Hundreds of villagers including women and children observed ‘Black Day’ in Dhinkia village on Saturday in protest against South Korean steel major Posco’s proposed $12 billion steel project in the State.
Waving black flags and wearing black ribbons around their wrists and foreheads, the villagers under the banner of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) staged a demonstration, and took out rallies at proposed site in Dhinkia and Gobindapur.
The group has been observing June 22 as ‘Black Day’ every year since the State Government signed a pact with Posco for 12 million tonne per annum (MTPA) capacity plant on this date in 2005. “There is an attempt by the Government to start the project by downsizing the capacity to eight MTPA on 2,700 acres of land instead of 4,004 acres to mislead the villagers. Our agitation will continue till the plant site is shifted,” said CPI leader and West Bengal MP Prabodh Panda.
Panda strongly criticised State Government’s efforts to approve the tripartite agreement with Posco India to expedite Posco work even after lapse of MoU since June 2010.
Other leaders of Left parties and anti-land displacement leaders said the State and Central Governments have no right to destroy a well developed agrarian economy in the name of establishing the country’s biggest Foreign Direct Investment plant. “We have vowed to intensify the stir for the interest of common people,” they added.
They also alleged that it was the Government’s plan to expedite the land acquisition process and give conditional forest and environmental clearance to Posco only to generate fund from this company for coming general election.
Other CPI leaders said CPI’s electoral arrangements with the ruling BJD during the last general elections were purely political and aimed at defeating the common enemies but not to deal with Posco project.
They also condemned the arrest of the top anti-Posco leader Abhaya Sahu recently on false charge. “It is a sinister design of the government to break the anti-Posco movement,” they added.
Among others, CPI leaders Ashis Kanungo, Sasibhusan Swain, CPI(M) leader Dusmant Das, Samajwadi leader Sudarsan Pradhan, Santosh Mitra from Forward Block, anti-displacement leader Prafulla Samantray and leader from Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangh Srikant Mohanty participated in the protest.