[Reader-list] Open letter to Orissa CM for endorsement

[Asit Das]

Please endorse and fwd it to others

Dear Mr. Naveen Pattnaik,

We are deeply anguished and disturbed by the recent turn of frightening and
ugly incidents perpetrated by the Odisha government, POSCO<http://www.posco.com>
management and their hired lumpen criminal elements on the POSCO payroll.
They have unleashed extremely barbaric white terror in the anti-POSCO
struggling villages of Jaghat Singh Pur, Odisha. On the eve of the women’s
day we learnt that the women gave the most desperate threat to the district
administration as a last ditch effort. “If the police forces are not
withdrawn they will protest naked in front of the police”. This news sent a
chill down our spines as this was a confirmation of your wanton behaviour
in the area and continuing attemts at escalating violence against agitators
that is completely unjustified.

You have proved that you are the biggest enemy of the women of Odisha.
Instead of removing the police you charged women with indecent exposure and
arrested them.

That shows the apocalyptic vision that women are the most worthless beings,
have absolutely no hope in a state governed by you. And remember, all this
was happening when your minions of women and child development department
and the public relations department were flooding the newspapers and
television with your great achievements on the gender front. Whereas in
reality you have inflicted on the suffering women of Odisha extreme
repression by security forces who rape them in custody, brutally repress
them forcibly evict them from land, habitat, livelihood, culture and
dignity. The combing operations by your police and paramilitary forces have
inflicted most bestial violence that has crossed all the limits of
barbarism.

Last time one had seen such a protest taking place was in
Manipur<http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=24.817,93.95&spn=1.0,1.0&q=24.817,93.95%20%28Manipur%29&t=h>in
July 2004. The situation, however, was a little different in that
case. Assam
Rifles <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam_Rifles>
had raped and murdered Manorama. Elderly women of Manipur aghast at that
had decided for going that protest in sheer desperation. They were a people
who had completely lost their faith in the nation that claimed to be their
own but acted as an occupying force. Its security forces assaulted the men
and raped the women at will and the state legitimised such dreadful
practices by allowing the Assam Rifles deployed in Manipur to provide
condoms as an integral part of the
travel<http://www.countercurrents.org/samar0703113.htm>kit,to be used
while on patrol duty. Having had enough of this, Manipuri
women went to the headquarters of the Assam Rifles, disrobed and flung a
banner reading “INDIAN ARMY <http://indianarmy.nic.in/>
RAPE<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape>US”.

Odisha is thousands of kilometers away from Manipur. The POSCO Pratirodh
Sangram Samiti (PPSS) simply announced “Left with no other option, women
from the village have decided to get naked before the Policemen tomorrow”.
The pain and agony it would take to first decide for holding such a protest
and then announcing it to the public was totally lost on you.

The women reached this decision because you as the Chief Minister have
abandoned them for POSCO, the multinational company and as its lackey have
been violating all rights of the residents with impunity. Anti-POSCO people
have reached the decision after getting many of their near and dear ones
killed by the hired goons of the company. They have reached the decision
for the state government repeatedly sending in an armed-to-teeth police
force for cracking down on the peaceful protesters and forcibly acquiring
the lands even when the environmental clearance that is mandatory for such
projects stand cancelled by the statutory authorities and the
MoU<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorandum_of_understanding>
with POSCO is defunct. You have destroyed their betel leave vines. You
threaten to arrest them if they step out of the village and for years they
have lived without even the minimal health services.

Mr. Patnaik, with your slavery and loyalty to the national and
international corporations has made you so de-humanized and de-sensitized
that you are busy serving their interest and are apathetic to the very
people who have brought you into this office.

Your administration lies through its teeth and declares anti-POSCO struggle
of making bombs. Your police tries to run over their leader. Such is the
rottenness of your rule that even fact finding teams are hounded by company
goons who are getting more confident as they are literally getting away
with murder.

 Finally, if you have any shame left, Mr. Pattnaik, resign and apologies to
the women of Dhinkia, govindpur and Patana.

Endorsed by

Asit Das-  Posco pratirodh solidarity Delhi

Kalpana Mehta, Madhya
Pradesh<http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=22.42,72.54&spn=1.0,1.0&q=22.42,72.54%20%28Madhya%20Pradesh%29&t=h>Mahila
Manch, Indore

Kaveri Indira, Scientist, Bangalore

Kamayani Bali Mahabal, Human Rights Activist , Mumbai
Mamata Dash ,Posco pratirodh solidarity Delhi_

Note:Please send your endorsement to Mamata at mamata68 at gmail.com