Nabeen government attacks anti-POSCO resistance in a final bid to get land for foreign companies

The valiant and heroic anto-POSCO resistance fighting for the right to live and livelihood faces its strongest test as the Orissa state and bureaucracy (owned lock, stock and barrel by POSCO, Vedanta and TATAs) have finally decided to unleash its might on its own citizens to obtain land for POSCO. As of latest, massive violence have been unleashed on resisters, men, women and children, by almost 1500 armed policemen, and large number of people are injured. We will try to keep you updated on the situation. Orissaconcerns blog is providing  constant updates at http://orissaconcerns.net/ .

May 15th

http://orissaconcerns.net/2010/05/immediate-medical-help-needed/

Now we got information abt 2 Activists critically injured with Metal Bullet. Immediate Medical Care is needed for Natha swain (from Nuagan) & Ramesh Das (from dhinkia). They lost a lot of blood so far. All Roads to Anti Posco Villages are blocked & sealed by Police. More than 100 people are Injured , which include women & children. There is no way to get medical support /go out of the Village because of the police blockade.

The video of police brutality can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWOgj0cr3qQ&feature=player_embedded

Kalinganagar Situation Remains Tense

The police has been entering villages protesting displacement and trying to break down houses. In this they are supported by pro TATA goons.

Yesterday, as per the information received, almost a thousand armed policemen entered Chandia village in order to demolish houses. They were confronted by large  number of tribal men and women, who said that they would die before they allow the houses to be demolished. Apparently, for now the police and district administration has backed off. The situation remains tense and the siege of the villages protesting displacement - by police and goons continues.

Major mis-information campaign on internet, through use of false pictures and stories has been launched by the supporters of the Company - using names such as Kalingaputra. Certain TV channels owned by the corporate houses have also been supporting malicious campaigns against the Bisthapan Birodhi Janamanch. However, the progressive forces in the state including environmental and anti-diaplacement movements, progressive left groups and Gandhians have come out in support of the BBJM and against displacement and police repression.

Thousands of people gathered to protest against the forced displacement of people near Kalinganagar. The news coverage of the meet is as below:

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/06/stories/2010050658170600.htm
Janamanch gets big support on Kalinganagar issue
Special Correspondent

BHUBANESWAR: The leaders of the Bisthapan Birodhi Janamanch on Wednesday condemned the alleged police repression in Kalinganagar steel complex in Jajpur district of the State in the recent months and reiterated their opposition to displacement in the area.

The Janamanch leaders, who organised a protest meeting at Bamiagotha village, said that they would not part with their land, homes and livelihood sources at any cost to make space for the proposed steel plant of Tata Steel and the common corridor road in Kalinganagar.

A number of political leaders, social activists as well as representatives of various organisations opposing displacement in different parts of the State also attended the meeting to express their solidarity with the Janamanch leaders who have been opposing displacement in Kalinganagar with full force since January 2, 2006 when 14 tribal men and women were killed in police firing while opposing work in area earmarked for the Tata Steel project.

‘No faith in govt'

Addressing the meeting, Janamanch secretary Rabindra Jarika said that they had lost all faith in the local administration and the Naveen Patnaik Government as the police had attacked the local people and damaged many houses in Baligotha village in the area just two days after they had a discussion with the District Collector about their demands and grievances on March 30.

The administration was working overtime to protect the interests of the private companies and neglecting the cause of the poor who were opposing displacement, Mr. Jarika alleged.

Among others who addressed the protest meeting include K.N. Ramachandran, national general secretary of CPI(M-L), Prafulla Samantara of the Lok Shakti Abhiyan, Lingaraj of Samajwadi Jana Parishad, Prashant Paikray of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, Mahendra Parida of CPI(M-L)-Liberation, Bijay Parida of Odisha Jana Adhikar Parishad and local leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Bharatiya Janata Party.

Many of these leaders stressed the need for unity among the people who were opposing displacement due to proposed industries and Special Economic Zones to make the government take a pro-people stand.

Joint convention

They also called upon all those opposing displacement and acquisition of agricultural land for industries to join a joint convention on the issue in Bhubaneswar on May 16.

CEC indicts Orissa government for rampant illegal mining

Please read on:

Orissa Mining Scam: Government at fault for allowing illegal Mining

Debabrata Mohanty

Financial Express, Wednesday, Apr 28

Bhubaneswar: In a clear damnation of the Orissa government, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court hearing into the allegation of forest law violations in multi-crore mining scam in the State, has said that mining activities were going on in a large number of the mines in Orissa without the requisite approvals under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, Environmental Clearances, and the Air & Water Acts. The mining activities also exceeded the production limit as approved under the Mining Plans.

In December last year, senior journalist Rabi Das had filed a case before the CEC regarding the alleged Illegal mining in the lapsed/invalid mining leases/areas in Orissa seeking appointment of a Commission to investigate and study the modalities of the illegal machinations, fix responsibility on individuals (in Government and outside it) and recommendation of remedial measures. The state has so far granted 596 mining leases for extraction of different kinds of minerals. Of this, 341 mines are operating while the remaining 255 are non working/lapsed mines.

The interim report prepared by CEC member MK Jiwrajka on April 26, also said that a large number of the mines have remained operational for long periods of time after the expiry of the lease period because of the delays in taking decisions on the renewal applications filed by the respective mining lease holders and consequently the mines becoming eligible for ‘deemed extension’ as provided under Rule 24 A(6), MCR, 1960. The CEC said that as many as 215 mines were operative for 10 to 20 years on deemed renewal status.

The major findings of the CEC are:

* In a large number of cases the forest areas approved under the FC Act are lesser than the total forest area included in the approved mining leases.

* There was lack of effective coordination and common understanding between the officials of the Mines Department and the Forest Department resulting in the ineffective enforcement of the statutory provisions.

* The “deemed extension” clause is primarily meant to deal with contingency situation and to ensuring that the mining operations do not come to an abrupt end because of administrative delays in deciding on the renewal applications. This provision is not meant to be availed of indefinitely. Moreover, continuing mining over a long period of time without renewal of the mining lease becomes a potential source for serious illegalities and irregularities.

Kalinganagar: With Each Iron Eyes- a Short film by Pranab Aich

This is a beautiful short film which captures the tragedy of Kalinganagar.

Moderator

Kalinganagar travails: Naveen remains the corporate lapdog

Please find the latest from Kalingangar and link to a TV newsreport


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJakoZXofG8 


Today morning Ghanshyam Kalundia of Baligotha village died succumbing to prolonged undiagnosed diseases. Just two days ago he had made it to newspaper headlines - "I want to live." Ghanshyam is the third person to die within a week for unavailability of medical support. Already Sikandar Kalundia and Balema Goipai have died in the last few days. The prevailing conditions in Kalinga Nagar do not allow anyone to go out to avail medical help neither doctors are allowed to go to the villages. For months the villages of Kalinga Nagar have been cut-off and cordoned off from the rest of the world by the police and Tata supporters who are forever on the lookout for them. Some 21 people have already been arrested under false charges when they stepped out of their villages. Some of them were arrested when police and Tata supporters raided the villages at midnight on two occasions. During these raids the villagers were shot at with rubber bullets and many women were severely beaten up with sticks.

At the same time today morning when Ghanshyam took his last breath, some 700 police force are said to have been deployed in the area especially near Gadapur village on the pretext that the few odd displaced families have to demolish their old houses. The people who are still staying in Gadapur have vacated the village in fear of violence by the police and large number of Tata goons who have assembled there. Preliminary reports from the area say that the demolition exercise is a more organized and seemingly innocuous version of the pillaging that took place by police and Tata goons in Baligotha village on 30 March '10.

The 30 March attack was the culmination of months of sporadic aggression by the Police and Tata goons. That day the Police simply did not try to maintain law and order, rather they first sprayed rubber bullets and plastic pelets upon the tribals, entered Baligotha village, set foodstocks afire, poured kerosene in the wells, killed cattle, vandalised the memorials of the martyrs of 2nd Jan 06 police shootout, looted valuables, stole livestock and destroyed all sorts of electronic machines like TVs, DVD players, Sewing machines, etc. Surprisingly this planned attack by some 27 platoons of armed security forces and 2 platoons of Operation Green Hunt forces along with a hundred odd crowd of Tata goons happened exactly two days after the District Magistrate met the villagers and assured them their grievances would be looked into. After the attack the DM did a volte-face and said to the media they would carry out construction of the Common Corridor Road (which the people are opposing) at any cost with the District SP adding that protestors would not be spared. Since 30 March the area has been out of bounds for the rest of the world with all roads leading to the devastated village being guarded by Tata goons, BJD cadre and the police. High profile politicians like Jual Oram of BJP and certain Congress members have been attacked and not allowed to visit Baligotha. In one of these attacks three journalists were beaten up, their cameras were snatched and their valuables were looted.

The Common Corridor road project is being espoused by the District Administration and IDCO as a harbinger of development to the area. But the locals point out that every factory in the area is well connected by road and has been functioning smoothly over the years. Moreover, the proposed 4-lane road project will cut through a 7-km stretch of tribal land including fertile farmland. The locals say that the rationale behind such a road project can only be to bring the much opposed Tata project as the Common Corridor will cut through the villages resisting the steel giant for the last 5 years. One of the natural advantages of the people opposing Tata has been that they have been able to assemble easily from across villages as the villages are next to each other. With a road cutting through they will be isolated and the police will gain easy access. After the police shootout on 2nd January '06 that claimed the lives of 14 men, women and children while opposing the construction of a wall for the proposed Tata project there were some half-hearted attempts made by the Govt. to resolve the issue through dialogue but were not pursued to a conclusive state. Rather another wave of repression was unleashed upon the people as on one side the leadership of the tribals was targeted by Tata goons and on the other key activists and leaders were framed under false charges. There were several murderous attacks on active leaders like Dabur Kalundia and Jogendra Jamunda. One such attack on Jogendra almost cost him his life when he was shot at from close range in front of the Kalinga Nagar police station while he was riding a bike with his mother. Dabur Kalundia was attacked by a Tata contractor Arbind Singh and his gang in front of the Rohit factory, Dabur survived but Amin Banara from his village succumbed to bullets in his chest. The tribal villages protesting against displacement in general and Tata in specific under the aegis of the Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Manch

(People's Forum Against Displacement) located amidst ten steel factories by companies like Jindal, Mesco, Mathan, Nilachal, Rohit, Dinabandhu, etc. have been ghettoed from all sides now. It seems the Common Corridor project will now dissect the resistance into two parts and tackle it systematically with some sort of clinical precision. The tribals are considered encroachers though they have been living on that land for generations and their demands for land in lieu of land has not been taken seriously by the Govt. On the other hand they have been repeatedly portrayed as Maoists though not a single incident of Maoist violence has been reported in the area in the last 5 years. Rather a non-violent democratic movement is being suppressed by a Govt. that is evidently working like a private mercenary of Tata Steel.

The State capital looks shockingly calm. The opposition leaders seem to be holidaying with their ruling counterparts to escape the hot summer when forcibly displaced tribals from different regions of the state are struggling in this alien land to earn their bread for the day braving the day temperature which has remained above 44 for the last few days. Most of the media have succumbed to the pressures of Tata House. Even Tatas have invaded the space in internet by circulating the lies they manufacture in their Kalinganagar project. The bureaucracy in Orissa has been criminalized. The controversial IAS officer heading the infamous Bhubaneswar club who was stripped of his post by Nabin Pattnaik as his name appeared the equally infamous Biranchi murder case has been given the task of ensuring launching of the Tata/Posco projects at any cost by the same clean Chief Minister. After Mr. Priyabrata Pattnaik has taken over as the chief of IDCO-the official broker agency of the state to help the corporations, ruthless repression in areas opposing displacement has again become the major agenda of the state. It seems we are all paying the price of Tata salt which we consume every day, said a senior journalist. People in this state have started believing that there is no alternative to Nabin Pattnaik even if he has been sold to the corporations. There is no one in the opposition who appears to be genuinely concerned for the dying tribals. It is now the responsibility of smaller political out fits, sensitive individuals and suffering locals to resist or express dissent over the mindless industrialization happening in the state although they face the risk of being branded as “ Maoists”.

( Nachiketa from Independent Media with inputs from Rabi Rout, Neelamadhab Nayak and Raghu in Kalinganagar )

Economic Times article on Vedanta and Niyamgiri

A long article in ET on the Vedanta Niyamgiri issue.

Note the very last para - it quotes Vedanta as saying " “Even if they start exploring in other locations now, it will still take three more years before they can offer us mines. For that reason, Niyamgiri is a must for the refinery,” he said, adding that the company would force the state government “to fulfill the terms of the agreement they signed with us”.

They really think they rule the country.

Journalists manage to visit Kalinganagar

A number of journalists managed to break through the police and TATA goons cordon around the Kalinganagar movement villages and talk to the villagers. Prashant Pattanaik describes the trip in his article posted on Orissa Matters.

Subhash Pattanayak has also posted some of pictures taken by the journalists on the Orissa Matters Blog

Petition on Kalinganagar submitted to the Governor

Shri Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare

Honourable Governor

Orissa State

Raj Bhawan, Bhubaneswar

Sub: Citizens Appeal on Kalinganagar Situation

April 7, 2010

Respected Rajyapalji,

With deep shock and disbelief we share the following quite avoidable tragic happenings in the proposed industrial city of Kalinganagar which witnessed killing of 14 tribals in a police firing on the 2^nd January, 2006. On 30^th March, 2010 the Jajpur police along with about 10 platoons of armed police force launched an attack on innocent tribals of the area at Baligotha who were opposed to the construction of common corridor which they believed was unnecessary and called it a design of the administration to divide the otherwise united anti-displacement movement. About 40 tribals including women and children sustained bullet injuries. Houses of the leaders of the movement were ransacked, property looted, motor bikes damaged, food grains destroyed, water sources intoxicated, cows and goats killed and finally some of the houses set on fire. A team led by retired Justice Sri Ch. Pratap Mishra could see all these in their own eyes when they visited the victims on the same day in the night and provided emergency medical aid.

The aggrieved, anguished, humiliated and agitated villagers revealed to the team that:

1. It was the administration which initiated a dialogue with them on the common corridor issue on the 28^th 0f March. They welcomed the district collector and shared with him their concerns and apprehensions in a clear language. The collector also promised to take up their issue with the state government particularly on the question of land for land compensation. He also assured the villagers which had been telecast on that day itself that no work will begin before the matter was resolved. But to the utter shock of the villagers the road work near Baligotha was started on 30^th March, 2010 with heavy deployment of armed police. Under section 144 of CRPC entry to the construction site was declared unlawful but the goons supported by the ruling party and the Tata Company were allowed to dominate the scene. The firing started without any provocation and village Baligotha was attacked without any reason as the victims after the firing were rushing in to village to find a safe shelter. The village was deliberately looted and food and food grains stored in this tribal village which they had earned after hard labour was destroyed to force them vacate the place.

2. The villagers of Chandia, Baligotha, Garhpur and other hamlets have been subjected to continuous police repression and criminal intimidation at the hands of people sponsored by the Tata Company. So far 21 people have been arrested on false and fabricated cases. Even people fear to go out for emergency medical care. Pregnant women have been the worst sufferers and on 4^th of April, 2010 Balema Goipai 65 of Gobarghati died because she could not get medical treatment as she was suffering from cerebral malaria.

3. According to villagers which sounded convincing no developmental work particularly on sectors such as health, education or drinking water is taking place in the villages in Kalinganagar. Even the elected Sarpanch of Chandia is not allowed to function as a Saprpanch.There seems to be a deliberate plan to force the people to migrate.

4. As people allege, all the lands in the area including the site for common corridor and industrial sites come under FRA 2006. No process has been initiated to settle claims of people over forest land. People in the area have been kept in dark about such an important act.

5. Tribals like Raju kalundia , the Saparpanch of Chandia claim that the land in common corridor site is patta land and his grand parents still have titles over those lands. Others too have similar claims but no one has been consulted about it.

Appeal;

The honorable Governor may please intervene and ensure that:

1. The common corridor road must immediately be stopped, the demands of the tribal agitating under the banner of Vistapan Virodhi Janmanch taken seriously.
2. The Hon’ble Governor may please visit the area personally and see the untold miseries of the people which have been caused to them by an irresponsible and dehumanized administration which is working hands in glove with the companies in the area.
3. The right to life and livelihoods of the tribals guaranteed by the constitution must be ensured.
4. The judicial commission enquiring in to the killings of 14 tribals on 2^nd Januray 2006 must be expedited fast and the scope expanded to include the police and private atrocities on agitating tribals in the region after that incident till the firing of 30th March 2010.
5. Section 144 imposed in controversial construction site be withdrawn along with withdrawal of armed police from the region which will create conditions for restoration of peace.
6. All media persons, human rights activists and concerned citizens must be allowed free access to the conflict and firing site.
7. Forest rights act 2006 must be implemented in Kalinganagar area with letter and spirit.

Justice Pratap Mishra ( retd)

Braja Kishore Tripathy ( Ex-MP)

Rabi Narayan Panigrahi( Ex-MLA)

Chita Mohanty Political Activist

Praffula Samatara, Activist and editor

Manoj Jena, Social activist

Posters from the media protest meet

Media Persons of Orissa met outside Soochana Bhawan today to protest against the attacks on fellow journalists at Kalinganagar by BJD and Tata sponsored goons.About 50 media persons from leading media outfits ( print and electronic) took part in the protest. Some interesting posters from the event.

If you can't see the image, please go to epgorissa.blogspot.com

24 Platoons armed police for Kalinganagar tribals: Updates

As predicted earlier, the government and the goons have started a reign of terror against protesting tribals in Kalinganagar. The Bisthapan Birodhi Jana Manch (BBJM) and the villagers are resisting this ingress. Apparently one person has been shot and injured, people beaten up discriminately, houses burned and cattle shot.

The account of the 14 tribals who were killed in 2006 hasn't been settled yet- no proper enquiry, no punishment to the perpertrators of massacres against Indian citizens; and now the whole process has started once again. BBJM asks for justice, and it gets bullets in return.

EPGOrissa

Information from Kalinganager

On March 28,2010 the Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Manch leaders and villagers welcomed Jajpur District Collector and had a discussion with him on the controversial common corridor though they knew it very well the district administration had other motives. After talks with activists of Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Manch and more than 300 villagers the Collector assured them that there would be no construction activity for the Common Corridor Road till the matter is resolved through dialogue. But the administration has gone back on its words. They started the work yesterday and made a huge media publicity of the event to provoke people. In today's newspapers the SP has said 'protestors will not be spared' and the Collector is saying "construction of the road will happen at any cost."

This gave the manch no other alternative but to protest. But today 29 platoons of armed police with 60 officers and hundreds of BJD and Tata goons reached the place of dispute. They first denied media any entry to the place and the started attacking the peacful protesters. Many have been injured including women and children as indisciminate rubber bullet firing and lathi charge has taken place. They have entered the villages and unleashed a reign of terror. The villagers have tremendous patience and are still resisting peacefully. The area has become a war zone and more than a dozen people including women and children have been seriously injured.

This is being carried out under the supervision of IG Special Operations, Arun Sadangi. Despite Sec 144 being imposed in the area large number of Tata supporters, BJD cadre have assembled at the site and are giving instructions to the police. All people who have a conscience must act now as democracy in Kalinganagra is being butchered in the most vulgar manner and the political and bureaucratic leadership of the state have completely sold themselves to the Tatas. There has been absolutely not even a murmur of protest from any of the mainstream political party leaders which signifies the absolute power Tata wields over them. Just now reports reach us suggesting that firing has started in Baligootha village and where about of the leaders are not known.

____________________________________________________________________

As posted earlier, the anti-displacement movement in Kalinganagar has been facing increasing repression from the State Government as TATAs increase their efforts to launch the steel plant. Most people may remember that killing of 14 people in police firing in Kalinganagar was a turning point where it started becoming clear to common people of Orissa that the state government and the ruling elite had sold out to international extractive industries mafia; and that democracy was being buried under the avalanche of global capital flows and extraction of Orissa's natural resources. A state killing its citizens to facilitate international capital - it was a shock to the common folks of Orissa- and a realisation that the wonderful dreams of development were just dreams circulated by a neo-liberal world order, where 500 million elites of the world consume half the world resources; and that the relentless rape of colonised spaces such as Orissa was a neccessary corollary of the greed of the global elite.

In face of this relentless expansion of global extraction into the green heartlands of Orissa, the people of Kalinganagar responded by great fortitude and resolve - we will die but we will not leave our lands. The killings at Kalinganagar transformed what was just a collective effort to obtain more compensation for displacement, into a strong, no compromise movement for place and survival with dignity - and they have held off the state for last four years, inspite of being baricaded by police, arrests, coercion, attempts to bribe, vilification in the media, political pressures, withdrawal of all development support etc. Along with the anti-POSCO movement in Jagatsinghpur, they have become the flagbearers of a people's resistance against neo-liberal extraction, wherein Orissa is sought to be incorporated into the world global economy as a colonised hinterland on unequal terms.

The Orissan state- the sorry vestiges of the proud people of Kalinga and Utkal, an increasingly rump apparatus owned by mining mafia and corporates- has used all means to destroy these suprising shows of resistance by normally docile people. The fact that these tend to be non-violent and democratic makes the situation even more difficult for the state,which needs the fig leaf of democracy to continue serving its masters sitting in Mumbai and London. The tactics are manifold - and the most important one being terming these movements as Maoist, and therefore insurgents against the Indian state. No matter that all the violence has been onesided, against the protest movements - unleashed by state apparatus as well as private mafias; yet branding such movements as infiltrated by Maoists allows the government legitimacy to try to crush the movements. And so you have 24 platoons of armed police entering Kalinganagar area as of today, trying to squash a democratic upsurge against the exclusions and destructions caused by neo-liberal extraction. Who cares who many may die in this exercise on behalf of the TATAs?

The role of local media in this process has often been reprehensile. Fed by the advertising revenues from corporates, as well as direct bribes, many of the local media outlets simply act as mouthpieces of police and corporate sector; and have tried their best to badmouth and discredit such movements. Are there honest scribes who will actually tell the stories from the perspective of people of Orissa- of these movements? Will the mainstream media cover it? Or they will bay for the blood of Rabindra Jarika- labelling him a maoist. Remember that gentle old man- Lalmohan Tudu- who was shot in cold blood by police in Lalgarh.

Those who are still interested in fate of the people of Orissa- you need to speak up before all voices of sanity and selfrespect are silenced by green notes and lead bullets.

EPGOrissa

URGENT: Tata sponsored 'Green Hunt' in Kalinga Nagar to destroy democratic tribal movement

Yesterday the Collector of Jajpur district assured Dabar Kalundia, a tribal leader of Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Manch (BBJM) that he would come to Baligotha village on 28 March for a meeting with the dissenting villagers and find a solution to the prevailing conflict. But within a day the Collector has broken his word as today about 24 platoons of armed policemen have been deployed in Kalinga Nagar to suppress the democratic & non-violent movement of the BBJM. It is feared that there will be bloodshed at a larger scale than 2 Jan 06 when 14 tribal men, women & children were killed in a police shootout. The villagers fear the police will attack tomorrow morning.

For more than 3 months now the resistance villages of Kalinga Nagar have been besieged by police forces who have randomly arrested dozens of villagers who stepped out of their village. People have been framed under false charges. There has been repeated midnight attacks by policemen and Tata goons to annihilate key activists of the BBJM. Hired assassins have also tried to eliminate the tribal leaders of the movement and one such attempt caused the death of Amin Banara of Baligotha village. Recently large number of police forces had been deployed on the pretext of building a road through the villages. Every attempt of the police and administration to quell the dissent of the people has been countered in democratic and non-violent ways by the BBJM.

The BBJM has clarified several times that it is not a Maoist backed organisation and does not want violence. The BBJM has made it clear that it will not accept displacement and mindless industrialisation that is already causing massive pollution in the area leading to widespread disease, crop failure, air, water & sound pollution. The Collector also agreed to the meeting only after the BBJM wrote several letters to him demanding that their concerns be addressed first as the Collector had been announcing in some meetings in the area that the Common Corridor Road would be built at any cost.

Surprisingly the print and electronic media have so far ignored developments in Kalinganagar which itself is a threat to democracy. Mainstream political parties also have reached a consensus with the ruling party which creates concerns among all citizens who understand the implications of mobilization of armed police in kalinganagar villages resisting Tata induced displacement.

We demand that the Govt should stop acting like a hired mercenary of Tata Steel company and withdraw all police forces from the area immediately. If there is any bloodshed the sole responsibility will lie on the Govt. The Govt should also give up the Common Corridor Road project as it will be built on fertile farm land and the community land of the tribals. The Govt should respect the sacrifice of the 14 tribals killed by the police and scrap the Tata project immediately. There should be no further displacement & dispossession of tribal people from their land. The Govt should immediately start working towards restoring peace in the area by assuring the tribals that there will be no attacks on them by the police or Tata goons. A medical team should be sent to the villages immediately as people have not been able to visit doctors for days in fear of arrest.

We appeal to all concerned citizens, progressive groups & media persons to raise their voice against the Fascist tendencies of the Govt and express solidarity with the tribals of Kalinga Nagar.

Prafulla Samnatara, Lok Shakti Abhijan
Lingaraj, Samajbadi Jan Parishad
Radhakant Sethi, CPI-ML Liberation
Prashanta Paikrai, PPSS
Bhalachandra Sadangi, CPI-ML New Democracy
Lingaraj Azad, NSS

A recent video clip of repression in Kainganagar can be found at this locations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWob7fHKzLQ

NROs again

I had written about a certain set of NROs earlier at http://epgorissa.blogspot.com/search/label/Non%20Resident%20Oriyas

Then recently a threat started on a listserve regarding operation greenhunt. One certain Mr. Manoj Padhi, whose heart apparently beats for Orissa and Oriyas had the following words to say about Orissa's tribals

""The answer to all these tribals is - " (tax) Money is not hanging in trees of tribal regions" so that the Government can pluck them and provide them all kinds of comfort."

Tribals have got two options.

· Maintain status quo and worship their god Niyamraja

· flow with science & technology wind and "earn" development with their own income/ sales tax money, instead of looking at Government, if they don't agree with Government's version of development (like mining Niyamagiri Hill)"

The brilliance of this comment illustrates the gap that exists between NROs who stay in USA, drive their SUVs and dip in their swimming pools in backyards and the tribal Oriya whose daily income, if any, is half a dollar. It also shows the utter alienations and disconnect between such NROs and common people of Orissa. Of course, part of it is that these NROs have been part of Orissa’s elite, used to a feudal-castebased system, where tribals and dalits are seen less than human – and therefore it is easy for them to graduate to the arrogance of a right-wing Americanism. Lets see what Mr. Padhi has to add to the above words of wisdom.

He goes on:

“Many of us buying a home stead land in BBSR, Delhi, Gurgaon, etc.

Why ?

Why we don't buy land in a tribal area, where we can buy acres of land with in our budget?

For the same reason- why would any Businessman invest in tribal areas instead of Gurgaon, Faridabad and Noida ? Just to provide employment to tribals ? This is bad economics. Since you are against displacement of tribals, I guess, your vision of tribal development is - "Agriculture Only" === status quo

This was one of my choices. Tribals, if they don't want to be displaced, they have to live like that forever without expecting a share from the taxes of developed areas like BBSR, Berhampur or Rourkela.

Here is an analogy for Government vs Home owner Association. I live in a community, where the home owner association collects $300 per annum as HOA FEE. There are 1000 homes in the community and whatever they collect, would be spent for our community development such as swimming pool, club house, play areas, parks, walking trails.

There are other communities, with lesser homes - they collect $500 per annum for the same service. There are communities without swimming pools and they collect lesser amount. The point is - proportional service is offered by home owner associations, based on their income/fee collection.

Now apply this to tribals. They used to live in jungle by cutting woods, hunting animals - those are now illegal. Even Government has taken over "Kendu leaf" based income, which is used for "Beedi".

Now what's remaining for them ? Agriculture.

After independent, tribals were one of the biggest land losers as per the post-independence revenue records. Government is trying to correct the wrong by distributing them land pattas. So, without (sic!) negligible income (tax collection) from their region, what kind of Vision is possible ? They have to be parasites - i.e. depend on a share of tax income of developed cities/districts. Does center is able to distribute funds proportionately to states. No. Mamta Banarjee is taking 80% projects to Bengal. Lalu did the same for Bihar. Karunanidhi is getting more projects than Odisha.

And, without their negligible tax base, why would tribals expect that, the Government will channel others’ tax money to their area only ? Hence, any Vision without local tax income wouldn't be feasible and will die theoretical death. It sounds good to listen but won't be possible. Activists hate companies but NRGEA money is the result of 35% tax provided by corporate houses.

