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[Asit Das]

Gobindpur Chalo: An appeal to find facts and bust lies around the so-called
successful land acquisition for POSCO
by Viva Revolucinema <https://www.facebook.com/vivalarevolucinema>
(Notes<https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004884702255&sk=notes>)
on Thursday, 4 July 2013
*Gobindpur Chalo: An appeal to find facts and bust lies around the
so-called successful land acquisition for POSCO*
*(Please share widely)*
Today the Govt of Odisha announced that it has successfully completed land
acquisition for the POSCO project and is soon planning to build a wall, cut
down the remaining forests (once it gets a environmental clearance) and
start construction of the factory. In other words the Govt rang the death
knell today for a valiant and fearless eight year old struggle of the most
ordinary people against India's largest FDI.

So, what really happened? Did the people just give in? Or were they beaten
into submission? And does this mean that the anti POSCO movement has come
to an end??

It is not entirely unknown what happened out there. Some sections of the
media have reported, though in a very voyeuristic half baked token manner,
the way people have been terrorised for months in Gobindpur and the
brutality unleashed to suppress their dissent. The way old women were
kicked for trying to save their betel vineyards. The way people tried to
commit suicide to stop the demolitions. And the way a massive contingent of
armed security forces have completely invaded Gobindpur.

Even though enough information was coming from the area that a terrible
blow to the people was looming large there was hardly any outcry from
political groups and parties or even civil society organisations who had
been rallying alongside the people against the project until now. A strange
silence hangs heavy in the air. A silence that has efficiently blocked the
assertions of the people of Gobindpur from reaching the world beyond their
village. A silence that is only interrupted by the marching boots of
policemen in the night when they come knocking on doors randomly in
Gobindpur.

This is an appeal to all those who think that this uneasy silence needs to
be broken to come forward and go to Gobindpur. Pick your cameras and pens
and be a messenger for these people. As they say, sometimes just speaking
the truth is the most revolutionary act. So, lets come together and bring
out the truth of Gobindpur.

Lets not be satisfied with the corporate media's one line generalisation of
the resistance and police terror while meticulously reproducing the Govt
and POSCO's statements. Rather, lets find out if the Govt. has truly
acquired all the land it needs or is it a lie to make everyone feel that
its all over. Lets find out if demolitions of the vineyards means they have
got the land. Lets find out how many people gave up their land willingly
and how many held on to it with all their life and what happened to them
when they did so. Lets find out if all is lost or if the people continue to
resist. Lets find out how much environmental damage has already been caused
for a project that has no green clearance. Lets find out what ecological
disaster is going to unfold in an area already ravaged by the super cyclone
in 1999. Lets find out if the river Jatadhari will survive the project.
Lets break the silence and bring the truth forward about how India's
largest FDI is destroying the lives of ordinary people in Gobindpur.