Bhubaneswar, June 17: With the Orissa government to resume land acquisition for Posco's mega steel project in Jagatsinghpur district, a host of civil rights activists and politicians planned to join protesters at the site from tomorrow.
Swami Agnivesh, who addressed an anti-Posco meeting here and will visit the spot. Dhinkia, on the morrow said “It is illegal to hand over fertile land to a multinational company like Posco.
“The state and central governments have no right to destroy a well developed agrarian economy in the name of establishing the country's biggest FDI,” he said. CPI(M)'s leader in the Lok Sabha Basudev Acharia would visit Dhinkia on June 21 to express his party's solidarity with the agitating people, CPI(M) state secretary Janardan Pati said.
A host of Gandhian leaders and environmentalist Bandana Shiva were also scheduled to visit on June 20, besides CPI veteran Gurudas Dasgupta a day later, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti spokesman Prashant Paikra said, adding a BJP team would visit on Sunday.
Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik was scheduled to visit on June 22. “This will be first visit of any PCC chief to Dhinkia area,” Paikray said.
A series of national leaders from different political parties and social activists were likely to join a massive rally on June 22, the day on which the Posco-India had inked the MoU with the state government in 2005, Paikray said. Meanwhile, Lok Jan Shakti leader Prafulla Samantra reached Gobindpur village where people had been agitating for the past 11 days.
Braving a downpour, villagers mostly children and women, formed a human chain with placards in hand. “We have protested against police entry into Dhinkia gram panchayat area in scorching sun and now children, women and elderly persons will do so in the rain,” PPSS women wing chief Manorama Khatua said.
The state government today cancelled its land acquisition which it had planned to do after a break of five days because of a local festival. PTI
