[Reader-list] Update from POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) as on 7th December 2012

[asit das]

    Dear Friends,


 We had to confront with yet another pre-planned strategy of POSCO and its
sponsored goons who were determined to threaten and humiliate our innocent
villagers and almost forced us to give up our struggle against the forceful
land acquisition by POSCO. On 5th December 2012, few POSCO sponsored goons
and villagers started to ring the bell to convene a village meeting in
order to force us to extend our cooperation to start the land acquisition
process. When our villagers opposed this undemocratic and uncalled for
move, the sponsored goons started beating our people. Not surprisingly, the
police have filed 12 more fabricated false cases against our people.


 Out of desperation POSCO is following a divide and rule strategy in
 Gobindpur village. The Posco officials are trying to allure and divide our
people by bribing the goons for acquiring the forest land adjacent to
Gobindpur. However, our people are strongly determined to fight back and
would not make it success at all.


 As you know, in the course of our peaceful and democratic non-violent
struggle to prevent our lands from being forcibly acquired by POSCO, our
people have been brutally attacked by paid goons of the company and
subjected to grueling economic blockades by the local administration.
Several of our leaders have been put behind bars. False charges have been
foisted on over 200 activists, both men and women.


 On November 29, 2012, more than 3000 people had observed anti-violence day
at Dhinkia village. You may remember that on November 29th of 2007, the
state government has unleashed series of brutal repression against our
people. Again the police has made repression on our people on May 15th
2010. We are attaching herewith the link of a videohttp://
www.videorepublic.tv/2011/12/25/the-big-fat-brutal-lie/ where the state
police is burning the huts, beating and firing at the villagers.


 On 30th November 2012, the anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare attended a
farmer’s rally at Jagatsinghpur and condemned the state government's
attempts to hand over 4,000 acre of land to the South Korean steel major
POSCO. He said that "Instead of a policy to ensure the rights of farmers
and make use of our natural resources, the government is busy appeasing and
promoting foreign companies,". He also said that “problems faced by farmers
cannot be solved by bringing foreign currency into India. Laws need to be
changed for their betterment”.

*
*

*In a desperate damage controlling mode, POSCO started to distribute the
POSCO TJ Park Foundation Scholarship to 10 students of BPUT (Biju Patnaik
University of Technology) and KIIT (Kalinga Institute of Industrial
Technology) University on 27th November 2012. Besides, POSCO distribute
fellowships at Delhi University, OUAT, Bhubaneswar and the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU), New Delhi every year. Needless to say that this is an
initiative to develop it’s goodwill among the intelligentsia and get
sympathy from these institutions. *


 At this juncture, we strongly urge the students and faculties of the above
esteemed institutions to discard this award. We also earnestly request
these institutions to compel POSCO to respect the unanimous resolution on
Dhinkia gram sabha ( Panchayat level assembly of adult members) i.e. on
18th of October 2012 , where more than 2000 people participated in the
meeting and  refused to grant consent to the proposed diversion of land for
POSCO under the rights provided to the Gram Sabha under the Forest Rights
Act, 2006.


 Kindly circulate this mail widely.


 In Solidarity,


Prashant Paikary


Spokesperson, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti


Mobile no-09437571547


E-Mail - prashantpaikary at gmail.com