The Ministry of Environment and Forests has chosen to clear the notorious POSCO project in Odisha – in spite of the fact that three separate committees – the Saxena Committee, the POSCO Enquiry Committee and the Forest Advisory Committee – set up at the behest of the Ministry itself have testified to rampant and deliberate violations of the Forest Rights Act by the project. The various ‘conditionalities’ which accompany the Ministry’s clearance of the POSCO project are nothing but a flimsy piece of fiction to hide the fact that in India today, corporations are a law unto themselves, with a licence to loot in brazen violation of laws to protect the environment and people’s rights. The POSCO and Odisha Government are being given a green signal by the UPA Government on their ‘assurances’ to comply with environment and forest rights laws that they have already violated and lied about.

Following the CPI(ML) Central Committee meeting held at Balugan in Odisha from 3 to 5 February, a CPI(ML) team comprising General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Odisha State Secretary Khitish Biswal, General Secretary of All India Kisan Mahasabha Rajaram Singh and Odisha state AICCTU leader Mahendra Parida visited Dhinkia panchayat in Erasama block of Jagatsinghpur district, the main centre of the people’s resistance to the proposed Posco project on 7 February, 2011. The delegation met several leaders of the Posco resistance struggle including Akshay Das, Prakash Jena (member of Erasama block panchayat samiti) and woman activist Monorama Khatua and several others and addressed an impromptu meeting of villagers at Dhinkia.

The villagers of Dhinkia were visibly angry with the UPA government for giving the go-ahead signal to the Posco project in spite of adverse recommendations by several expert committees and the continuing struggle of the local people for the last five years. But they also expressed their determination to resist the Posco project in one straightforward slogan: “Maribo kintu daribo na, bhita-maati chhadibo na” (we are not afraid to die, but we will not abandon our hearth and home). The Posco project entails acquisition of 4,000 acres of coastal/forest land that has been home for several hundred years to as many as 8 villages in three panchayats. At least 20,000 people face eviction and loss of livelihood – the area is known for its good crop of paddy, cashew, coconut and high quality betel leaves that are much in demand outside of Odisha. The project also involves the construction of a new captive port for POSCO (with devastating consequences for the coastal ecosystem) in spite of the availability of the nearby Paradip port.

Activists of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) also described how the state administration was trying to break the morale of the fighting people. An undeclared embargo has been imposed on the area with some 2000 people facing arrest on leaving the village. Routine panchayat work has come to almost a standstill and people are being denied basic benefits like ration or old age pension. Elected panchayat representatives are being harassed by the block administration for supporting the resistance struggle. Even the post master of Dhinkia post office has been suspended for his alleged sympathy for the movement. In the face of this economic blockade and repressive threats, the morale of the people of Dhinkia and other adjoining villages like Gobindapur, Nuagaon etc. still runs high and the PPSS is determined to fight till the end.

The CPI(ML) Odisha unit has been in close touch with the anti-Posco resistance movement since its inception and this was the second visit to the struggle site by a central team of Party leaders. Reiterating the party’s full support to the struggle and saluting the courage and determination of the local people, Comrade Dipankar described the resistance struggle as not merely a struggle against forcible land acquisition but as a battle for freedom from corporate rule. He said the fighting people of Dhinkia had set an inspiring example and enjoyed the support of democratic forces from all over the country. Comrades Khitish Biswal, Rajaram Singh and Mahendra Parida also addressed the meeting along with leaders of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS).