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NAPM Condemns Attack on PPSS by Goons and Subsequent death of 3 activists 030313
State is Sponsoring and Promoting Violence not the PPSS
Punish the Criminals Halt Land Acquisition
New Delhi, March 3 : In the continuing saga of
state violence and oppression, when nearly 6 platoons of police were present in
the area for starting the forceful land acquisition procedure, bombs were
hurled at around 6:30 pm on a meeting room of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti,
at Patna Village, Dhinkia, Jagatsinghpur, killing Manas Jena – Age 32 died on
the spot. Two others Nabanu Mandal – 35 and Narahari Sahoo – 52 succumbed to
their injuries, since police didn’t respond to their call for ambulances on time.
Mr. Laxman Paramanik was critically injured and is undergoing treatment at the
moment.
This act of terror is extremely condemnable and
will not deter the spirit of resistance. It is also unfortunate that rather
than taking action against the company sponsored goons, who have attacked in
past too, the district administration has been spreading canards that the
people died while making bombs. The history of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti
shows that the movement has been non-violent and peaceful even when the the
state forces and goons have attacked them with ferocity on many occasions
latest being on February 3 rd.
It need to be mentioned that the movement has
faced several instances of state repression, document in a recently release
fact finding report titled, “Captive Democracy”. The report says that “230
cases had been filed implicating about 1500- 2000 villagers resisting POSCO
between 2006 and 2012. Most of the complaints have left the number of accused
open-ended, which allows the police to implicate any person in any case,
despite not being specifically named therein. A large number of these cases
have been filed by government officials during times of peaceful demonstrations
by the members of the PPSS.”
Shri Abhaya Sahoo, the President of the PPSS was
arrested on two occasions and has over 50 cases registered against him, including
cases when he wasn’t present in the villages on the day of the alleged offence.
Manorama Kathua, President Women’s Wing of the PPSS, aged about 29 years has
several cases filed against her and has been unable to apply for bail due to
financial constraints and has not left the village in 6-7 years. These are just
few instances of arbitrary actions of the police and the impacts of the same.
Hence, it is unfortunate that the state is again
trying to criminalise the movement and forcefully acquire the land. The
sacrifices made by the activists to save their land and right to earn a
dignified living must be respected. The actions of Orissa government is in
complete violation of democratic norms and principles of justice. As of now the
environmental clearance given by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)
on January 31, 2011 stands suspended by the order of National Green Tribunal
(NGT) dt March 30 2012. The project does not even have a memorandum of
understanding with the state government now, with one signed on July 22, 2005
having lapsed. So what is the basis on which the state is acquiring land for
the project?
The nation needs an answer for this continued
brutality and loss of life and livelihood and constant harassment and complete
disruption of normal life. People’s movements from across the country stand in
solidarity with the struggle of villagers of Jagatsinghpur and condemn this
barbaric action of the state government and company sponsored goons.
Medha Patkar, Dr. Sunilam, Prafulla Samantra, Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey, P Chennaiah, Ramakrishna Raju, Sister Celia, Suniti S R, Gabriele
Dietrich, Maj Gen S.G.Vombatkere (Retd), Anand Mazgaonkar, Gautam Bandopadhyay, Vimal Bhai, Mukta Srivastava, Suhas Kolhekar, Rajendra Ravi,
Bhupender Singh Rawat, Seela Mahapatra, Madhuresh Kumar
