[We publish below a press statement released by Prafulla Samantra and others, received via Biswajit Mohanty, which highlights just how the struggle of the tribal people in Kalinganagar is being met with the most ferocious repression by the local administration acting at the behest of the Tatas. Kalinganagar is emblematic of the many democratic mass movements and struggles that are being crushed by a predatory state in cahoots with corporate capital. – AN]
Yesterday the Collector of Jajpur district assured Dabar Kalundia, a tribal leader of Bisthapan Birodhi Jan Manch (BBJM) that he would come to Baligotha village on 28 March for a meeting with the dissenting villagers and find a solution to the prevailing conflict. But within a day the Collector has broken his word as today about 24 platoons of armed policemen have been deployed in Kalinga Nagar to suppress the democratic and non-violent movement of the BBJM. It is feared that there will be bloodshed at a larger scale than 2 Jan 06 when 14 tribal men, women & children were killed in a police shootout. The villagers fear the police will attack tomorrow morning.
For more than 3 months now the resistance villages of Kalinga Nagar have been besieged by police forces who have randomly arrested dozens of villagers who stepped out of their village. People have been framed under false charges. There have been repeated midnight attacks by policemen and Tata goons to annihilate key activists of the BBJM. Hired assassins have also tried to eliminate the tribal leaders of the movement and one such attempt caused the death of Amin Banara of Baligotha village. Recently large number of police forces had been deployed on the pretext of building a road through the villages. Every attempt of the police and administration to quell the dissent of the people has been countered in democratic and non-violent ways by the BBJM.
The BBJM has clarified several times that it is not a Maoist backed organisation and does not want violence. The BBJM has made it clear that it will not accept displacement and mindless industrialisation that is already causing massive pollution in the area leading to widespread disease, crop failure, air, water and sound pollution. The Collector also agreed to the meeting only after the BBJM wrote several letters to him demanding that their concerns be addressed first as the Collector had been announcing in some meetings in the area that the Common Corridor Road would be built at any cost.
Surprisingly the print and electronic media have so far ignored developments in Kalinganagar which itself is a threat to democracy. Mainstream political parties also have reached a consensus with the ruling party which creates concerns among all citizens who understand the implications of mobilization of armed police in kalinganagar villages resisting Tata induced displacement.
We demand that the Govt should stop acting like a hired mercenary of Tata Steel company and withdraw all police forces from the area immediately. If there is any bloodshed the sole responsibility will lie on the Govt. The Govt should also give up the Common Corridor Road project as it will be built on fertile farm land and the community land of the tribals. The Govt should respect the sacrifice of the 14 tribals killed by the police and scrap the Tata project immediately. There should be no further displacement and dispossession of tribal people from their land. The Govt should immediately start working towards restoring peace in the area by assuring the tribals that there will be no attacks on them by the police or Tata goons. A medical team should be sent to the villages immediately as people have not been able to visit doctors for days in fear of arrest.
We appeal to all concerned citizens, progressive groups & media persons to raise their voice against the Fascist tendencies of the Govt and express solidarity with the tribals of Kalinga Nagar.
Prafulla Samnatara, Lok Shakti Abhijan
Lingaraj, Samajbadi Jan Parishad
Radhakant Sethi, CPI-ML Liberation
Prashanta Paikrai, PPSS
Bhalachandra Sadangi, CPI-ML New Democracy
Lingaraj Azad, NSS
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
The plight of the tribes is same every where. Here they are looted by the Tata’s, down the South , the tribal brothers are waiting to be displaced for the bauxite mines by the Jindal’s.
When will this end ?
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The Britishers gone but the East India companies never gone !!!
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What was feared seems to have come to pass! http://bit.ly/a6wkAL
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Report by Orissadiary correspondent; Kalinganagar: Panchayati Raj Institutions members Sukinda and Dhangadi blocks of Jajpur district wherein Kalinganagar Industrial Complex is located condemn vested interests for blocking the development in Kalinganagar.
They says in a press statement to Orissadiary.com that it is extremely unfortunate that various activists and self centered vested interests are blocking the development of our Kalinganagar Industrial Complex by using the miscreants of so called Bistapana Birodhi Mancha. The miscreants under the banner of Bistapana Birodhi Mancha have been torturing the local poor tribals and making money for their personal benefits.
Some local industries are also supporting the miscreants of Bistapana Birodhi Mancha (BBJM) by financing through anti-national activists. These miscreants have never allowed entry of democratic political parties into the red area of Kalinganagar. Even with the help of extreme left parties like CPI(ML) and their associates, the BBJM strongly crticised national leaders like Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Atal Bihari Bjapayee, Lal Krisnha Adavani apart from Naveen Pattnaik in the recent past. They even termed these leaders as “DALALS”. From this it is clear that BBJM is under the control of extreme left wing elements like that of CPI(ML) and their associates and trying to use the mainline political parties like that Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM for getting the support of the people.
The recent unfortunate death of Laxman Jamuda in Kalinganagar have become rallying point of politics by BBJM and their activists and CPI(ML) friends. We appeal all the Political Parties and clear thinking citizens of Orissa not to again fall into the trap of supporting Bistapana Birodhi Mancha and their extreme left wing activists friends, as substantial foreign funding is coming to these people not to allow Kalinganagar Industrial Complex to grow.
They said in a statement that we the sarpanches and samiti members of Kalinganagar strongly denounce the opportunistic nasty politics played by the BBJM along with their activists friends to stop our people’s devlopment in Kalinganagar and once again appeal to all mainline democratic political parties not to support them.
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