Government up to a game plan?

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State Government held talks with Korean steel major Posco for renewing the MoU on Tuesday, the ground situation remained volatile. A team of anti-displacement activists which visited Dhinkia said not a single policeman was found at the village which was utterly surprising although only a day before, the security forces had conducted a flag march to instil a sense of fear among the locals.  Anti-displacement activist BD Sharma, who led the team, said 24 platoons of force had been mobilised to the proposed plant site to stand guard to the land acquisition drive but when he visited, there was none. The administration is apparently planning something big for the future, he warned. The announcement by the Government that people are voluntarily ceding their land  to the administration is a myth. “We found out that public address systems are being used to direct people to part with their land or face force. Despite such intimidating tactics thousands are protesting in a peaceful manner,” said Sharma, who heads Bharat Jan Andolan. Prof Banwari Lal Sharma, national convenor of Azadi Bachao Andolan and coordinator of Jan Sansad said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik condemned in strong words the use of force by police on people gathered at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan during Baba Ramdev’s agitation against corruption and black money. “Why is he using force to acquire land at Jagatsinghpur?” he wondered. By crushing the peaceful movement of the people, Banwari Lal said, the Government is forcing them to resort to violence. If one looks at the tribal belts where Maoists had spread, one will find that most of the MoUs with the corporates are meant for those areas, he said adding state violence is giving an impetus to violence among the people.  The anti-displacement activists said the anti-Posco movement would not remain confined to Orissa alone. Plans are afoot to hold a national-level people’s parliament where the agitation will be featured.