The Kalinganagar: The Heat and the Dust of a Highway
Ish Mishra
On 2nd January 2007 -- the first anniversary of
the martyrdom of anti-displacement agitators – thousands of people from across
the country gathered at BIR BHUMI (Ambagadia village) in the Kalinganagar area
of Sukhinda valley in Orissa to participate in the Bisthapan Birodhi Samkalp Samabesh (anti-displacement convention),
organized by the Bisthapan Birodhi
Janmanch (BBJ) to pay tributes to the martyrs who laid their lives in the
anti-displacement struggle, and to reaffirm their resolve to carry the fight to
its logical conclusion. Thirteen stone pillars have been erected there in
memory of the dead. It also marked the
first anniversary of the heroic struggle of the people, successful blockade of
a National Highway,
now for over a year that is unheard in the recent history. The intensity, quality and the
magnitude of the movement forced the government to announce its willingness to
hold negotiations with the agitators. Till few months ago government was
adamant. "The government stopped all dialogue after we had one with the
chief minister," according to Ravi Jarika, a leader of the BBJ. "All promises including
withdrawal of cases against us were forgotten. It's the government and not us
who created this situation in Kalinganagar and people anywhere will rise in
revolt whenever the government behaves in such fashion." In July 2006,
Balkishore Panda, the ADM Kalinganagar had adamantly told a fact-finding team
of Janhaskshep (a human rights
group), the “land had already been acquired” and the tribals holding on to
their lands are “legitimate” and “illegitimate” encroachers.
In January 2007,
the Collector of Jaipur (District Head Quarter of Kalinganagar), Arvind Padhi
had to change the official claim. “The
interests of the displaced will not be compromised in the industrialization
process”. The families of the dead are part-and parcel of the movement have
summarily rejected the compensation offers of Rs. 10 lakhs. "Thirteen
people have laid down their lives not to get more money but to retain our land.
That stand can never change," said Hara Jamuda of Chandia village.
This Congregation of people – representatives of the progressive
radical Political Forces including the parties of the radical left, Mass
Organizations, the Mass Movements, Anti-displacement organizations -- from the
villages of Kalinganagar and surrounding villages across the Sukinda valley,
other parts of Orissa and from across the country saluted the martyrs and
resolved to intensify and expand the movement and link it with other
anti-imperialist movements. A draft declaration – The Kalinganagar Declaration
-- on the future of the movement was circulated in which all out opposition to
acquisition of agricultural land for industrial/commercial/SEZ purposes was
reasserted. On a planted PIL by someone supposedly having suffered irreparable
loss due to the Road blockade, as expected Orissa High Court recently passed a
judgement ordering the removal of the blockade. Character of the judiciary of
any legal system is same as the character of the ruling classes. Government
wants to use coercion through judiciary. Government through its home secretary
has expressed its desire to talk to the leaders of the movement. The BBJ leadership is always open to talks but has warned of militant
retaliation by the masses if the government uses the force.
Since 2nd
January 2006 the people of Kalinganagar, a tribal belt in the mineral-rich
Sukhinda valley
of Orissa, are fighting a
valiant battle. It was on this day 13 Adivasis were killed by Navin Patnayak
government’s extreme brutality and barbarism at the behest of a corporate house
– TATAs. The limbs – palms and other parts -- of the dead bodies, were cut off
and not returned to the relatives. This barbaric arrogance on the part of the
state-corporate nexus, is a reminiscence of the barbarism witnessed during the
Colonization by the Europeans in general, and colonization of Americas in particular. So not so
surprisingly, the commanders of the attack --the District Collector and the SP
-- directly responsible for ordering the firing and trapping the fleeing
protesters with the landmines, have been duly rewarded with virtual promotions.
According to Birsingh Gop of Chandia village, a victim of land mines explosion,
the mines were laid before the Police action of 2nd January with the
purpose of killing and maiming the people.
Inspired by the martyrdom of their co-protesters against forced
displacement, the villagers resolved to intensify their struggle. They
organized themselves under the banner of Bisthapan
Birodhi Janamanch with a leadership and a core group emerged from within
the movement. They have been able to prevent the NGO’isation and are not
dependent on “revolutionary” intellectuals “from above” for guidance in planing
their strategies and tactics. They have their own organic intellectuals. They
refuse to discuss the merits and demerits of any R&R package. They are firm
on their stand – No Displacement. They are also firm in their resolve to
continue their struggle undeterred by coercion and harassment; threats and
appeasement by newer and newer R&R packages; Court Orders; and planted
dissention and allurement. The sense of co-victim has brought the Adivasis and
non-Adivasis together on one platform. All the attempts to foil this unity have
been foiled by the people. The area around the NH200 that goes up to the
Paradip port has been declared out-of-bounds for the company -Tata -, state
officials and their agents. The brutal repression of the movement and tribal’
valiant fight have transformed the Kalinganagar from a proper noun to common
noun
According to a news report, “at least three land surveyors
working for Tata Steel were beaten up Wednesday in Orissa's Jajpur district by
angry villagers who fear the company's proposed steel plant in the region would
displace them. The incident took place near Kalamatia village in Kalinganagar
industrial complex, some 60 km from the district headquarters of Jajpur, when a
team of GO Design, a private firm hired by the Tatas, was conducting contour
surveys”.(IANS
17 January 2007)
In fact the district administration has been
trying to take over the land for the Tata’s proposed steel Plant for the last
few months after an attempt to start construction on May 9, 2005 was foiled by
the resistance of the local Adivasis.
