Attacks by Orissa Govt., local police and Admn. as well TATA’s goons against the tribals of Kalinganagar continue with increased intensity. A team of intellectuals recently visited the area and met the tribals opposing their displacement to give land for TATA’s proposed steel plant. The team also met ADM. The team comprised of Prof. Ish Mishra (Delhi University), Dr. N. Bhattacharyya, (Retd. Prof. Delhi University) of Janhastakshep of Delhi and Prof. (Retd.) Neelmani Sahu (Berhampur University). A team of Janhastakshep, a civil rights and intellectuals’ organization of Delhi that had visited the area in 2006 after the killing of 14 tribal peasants revisited the area on 17^th March 2010 after the news of harassment of the people at the hands of police and TATA’s hired goons.

In a statement issued by the team on March 18, 2010 after their visit to the area day earlier, said that in the name of the project, the govt. is enforcing an undeclared blockade of the area. The schools and anganbadi centres and public distribution shops in the area are closed. There are no health care facilities and people do not venture out under the fear of arrest. Many people who did go out for some urgent work were picked up by the police and detained under various charges including murder and rape. Not only this relatives have stopped visiting them as the police catches them also and harasses them for couple of days. The elected sarpanches of the area told us that they are not allowed to function by the administration.

The team found that the local youth, working in different establishments in the area as daily wage earners under various contractors were dismissed from their jobs for not accepting the govt. orders of the displacement. We were told by the local leaders of BBJM that the police oppression is gradually increasing. Before 2006 firing there was one police station in the area, now there are four police stations. There are cases of armed police raids in the dead of the night arresting some activists of the area without any legal document. There is an undeclared emergency in the area.

The team found the people firm on their resolve of No Displacement despite ongoing repression and harassment.

In 2006, the ADM of Kalinganagar had categorically told the team that 75% of the tribals in the area were encroachers in the forest land that belonged to the govt. This time when the team met the ADM of the same govt., he informed us that under 2006 Forest Rights Act the state govt. has started a survey in the area and that the pattas will be issued to the tribals families under this Act. The team wants a public announcement by the state govt. that the land rights of the tribals will be protected under the 2006 Forest Rights Act.

The team, was of the opinion that there is a well thought out plan by the vested interest to acquire land and other natural resources of the area ignoring laws of this country and unleashing all the fascist forces of the state and the corporate world. It is clear that the govt. has learned nothing from 2006 mass killing and is threatening people with severe consequences.

The team demanded:

1. A judicial enquiry by a sitting High Court Judge on the infringement of the fundamental rights of Adivasi people under the Constitution of India and the role of the local administration. We are surprised to learn that the judicial enquiry instituted by the Govt. after 2006 mass killing is yet to submit its report.
2. The rights of the tribals given under the 2006 Forest Rights Act have to be implemented in letter and spirit.
3. All the arrested people must be released immediately and the fake cases leveled against them are to be withdrawn with immediate effect.
4. All the infrastructural facilities, namely the drinking water, health care, education, PDS should be restored without any loss of time. The free movement of people can not be restrained by any authority under Indian constitution; the local administration should implement it.

(A team of Janhastakshep consisting of Prof. Imtiaz Ahmed, Former Professor, JNU, Delhi, Anil Dubey,  Sr. Journalist and  Jagdish Yadav Sr. Photo Journalist visited some villages in Kosambi district which had seen police attacks on sand workers, poor peasants and agricultural labourers. We are reproducing here the press note issued by the team on 18-03-2010.)

The State Government and District Administration should immediately stop illegal operating of machines for harnessing sand in the kachar areas of Kosambi District, and start the process of negotiations with the struggling villagers and their organizations for distribution of pattas (title deeds) to the local poor so that peace is restored in the Ganga-Yamuna doab areas. Side by side, as per the directions issued by the National Womens Commission, the Administration should ensure harvesting of crops sown by the poor on kachar land in Ujihini.

            A team sent by Janhastakshep, Delhi, to enquire into recent happenings in Ujihini and Nanda ka pura talked to all sides and reached the following conclusions:

            The Janhastakshep team found during enquiry that, while on the one hand the MNREGA Programme is being implemented in the country to help the poor, on the other hand in a backward district like Kosambi the State Government and BSP Members of Parliament are depriving the poor sections of society living along the banks of Ganga and Yamuna of their long-standing, traditional means of livelihood. The Sand and Fish mafia in collusion with the Administration has mounted a concerted attack on the livelihood of the poor settled along the rivers.

            One thing that clearly comes out of the enquiry is that in both the villages the fundamental issue is related to livelihood. Local toughies and powerful elements are taking control over fishing, harnessing sand from river bed, cultivating kachar lands when they are not submerged under water, cutting kasa (grass used for making rope) and transporting goods and people across the river on which the local poor communities depended for survival. Against this the poor villagers are mobilizing themselves. This has brought forth extended intimidation which is illustrated by the happenings in Ujihini and Nanda ka purwa villages.

            The issue of wage labour is also highly complicated.  In this area agricultural wage labourers are paid between Rs. 15-25 for the days work. The District Administration has at no time taken steps to ensure that the wage fixed by the Government is paid to wage labourers. The local toughies and powerful elements aided and abetted by the law enforcement agencies has been intimidating and punishing them. Such happenings were cited by the local villagers during the team’s enquiry.

In the happenings in Ujihini the issue of kachar land is of central concern to the poor Pasi, Nishad, Muslim and other sections of society. Thousand acres of this land should legally be distributed among these disadvantaged sections. The District Administration has only been promising the distribution of this land. It has been busy trying to give a caste or communal colour to the struggle for distribution of land, all the more because the economic interest of the local landlords and fish mafia is directly involved. In a part of the kachar land in this village the poor have grown a crop (peas). The local toughies and police are hell bent on preventing them from harvesting the crop. This is so despite the law that whosoever sows the crop has a right to harvest it. The local toughies and the police, which is now stationed in the village, attacked several houses, broke their limited assets and dishonoured women, and subsequently the police arrested many minor girls. They were released after intervention by the National Womens Commission. The team has seen a copy of the directions in which the Commission has specifically directed the local administration to ensure peaceful harvesting of the crop.

ADGP, UP, Sri Brijlal's declaration of double storeying and fortifying trans Yamuna and Kaushambi thanas with watch towers, enabling police to fire at a distance, establishment of helipads in Lalapur and Sarai Akil, construction of tunnels, appointment of 203 Special Police Officers - "secret agents with secret identification numbers" like Hitler's SS (Schutz Staffel) reads like a war roll call by the Mayawati govt against the poor people of the two districts. Earlier the people feared entering the thanas to make complaints, now they will fear coming near them also.

Though the ADGP has taken notice of the problems being raised by the poor and downtrodden and has asked for them to be solved, his declaration of taking action against leaders of 'lal salaam' for 'inciting people' to take "arms" exposes the real intentions of politically targeting the peoples' organizations rather than discussing the problems at the political level and solving them. To defend themselves workers have to move with lathis which are being illegally labelled by the ADGP as weapons. They carry no arms & there has not been a single incident of violence by the workers. But like the "Khakhi" officials propped up and nurtured by the British he has treated problems of peoples' livelihood and feudal goonda torture as problems of 'law and order' being created by the people.

AIKMS leaders have made repeated representations to the IG Range, Commisioner Allahabad and other officials regarding use of illegal fire arms by goondas, illegal sand mining machines, illegal sale of ravannas in sand and gravel mining, land and mine grabbing, goonda tax by the powerful mafia and govt's failure to distribute Ganga and Jamuna Kachar land. The workers leaders have raised only constitutional demands and in an absolutely constitutional manner while BSP govt. is blatantly violating the law to repress the workers and help the mafia.

Though the Mayawati govt. talks of solving problems through mainstream participation, she has further reduced the mainstream into an anti people police exercise where people are targets of police torture and firing. This is part and parcel of the colonial mindset of Indian rulers for whom MNCs are "patriotic" and Indian people are "criminals".

AIKMS has severely condemned the BSP govt.'s repeated attempts to prevent workers and poor farmers from holding peaceful public meetings, to instigate violence through goonda type police attacks, to lodge false cases against thousands of workers and label them as a 'gang'. BSP is the harbourer of the most crude & anti people exploiter gangs in Kaushambi. MP Kapilmuni Karwaria, Girish Pasi, Balam and Pinto are embroiled in snatching poor peoples' livelihood and harassing them and Kaushambi administration is supporting their illegal and unconstitutional activities.

AIKMS submits that if the govt. does not address complaints within the framework of the constitution, laws of the land and High Court orders, workers will be forced to stop the machines themselves and do farming on the Kachar lands.

(Suresh Chandra)