[Reader-list] Sign this petition:Condemn Assault on anti-POSCO Protesters

[Anivar Aravind]

we hope to release before it gets too late so the more
signatures we get the better :).

The petition can be signed here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/posco/petition.html

or by sending a mail endorsement (I am collecting them).

Thanks a lot
Shankar Gopalakrishnan
Campaign for Survival and Dignity


PETITION

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.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned