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Villagers opposing Posco observe Black Day

— PHOTO: ASHOKE CHAKRABARTY

UP IN ARMS: Activists of CPI observing Black Day by wearing black masks in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday in support of the villagers in Posco project area in Jagatsingpur.

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Naveen Patnaik government on Tuesday put on hold the land acquisition for the proposed steel project of Posco till further orders, the villagers opposing establishment of the plant in Erasama Block of Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district came out in large numbers on Wednesday to observe the day as Black Day.

The villagers agitating under the banner of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti demanded that the State government completely stop the land acquisition process and shift the project site from the three gram panchayats of Dhinkia, Nuagaon, and Gadakujang.

The Sangram Samiti has been observing June 22 as Black Day for the past several years as it was on this day in 2005 that the memorandum of understanding for the 12-million tonne capacity steel plant was signed between Orissa government and Posco.

Wearing black badges and raising slogans against the Naveen Patnaik government for using force to acquire land for the project, the villagers announced that they would continue their agitation till the State government shifted the project site to any other place.

Many politicians and retired judge of Mumbai High Court B.G. Kolse Patil, who addressed the agitating villagers assured their wholehearted support for the agitation against land acquisition for Posco in the locality.

The meeting was organised outside Gobindpur village where the agitators have formed a human barricade for the past several days to prevent the entry of government officials and armed policemen into their villages to demolish their betel vineyards and acquire land for the proposed steel mill.

The politicians who attended the meeting belonged to the Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal. While these five parties have been strongly backing the agitation since long, many prominent social activists and parties such as the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Nationalist Congress Party too have expressed solidarity with the agitators and opposed use of force for land acquisition.

Support sought

Underling the need for maximum support for the agitators, CPI deputy general secretary S. Sudhakar Reddy announced that the Left parties along with other like-minded parties and democratic organisations would organise protest meetings in different parts of the country on June 24 to express solidarity with the villagers who have been opposing land acquisition for the Posco project to save their land and livelihood sources since 2005.

As the MoU for the project had expired in June last, the State government has announced to renew the same by the end of this month.

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