So, in short, in the absence of local tax money (please recall - lower the HOA fee, no swimming pool), there will be promises only from the Government. No quality of services.

But, if Vedanta comes and starts mining - local tax money will be generated and spent locally by their Municipality or corporation etc. Now, if they don't want to destroy the environment and wish to live like Amazon tribes, they are very much welcome. I will fully support their desire to live in the green belt provided, they don't want any thing from the Government's exchequer because they are not contributing any thing substantially to the Government's treasury.

So, let us drive Vedanta out and start a conditional signature campaign - "Mr. CM, leave us in our state and we want to live as Amazon tribe with the blessings of Mountain God Niyam Raja and we don't expect any thing from you - we are happy".

I love the arrogance of this man- comparing the State of Orissa to his Housing Association in some suburban city of USofA- the country of drone wars and long distance asssinations. I suppose for him the Maoists are “Taliban” with the beards shaved off, to be killed without any due process of law. Unfortunately for him – they still remain Indian citizens- though that doesn’t stop the government from killing them.

For him common people of Orissa, including tribals are parasites, existing on taxes of middle class and the corporate houses. Does he know by what means the Government of India (sorry the imperial british) obtained “rights” over the mineral and forest resources of tribal India? Does he know about the wars of resistance fought by the tribal communities – whose lands and forests have been sought to be taken away? Does he know about enclosures of commons- not only in India’s hinterland but also in the Americas.

I have a question to ask the NROs- is Mr. Padhi and his ideas representative of standard NRO thinking? Are all of you so out of touch with the reality of Orissa- or is this person an aberration, and outlier, a statistical anamoly. Can anyone respond to this?

I am also copying a response to stuff like this which I posted on the said listserve. The post was in support of Prashant Patanaik, the veteran journalist from Orissa, who pointed out that people who were screaming hoarse about the employment corporate houses would provide are silent about the nearly one lakh vacant posts in government jobs.

This was my post

“the self-same intellectuals will than add - but government doesn't have the resources to employ one lakh people. Then you could point out that we are selling off our best quality iron ore, manganeses and bauxite for peanuts so that the miners and industrial houses can be subsidised - and that literally hundreds of thousands of crores of rupees have been siphoned off from the collective wealth of Orissa by the same companies and individuals who are being supported by the diaspora. You could also point out that inspite of the manyfold increase in mining output, the employment in mining sector has fallen over the years. And that the employment that these new industries would bring in is miniscule compared to the people they are displacing- and that this employment will go to the well educated people, mostly non-Oriyas. We could tell them that in the current situation, Orissa is being looted, legally and illegally, and that its only these movements who are trying to do something about it- and that almost everybody else with power and voice has sold out to outsiders.

In the larger picture, we could point out that zones of intense natural resource extraction have never benefitted from the same- maybe the example of Appalachia mountaintop mining or iron ore mines in Upper Peninsula of Michigan will help to convince Mr. Padhi. We could point out that such zones have almost always led to undemocratic governments and that in literature this affliction is called "resource curse" - countries like South Africa, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Bolivia, Peru, Iraq.”

We could point out the slums of Jamshedpur and Rourkela, where you can find the original "tribal" inhabitants of these areas- living in misery. We could point out that Rourkela, Jamshedpur, Koraput are outposts of internal colonisation.

We could claim that those who speak against Green Hunt and have approached the SC against Salwa Judum are not supporting Maoists - that in fact the naxalites, when they come to power (an impossibility), would be as vicious and cruel as the current dispensation, with their belief in a static ideology. That probably the first people that the armed revolution will target are the same "intellectuals" that one of the poster called "agents of China" for speaking out for the human and democratic rights of the poor.

We could point out that the process of creative destruction of capitalism implies that surplus populations sitting on resources needed by the powerful will be extinguished - and that development no longer means the development of everyone in India and Orissa- but the development of a vocal, powerful minority of Indians. That this planet doesn't have the resources to support a billion Indians to live in the same lifestyle that Mr. Padhi enjoys - and that his swimming pools and manicured lawns are "unprecedented" in human history - and that these are sustained by resource exploitation on a totally unsustainable and extractive basis. That the modern systems of wealth have been built on the destroyed lives of hundreds of people and unprecendented resource grabbing; and that what we see in Orissa is the continuation of the same processes. We can also point out that we are fast running out of resources that fuel his consumption life style.We may point out that the same processes which sustain his swimming pool and american lifestyle are also destroying our livelihood support systems, including our atmosphere.

However, all these would fall on deaf ears of those in the diaspora who are the multiple beneficiaries of the which grinds our people to dust. They were privileged when they were in Orissa- fattened by the cheap labor and cheap resources of their fellow citizens. And then they are privileged by the same processes of global circulations and extractions which allows them to maintain their swimming pools and SUVs in the US of A. They have transitioned smoothly from the privileges of feudal-caste society of Orissa to the capitalist societies of the west.

