NATIONAL PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL ON KANDHAMAL INTERIM PREPORT

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

NATIONAL PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL ON KANDHAMAL JURY’S PRELIMINARY FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS 24 AUGUST 2010 The National People’s Tribunal (NPT) on Kandhamal, held in New Delhi on 22-24 August 2010, was organized by the National Solidarity Forum – a countrywide solidarity platform of concerned social activists, media persons, researchers, legal experts, film makers, artists, writers, scientists and civil society organizations to assist the victims and survivors of the Kandhamal violence 2008 to seek justice, accountability and peace and to restore the victim-survivors’ right to...

TIMELY DECISION: Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Ramesh Sharma

It is ‘no’ to Vedanta’s mine project in Orissa

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

TIMELY DECISION: Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Ramesh Sharma After a long drawn-out consultation process, the Union government has finally pronounced its verdict against Vedanta Alumina’s $1.7-billion plan to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa. “There has been a very serious violation of the Environment Protection Act, the Forest Conservation Act and the Forest Rights Act,” said Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh. He blamed Vedanta, the Orissa Mining Corporation, and State officials for the violations....

Vedanta – Four member committee report

Monday, August 16, 2010

The Ministry of Environment and Forests, GoI had appointed a four member committee to review whether the Vedanta Resources can be given final environmental clearance to mine bauxite at Niyamgiri hills. The committee submitted the final report at 1pm today. Executive Summary of the report is attached to this mail. You can download full report (4.33mb) from MoEF website: http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/saxena_vedanta.pdf. REPORT OF THE FOUR MEMBER COMMITTEE FOR INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROPOSAL SUBMITTED BY THE ORISSA MINING COMPANY FOR BAUXITE MINING IN NIYAMGIRI Dr N C Saxena,...

Exhibition on Kandhamal by Dalit Artists

Monday, August 16, 2010

Dear friends, Perhaps you are aware that even after two years, the Christian adivasi and dalit survivors of the Kandhamal violence are still struggling for justice. Thousands of people cannot go back to their own lands and many are still living in tents in Kandhamal. Education of children is disrupted and their trauma is still continuing. The culprits of communal violence are getting acquitted without any punishment from the courts. In this context, the National Solidarity Forum, a coalition of over 50 organisations from different parts of the country have given a call for protests, public meetings...

On the release of Lado Sikaka

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Lado Sikaka, the tribal leader of the Dongria Kondh, was released yesterday afternoon (12 Aug) by the police three days after he was abducted. He was left at Kalyansingpur town and had to walk 10 km to reach home. He was tortured by the police who have forced him to sign a written statement. The statement says that Lado “will not damage public or private property anymore and if he does so he will face legal action.” This clever statement by police is to implicate him in cases he was not involved in and to easily frame him in the future also. During interrogation Lado was repeatedly...

Environment Ministry Directs Orissa Government To Stop Work On The POSCO Project

Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Environment Ministry today finally issued a welcome but ambiguous order directing the Orissa government to stop work on the POSCO project and the illegal process of forest land takeovers that is taking place. While giving some immediate relief by stopping the illegal land grabbing that the Orissa government started last week, the order is silent on the basic issue: the illegal forest clearance granted by the Ministry on December 29, 2009. It has now been proven, and the Ministry itself has admitted in this order, that: The Orissa government suppressed facts and distorted the record. The...

On Focus

STATE COMPLICITY AND IMPUNITY RULE AS JUSTICE IS DENIED VICTIMS OF KANDHAMAL

The National People’s Tribunal (NPT) on Kandhamal is an initiative promoted by the National Solidarity Forum , a nationwide platform of civil society actors, with the purpose of seeking justice for the victims of communal violence in Kandhamal district of Orissa state. Kandhamal witnessed an upsurge of violence against the minority Christian community beginning on Christmas-eve 2007, which was considerably aggravated in August 2008, following the killing of VHP leader Swami... Read More

TRIBUNAL ON KANDHAMAL OPENS IN DELHI

Initial Testimonies highlight abject failure of state machinery New Delhi: The 3-day National Peoples Tribunal (NPT) on the Kandhamal communal violence began today at the Constitution Club here with some 400 people in attendance which included 95 survivors from Kandhamal. The NPT is being organised by the National Solidarity Forum, a coalition of over 65 organisations and peoples’ movements that have come together to highlight the plight of victims and survivors; and attempt... Read More

Exhibition on Kandhamal by Dalit Artists

Observe 25 August as ‘Kandhamal Day’!

National People’s Tribunal to Probe Kandhamal violence The National Solidarity Forum (NSF) – a countrywide platform of concerned civil society organizations has called for observation of 25 August 2010 as ‘Kandhamal Day’. Thousands of Christian minorities in the Kandhamal region of Orissa were victims of organized violence by Hindu fundamentalists for over nine months starting in August 2007 and even today are yet to obtain justice or rehabilitation. Human... Read More

MoEF/MoTA Committee Report of visit to Jagatsinghpur

MoEF/MoTA Committee on Forest Rights Act Report of visit to Jagatsinghpur (site of proposed POSCO project), Orissa, 23-24 July 2010 4 August 2010 Introduction Three members of the MoEF/MoTA Committee (Arupjyoti Saikia, Ravi Rebbapragada and Ashish Kothari) went to Jagatsinghpur as part of the MoEF/MoTA FRA Committee’s study tour of Orissa. Apart from Jagatsinghpur, the study tour also included a full day public consultation in Bhubaneshwar, discussions with senior officials... Read More

Act Now

Call To Action – Send an Email to Ministry of Forests (India) re the POSCO project

Dear friends: The situation in Jagatsingpur, the POSCO project area, is tense and explosive. The Orissa Government has begun the land takeover in direct violation of the Ministry of Environment and Forests directive that no forest land diversion must happen till all the requirements of the Forest Rights Act are met with. The Minister, Jairam [...]

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Announcements

National People’s Tribunal on Kandhamal, 22-24 August 2010

The National Solidarity Forum (NSF) – a countrywide platform of concerned social activists, media persons, researchers, legal experts, film makers, artists, writers, scientists and civil society organizations aims to take up solidarity actions to help the victims and survivors of the Kandhamal violence. With a view to creating pressure on the Indian government it plans [...]