Press Release

15 May 2010
New Delhi

We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the unprovoked firing and arson carried out by the Orissa state police against a dharna of farmers and fisher folk opposed to the proposed POSCO steel project in Jagatsingpur district.

As per latest reports, today over 100 people have been injured and many shops and houses in Balitutha village, the site of the dharna, have been set on fire by the policemen. Around 40 divisions of policemen were involved in the operation, which continues even now as we write this. Hundreds of villagers belonging to the PPSS (POSCO Pratirodh Sangharsh Samiti) have been sitting in a peaceful dharna since 26 January 2010 to express their dissent against the proposed plant.

It is also outrageous to note that the atrocities and arson by the police at Balitutha at the moment is being led by the SP of the district while chief minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar is issuing statements like “We are for peaceful industrialization” to the media. Naveen Patnaik is known for his ruthless manner in which he has dealt with democratic resistances in the past 10 years in the state, in which many innocent people have lost their lives to police firing and other forms of violence perpetrated by the state.

Prior to today’s police action, there was already an economic blockage imposed by the state administration of the villages earmarked for land acquisition and where resistance is the strongest. There is a strong fear that any police raid on the villagers to oust them from their land will result in the loss of innocent lives in an area where thousands were already killed when the Orissa Super Cyclone hit the area just a decade ago. Nevertheless, the area is endowed with rich natural resources and has a prosperous economy of its own, and the local communities – as they have expressed it over and over again – do not want to trade their resources, economy, and cultural identities for mere corporate greed.

We believe that, to crush peaceful dissent in such a brutal manner can only serve to undermine Indian democracy and push large sections of the Indian population to the point of desperation. At no point, in their struggle for over five years, have the anti-POSCO protesters indulged in any violent activities and have instead set an example to the rest of the country on how to carry out a democratic struggle based solely on the mass support of ordinary men and women.

We appeal to all Indian political parties and concerned citizens to oppose the Orissa government’s ill-considered and draconian action against the anti-POSCO protestors and demand the immediate withdrawal of police forces from the area. It is only through peaceful negotiations that a resolution can be found and the common people’s crumbling faith in Indian democracy restored.

Yours sincerely,
1. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, New Delhi
2. Medha Patkar, NAPM
3. Arundhati Roy, Writer and Activist, New Delhi
4. Sandeep Pandey, NAPM
5. B Ramakrishna Raju, NAPM, Andhra Pradesh
6. Praful Samantara, NAPM and Lok Shakti Abhiyan, Orissa
7. Meher Engineer, Academic, Kolkata
8. Ashok Chaudhury, NFFPFW, New Delhi
9. Subrat Kumar Sahu, Independent Filmmaker, New Delhi
10. Sanjay Bosu Mallick, NFFPFW
11. Madhumita Dutta, Vettiverr Collective, Chennai
12. Nityanand Jayaraman, Journalist, Chennai
13. Shweta Narayan, Community Environmental Monitoring, Chennai
14. Dr Karen Coelho, Academic, Chennai
15. Shazia Nigar, Delhi University and NAPM, New Delhi
16. Soumitra Ghosh, NFFPFW – North Bengal Regional Committee, Siliguri, West Bengal
17. Mamata Dash, Researcher and Activist, NFFPFW, New Delhi
18. Anand Mazgoankar, NAPM
19. Satya Sivaraman, Journalist, New Delhi
20. Ravi Hemadri, the Other Media, New Delhi
21. Manshi Asher, Environment Research and Action Collective, Himachal Pradesh
22. Shalini Gera, Friends of South Asia, Delhi
23. Shibayan Raha, New Delhi
24. Madhu Sarin, Researcher and Activist, Chandigarh
25. Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi University
26. Saswati Swetlana, New Delhi
27. Ashish Fernandes, Bangalore
28. Amar Kanwar, Independent Filmmaker, New Delhi
29. B Karthik Navayan, Advocate, Hyderabad
30. Amit Srivastava, India Resource Center
31. Madhuresh Kumar, NAPM
32. Maj Gen (Retd) S G Vombatkere, NAPM
33. Rashida Bee, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
34. Champa Devi Shukla, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmachari Sangh
35. Syed M Irfan, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha
36. Rachna Dhingra, Bhopal Group for Information and Action
37. Satinath Sarangi, Bhopal Group for Information and Action
38. Safreen Khan, Children Against Dow Carbide
39. Kanchi Kohli, Kalpavriksh, New Delhi
40. Latha Jishnu, Journalist, New Delhi
41. Chanda Asani, Academic, Jaipur
42. K P Sasi, Independent Filmmaker, Bangalore
43. Anivar Aravind, Moving Republic, Bangalore
44. Ravi Chellam, Bangalore
45. Sunil, National Vice-President, Samajvadi Jana Parishad
46. Sanjay Joshi, Gorakhpur Film Festival
47. Sebastian Rodrigues, Goa
48. Shankar Gopalkrishnan, Campaign for Survival and Dignity, New Delhi
49. Sirisha Naidu, Assistant Professor of Economics, Wright State University, OH, USA
50. Ranjana Padhee, Researcher and Activist, New Delhi
51. K Babu Rao, Hyderabad
52. Vidya Bhushan Rawat, Human Rights Activist and Writer, Delhi
53. Manoranjan Mohanty, Academic, New Delhi
54. Md Qanit B Takmeel, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela
55. Anand Patwardan, Filmmaker, Mumbai
56. Nivedita Dash, Journalist, New Delhi
57. V Rukmini Rao, Gramya Resource Centre for Women, Secunderabad
58. Vimalbhai, Matu People’s Organization, Uttarakhand
59. Amit Kumar Dhiman, Mohali, Punjab
60. Pradeep Kumar, Pathankot, Punjab
61. Mohan Bhagat, Maryland, USA
62. Shankar Chellam, Houston, Texas, USA
63. Praful Bidwai, Columnist and Writer
…and many more concerned citizens

…and many more concerned citizens

This is what the MoEF, Jairam Ramesh, wrote back immediately on email to activists  after a copy of this letter was sent to him, along with  copies to Sonia Gandhi, P Chidambaram, Rahul Gandhi:  ’Thanks. I share your concern and anguish. It is really upto Naveen Patnaik and his colleagues to do something sensitive and proper about this.’

Related posts:

1. Letter to Jairam Ramesh on the committee set up for POSCO matters
2. Amnesty asks Orissa to stop excessive use of police force against Adivasis
3. Chennai Citizens Ask Korean Prez to Stop Pushing POSCO in India