And then they have the gumption to advise people and their movements here- at the receiving end of all these processes - to support the same anti-democratic and anti-people entities to rape and ravage our land, treating our people as so much filth to be kicked out from their lands and livelihoods.As Satyasagar pointed out, Indian elite, unlike the western elite, doesn't consider the three fourth population of our country as human- and therefore denies their basic human rights. How can the diaspora (though with many exceptions), which has spawned from the same elite, be expected to think of the majority of Oriyas, including tribals, as human beings having certain basic rights. They dream of a glorious, utopian Orissa- yet this dream is an upper class/caste/diasporic nightmare/dream, where the poor don't exist- not because they have been "uplifted", but because they have been decimated or made invisible.

Let us stop paying attention to them - those who dream of Vedanta Universities and the shining metro of BBSR, built on the bleached lives, destroyed livelihoods and extracted labor of our people. The struggles of people for their rights and justice is too important to waste time with these long distance advisors.”

Nachiketa

Vedanta finds itself in deep end of both FCA and FRA

Vedanta is apparently violating both the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006 - as found by a Ministry of Environment & Forest Team. This officially substantiates what many of us have been trying to tell the state and central government for quite some time. It also shows the contempt with which Vedanta holds the rule of law in India - that in fact the infamous Supreme Court order which allowed Vedanta's proxy Sterlite to carry out mining of Niyamgiri was premised on the assumption that Vedanta hadn't violated the forest laws; and that Sterlite - its sister company, would be responsible enough to carry of "good mining" without violating laws on Niyamgiri. That Vedanta has merrily flouted this premise of the Court shows how confident it was to be able to buy out all regulatory authorities. Unfortunately, like the CEC before this- it seems to have found that certain forest officials and experts can't be bought. Now we need to see if the MoEF, i.e. the Indian Government has the guts to say no to this lawbreaker in its quest to mine the sacred Niyamgiri.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article243927.ece

Vedanta flouted forest conservation norms, says report

The Hindu, New Delhi, March 13 2010

Vedanta Aluminium has violated forest conservation guidelines and has failed to follow the Forest Rights Act in letter and spirit at a proposed bauxite mine project in the Niyamgiri Hills of Orissa, according to a report submitted by a three-member team to the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

After receiving allegations about the project earlier this year, the Ministry constituted the team – with a forestry official, a former government wildlife official and an independent sociology expert - to inspect the site and speak to all stakeholders. The team's report was considered by the Forest Advisory Committee of the Ministry on Friday, and the Orissa government was asked to provide an explanation for the violations, according to Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests.

The company has built an incomplete mine access road passing through both forest and non-forest areas and has constructed 47 pillars for a conveyor corridor before receiving clearances, in violation of the Forest Conservation Act guidelines, according to a site inspection by J.K. Tewari, Chief Conservator of Forests. So far as wildlife was concerned, Vinod Rishi, former Additional Director General of the Wildlife Institute of India, has said that if no further diversion of forest land for mining is allowed, the Niyamgiri ecosystem would be able to recover.

It is the report of Usha Ramanathan from the Centre for Study of Developing Society, which is the most damning. She says that the Forest Rights Act has yet to be implemented in the area. The local Dongria Kond tribals have not been made fully aware of their land rights, nor have they been consulted about the mining project, because under the strict definition, they are not displaced people.

However, Dr. Ramanathan notes that “the disruption of their habitat and way of life…may lead to the destruction of the Dongria Konds as a Primitive Tribal Group.” She also documents cases of repression of public opinion and dissent by both the company and local authorities and reports of pollution by Vedanta's nearby refinery. In fact, she says that Vedanta Aluminium's involvement in the project may itself violate a Supreme Court order.

A new video by Samadrusti Channel on the ongoing repression in Kalinganagar

Somehow Kalinganagar seems to have slipped out of the consciousness of the chattering classes- who are currently more distracted by the so called threats posed by the Maoists, who are supposed to take over the Indian State by 2050 - a red herring of quite large proportions. Meanwhile my friends who keep track of movements and corporates say that the state is OK with the maoists- what they are really afraid of are the kinds of movements that we have seen in Kalinganagar against TATAs and against POSCO in Jagatsinghpur- for these non-violent movements operating within the democratic spaces strip away the mask from the faces of the state and the ruling elite - and their pretensions to democracy.

Therefore the deseperate attempts at all times to link these movements with the maoists - see what happened in Narayanpatna and Lalgarh. And the Maoists are obliging the government quite well by infiltrating these areas, providing the state the space to paint these movements as security risks and to eradicate them with brutality. Lalmohan Tudu's assasination is an example. The same efforts have been made to paint Kalinganagar movement as Maoists, and as teh video below shows, efforts to suppress the movement. The real puppeteers in this drama sit in Mumbai and Jamshedpur in their AC offices, and are voted the most popular Indians.

http://www.epgorissa.org/apps/videos/videos/show/7537097-lala-76-weapon-of-mass-repression

Niyamgiri Shapath Festival - Dongarias take oath to protect Niyamgiri from mining

Photos by Satyabadi Naik