district administration following a High Court direction to the State Government to lift the blockade, had got a breather when the court extended the deadline for removing the blockade by March 9.

However, before the High Court extended the deadline, the Janmanch leaders had said that they would consult the people of the area about lifting the blockade only after the authorities returned them the chopped off palms of five of the police firing victims and reviewed the cases against the tribals. After the Janmanch took this stand soon after they held discussions with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on January 31, the district administration had informed the outfit that process had been initiated to fulfil their demands. The chopped off palms, however, have not been returned to the tribals so far.

Review of cases

Even as the administration was eagerly waiting for the Janmanch decision to lift the road blockade, it is said that the agitation on the Daitari-Paradip national highway may continue till the tribals were returned the chopped off limbs and the Janmanch leaders were convinced about the efforts of the authorities to review the cases registered against them by the local police. According to sources, the authorities had started the process of review of those cases that were registered before the police firing incident that took place on January 2, 2006. Thirteen tribal men and women were killed in police firing and a policeman was killed by tribals.

The road blockade agitation continues since January 2 last year with the tribals vehemently opposing displacement in the area and demanding action against the officials who were present during the incident.

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