Bomb blasts are now being planted in areas of peaceful and non violent
movements of mass protest, both to target and terrorize peoples movements and
defame these movements .There will need to be heightened vigilance against such
fascist attacks . Every bomb blast has been an agent provocateur blast to
demonize some section or the other even as we have moved into a political phase
of neofascism .
Niloufer Bhagwat
----- Original Message -----
From: Ranjana
To: humanrights ; voices ; feminists
Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2013 10:02 PM
Subject: [humanrights-movement:6688] Press release of a national-level
fact-finding visit to Govindapur and Dhinkia villages of Jagatsinghpur District
on the 9th of March, 2013.
Press Release March 10th, 2013
A national-level fact-finding team consisting of civil liberties and
democratic organisations and individuals visited Govindapur and Dhinkia
villages of Jagatsinghpur District on the 9th of March, 2013. The objective of
the visit was to assess the situation in the wake of escalated violence since
the land acquisition process resumed in the area on the 4th of February 2013.
The stationing of armed police platoons in the proposed POSCO project affected
areas and finally the recent incident of the bomb explosion that left three
killed and had one person severely injured prompted us to visit the area and
share our findings with a larger audience and appeal to the Odisha government
and local administration. During the visit, the team had a detailed discussion
with the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) leader Abhay Sahu and other
members, the personnel of Orissa State Armed Police and the State Police
stationed at Gobindapur, leader of Gobindpur pro POSCO group Ranjan Bardhan,
dalit landless labourers, a group of people in Nuagaon led by Tamil Pradhan
(husband of the Sarpanch) and the local youth. The following day, on the 10th
of March 2013, the team also visited Laxman Pramanik in the SCB Medical College
Hospital, Cuttack. We informed the District Collector and Superintendent of
Police about our visit and sought an appointment but they told us that they
were out of the district and thus not available to meet us.
The incident of March 2nd, 2013: Discussions with members of the PPSS
and families of the deceased clearly indicate that the four people namely Nabin
Mandal (30), Narahari Sahu (52), Manas Jena (32) and Lakhman Parmanik (46) were
sitting at their usual meeting place after leaving a nearby betel vine in
Patana village. A powerful blast occurred that killed three people and left
Lakhman Parmanik severely injured. Another person named Ramesh Raut had left
the spot just a minute before to buy a paan.
Within hours of the incident SP Jagatsinghpur Sri Satyabrata Bhoi
announced through the local and national media that the blast occurred while
the deceased were making a bomb, even before any police personnel had visited
the site or done any investigation. According to Lakhman Parmanik in the
hospital, bomb/s was/were thrown at them. He strongly refuted the accusation by
the police that they were making bombs, adding “What gain will I make by lying
when I am on the verge of death.” It was reported to be a powerful blast as its
impact was felt and heard by most of the villagers as they recalled in
discussions with the team. None of the police personnel reached the spot until
nearly 15 hours after the incident. This is clear dereliction of duty given the
fact that two platoons are stationed within a distance of a few minutes from
the area. Even before the police came and took charge of the dead bodies, land
acquisition started on the morning of 3rd of March 2013.
The Role of the Police: One, the police neither reached the area nor
sent any help for taking Laxman Parmanik immediately to the hospital, despite
PPSS informing the police immediately after the incident. Secondly, the police
arrived only on the morning of 3rd of March at the scene of the incident and
took charge of the dead bodies. Thirdly, families of the two deceased shared
that the police arrived on the midnight of the 3rd of March, and asked them to
sign a written statement stating that the victims died in the process of making
the bomb which they refused to do. Fourth, when Kusumbati Sahu, sister-in-law
of the deceased Narahari Sahu went to register an FIR at the thana of
Abhoychandranpur on the evening of 3rd of March, the police refused to accept
the FIR, scolded her that she has been sent by Abhay Sahu although they
themselves were making the bomb and had come to lodge an FIR. She had to leave
without registering the FIR. However it should be noted that the only FIR that
was accepted by the Abhaychandranpur thana on 4th of March was lodged by Ranjan
Bardhan against the 3 deceased, the injured Lakhman Pramanik, Abhay Sahu,
Surendra Das and five others of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti.
Our observations of the Current Situation:
Following the March 2nd bomb blast the already existing tension in
the villages have been greatly escalated. The villagers are unable to move
freely and are in constant fear of harassment and arrest by the police. Since
4th February when the land acquisition process was resumed accompanied by a
severe police lathicharge on the villagers, outbreaks of violence have become
more frequent. In Govindpur village, 2 platoons of police have been deployed,
which has greatly contributed to the escalated tension in the villages. At
least 105 betel vines have been destroyed in Govindpur village in the process
of land acquisition. There was a lathicharge on 7th March on villagers
demanding the removal of the police camp, in which 41 villagers including 35
women and children were injured.
This situation has also gravely affected the lives and livelihoods of
the villagers. The situation of dalit landless labourers is very grave. Over
150 families depend on betel vines located on approximately 1 acre of land.
They are keen and clear that the plant is most undesirable since it is the only
source of livelihood. Two persons shared how they have got no compensation
after sale of land. Most others said how there are no provisions for
compensations for the landless in the acquisition process. In fact, Laxman
Pramanik, who has been gravely injured in the bomb blast is also a landless
labourer, the sole breadwinner of a family of eight persons, depending on the
same. In short, the livelihood activities and mobility of the entire community
is under threat. Any access to health care or medical treatment, however
critical, is difficult to obtain as most of the community is under threat of
arrest.
Demands:
In view of our discussions with all the affected persons, and the
clear attempt of the police to blame the deceased persons in a premeditated
manner, we demand
1. A high level judicial enquiry into the bomb blast incident
resulting in the death of three persons and injury to one person, to ascertain
the truth of the matter.
2. The immediate withdrawal of the police camp from Gobindpur
village as it is contributing to escalating tensions in the area.
3. The cessation of the land acquisition process forthwith in
the Dhinkia panchayat area including Gobindpur village.
4. Compensation on humanitarian grounds to the families of the
deceased who were killed in the bomb blast and proper medical help for the
injured person.
Team Consisted of:
Meher Engineer, Former Director, Bose Institute, Kolkata
Sumit Chakravartty, Editor, Mainstream Weekly, Delhi
Dr Manoranjan Mohanty, Retd Professor, Delhi University
Pramodini Pradhan, PUCL Odisha
Saroj Mohanty, PUCL, Odisha
Ranjana Padhi, PUDR, Delhi
Dr Kamal Chaubey, PUDR, Delhi
Sanjeev Kumar, Delhi Forum, Delhi
Mathew Jacob, HRLN, Delhi
Samantha, Sanhati
Partho Roy, Sanhati
Gyan Ranjan Swain, Ravenshaw University
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"humanrights movement" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
email to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"humanrights movement" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
