I/II. Please sign the petition at < http://www.petitiononline.com/posco/petition.html>.
Text of the petition: To: Chief Minister of Orissa, Prime Minister of India We condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing assault on the anti-POSCO protesters in Jagatsinghpur District, Orissa. After arresting and beating people last week, today more than one thousand police surrounded the area and laid siege to those protesting. Women, children and men spent the entire day in intense heat in order to stand vigil against the illegal attack on their lands. Both people and police officials have lost consciousness from the heat; the police snuck in from one direction and destroyed some vines. Dhinkia gram panchayat, where the crisis is occurring, contains around 2/3 of the land sought by the steel plant and the majority of those affected. This horrific attack comes at a time when two cases by the villagers are pending in the Orissa High Court, and when there is a criminal complaint against the District Collector for lying and fabricating the evidence that was the basis of the clearance to take the land. It also comes after three official committees found the land grab to be illegal and in violation of the Forest Rights Act, and after it was exposed by international experts that the project has no benefits for the local or national economy (while providing a minimum profit of Rs. 1,95,000 crores to POSCO). That the Orissa government itself sees no great urgency in this project can be seen from the fact that the MoU with POSCO has not been renewed for over a year, and its renewal was deferred again just three days ago. There is thus not even any agreement on what the project will be when it comes up. Why then this inhuman attack on those seeking to defend their rights? Can it be anything other than an attempt to terrorise the protesters and all others who may dare to oppose the crimes of the state? Clearly the State government, with the support of the Centre, is not concerned about the law, the people, the environment or development. Yet again we see the use of police terror to loot our people for private profit. No words of condemnation are sufficient for this heinous crime. II. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/posco-orissa-govt-sends-forces-to-acquire-land/158226-3.html Posco: Orissa govt sends forces to acquire landJajati Karan <http://ibnlive.in.com/byline/Jajati-Karan.html> , CNN-IBN <http://ibnlive.in.com/agency/CNN-IBN.html> Updated Jun 10, 2011 at 02:03pm IST *Bhubaneswar:* After getting clearance for the Rs 51,000 crore POSCO project by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), the Orissa government has started massive preparation for a crackdown by using armed force on the anti POSCO villagers at the POSCO site to acquire their land. But, the situation tense on the ground becomes tense as the agitating farmers are preparing themselves for a final and desperate battle to save their land. Local people at the POSCO site are guarding their village borders 24 hours in shifts against acquisition for the multi-crore POSCO project. Ten-year-old Sanghamitra of Dhinkia village is willing to battle not just the police but the heat, dust and sweat. "I am feeling very hot and tired. But this is more important. I have to save my mother land from the POSCO. If police come, I am ready to fight," said Sanghamitra. Just few hundred meters away from the village border, the police force gets ready for a final crackdown on Dhinkia panchyat. It's the panchayat that has been at the epicentre of the agitation. "The farmers who are not giving away the government land are encroachers and we will take lawful action against them and if required use force," said Jagatsinghpur Collector NC Jena. Shanti Das earns as much as Rs 10,000 per month. The compensation she will get from POSCO is mere Rs 2.5 lakh. "We do not need government's compensation. It will get exhausted in few years. Our livelihood is more important. Let the force come we are ready to die for our land," said Shanti Das, a farmer from Dhinkia village. Others like 45 year old Abhaya Jena have given away his land and accepted the compensation. "Now that we have given away our land, we want POSCO to come up soon, so that government fulfills the promises it has made to us by giving us employment and other facilities," said Abhaya Jena, a farmer from Nuagaon village. As the biggest FDI project in the country now seems to be a reality the big apprehension among the farmers who have lost their land is whether this project will turn their lives to better or worse. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
