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Medha reiterates opposition to POSCO plant

Photo: PTI

Facing opposition: Supporters of the POSCO project protesting against social activist Medha Patkar at the entry gate of Nuagaon village of Jagatsinghpur on Wednesday. —

BHUBANESWAR: Reiterating her support to the villagers opposing land acquisition for the proposed POSCO steel, social activist Medha Patkar on Wednesday said there was no need to allow a South Korean company to set up a steel plant in the country at the cost of people’s livelihood sources.

Talking to The Hindu on her return to Bhubaneswar from a two-day tour of the POSCO project area, Ms. Patkar demanded that politicians who were playing to the tunes of POSCO should refrain from using anti-socials and some local people to terrorise the agitating villagers. As regards police deployment in the area, Ms. Patkar said the policemen were not performing their duty.

Clarifying that she was not against industrialisation and also big industries, Ms. Patkar said that no project should be implemented without following the existing norms.

Ms. Patkar, who was shown placards by the project supporters asking her to ‘go back’ in Patna and Gobindpur villages during the day, said thousands of people opposing the project had been compelled to remain silent.

“Wherever I went, those claiming to be supporting the project rang bells asking people not to interact with me and saying that anyone found talking to me would have to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000. Although very few people talked to me, hundreds of people came out of their houses, making it clear that they were against the project,” she observed. “Raghunath Swain, an old man of Gobindpur village, openly criticised the Naveen Patnaik Government for imposing the project on the people of the area, unmindful of the losses they would suffer by giving up their land and livelihood sources,” Ms. Patkar said. Ms. Patkar, who stayed overnight in Dhinkia village after reaching the area on Tuesday evening, held discussions about the agitation with president of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti Abhay Sahu.

She also addressed a meeting at Dhinkia urging the agitators to continue their fight against the proposed steel project in a non-violent way, and extended her support to their agitation.

Meanwhile, a fact-finding team of New Delhi-based Jan Hastakhep demanded that the government withdraw the police force.

The three-member team of the organisation was prevented from entering Dhinkia by the pro-project people on Tuesday.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the team demanded that the steel project should be cancelled and democratic rights of people agitating in the area be protected by the government.

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