Adivasis aware with the fate of displaced by other mining and industrial
projects in the Sukhinda
Valley and else where
claimed that they will not vacate the land till their demands are met. From 23rd
December 2005, people stated getting feed back regarding Government’s
intentions to evict the tribals from their land by force. According to
Chkradhar Haibru, the President of BBJ,
the agitators conveyed back the message to the administration that such a move
will lead to do or die resistance. During their annual convention at the
Chandiya village on 1st January, the people came to know through
their sources in the administration that the TATAs would initiate Boundary wall
construction on the 2nd January 2006 without taking the consent of
the people. The tribals decided to oppose this attempt also, as they have
opposed the earlier ones. On 2nd January 2006 in the morning, the
district administration including the Collector and the SP and TATA Steel
officials reached the site with a bulldozer, and started construction of the
boundary wall. The team was escorted by 12 platoons of armed police armed with
sophisticated weapons.
Seeing the beginning of the work, approximately 100 tribals
gathered, and a four-member delegation was formed to go and talk to the
district officials present at the spot. People say that the four-member
delegation went to meet the district administration. As per the warning given
to the administration, many of these people were armed with traditional
weapons. When the group of tribals reached the ditch dug to erect the boundary
wall, and were about to cross it, they heard the police sound a whistle, and
saw a policeman pull a rope. The people say that after this there were large
explosions in the ditch and two persons fell down dead. There had been no
warning and no indications from the police before this happened. Simultaneously
tear gas, rubber bullet firing and actual firing started. Chaos ensued, with
people running here-and there. Even the unarmed local policemen panicked at the
firing and the explosions, and people say that in this panic one or two
policemen fell into the boundary wall ditch and were injured by the tribals in
the heat of the moment. On hearing the sound of explosions and firing, more
tribals from the nearby settlements rushed to the site. The firing was
indiscriminate and continued for over an hour. Even people who were 200-300
meters away were injured. Many people who were trying to escape have bullet
injuries in the back, whereas others, who stood and tried to fight back, have
been injured in neck and torso in front. A tribal woman, who came out from her
house to see what was happening, was struck by a bullet and died. The
representatives of BBJ allege that
that the police picked up three Adivasis who were lightly injured and couldn’t
run away and their hands were chopped off. They died from loss of blood in the
Jajpur hospital. The police was armed with sophisticated weapons and the
tribals claim that people at a distance of 400 meters were felled by bullets.
The agitators ask the pertinent question, that why the administration and the
Tatas started the boundary wall construction despite knowing about the
tremendous resentment of the local tribals that too with the 12 platoons of the
Security personnel.
The firing incidence strengthened the determination of the
tribals to fight back and to continue their resistance. They don't trust the
parliamentary parties because of obvious reasons. The leadership of the
movement is entirely in the hands of the tribals. Those who visit there from
outside are treated as solidarity groups if they agree to accept the demands of
the tribals. The mainstream media, middle class and ruling elites are not able
to digest this simple fact. Therefore, there is deliberate attempt to brand the
tribals as Maoists both by the bureaucrats and media.
Bisthapan Birodhi
Samkalp Samabesh renamed
the place of mass cremation (Ambagadia village) as BIR BHUMI in the memory of the martyrs who laid their life in the
anti-displacement movement a year ago. According to the declaration, “People
are, therefore, now aware about the real reasons behind displacement in forced
to become casual workers without any rights. The anti-displacement movement of
the people makes it clear that henceforth people are not willing to accept this
humiliating process. In the past, Crores of peasants and rural poor in
Kalinganagar, Orissa and other parts of India were forced to accept
displacement in the name of development of the country, which is actually the
development of the MNCs and their agents. The masses of India are no
more prepared to give this kind of sacrifice.” The speakers at the meeting
analyzed and explained that due to big industries and projects people are
losing their lands and employment and nature is getting devastated. They said
that the displacement is accelerating the pace of cultural degeneration of the
people. The poor, fighting hard for his land rights, the declaration asserts,
“would no more tolerate the policy of alienating the land in the name of
rehabilitation and resettlement.” Underlining the nature-devastating nature of
the present model of industrialization and its very little employment
potential, the declaration maintains that the big projects are being
established in the interests of a miniscule minority – national and
multinational corporate houses. “This kind of industrialization is anti-people
and against the interests of the country. Thus it is the duty of all patriotic
Indians to oppose the name of development. Displacement is alienating the lands
of the peasants and taking away the livelihood of the poor. Displacement by
mining and industrialization projects is converting the peasants and rural poor
into destitute.
The Orissa government, boasting of the best R&R policy
in the country is indeed protecting in the interests of big industrialists --
the Tatas, Zindals, the Mittals, the Ambanis, the Birlas, the Anil Agrawals and
the MNCs such as POSCO.”
Hitherto
anti-displacement movements have centered their demands and mobilization on
better Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) package. Leaders and activists of Bisthapan Birodhi Janamanch are well
acquainted with the fate of displaced communities by other projects in and the
outside their area. The horrifying stories of land “acquisition” for mining and already existing steel plants are still
fresh in their memories – particularly the story of Neelanchal Steel Plant, a public sector unit. Chandradhar Haibru,
the President of the BBJ recalls the
gory events of that tragic night as a nightmare. Bulldozers accompanied by the
Police trucks arrived in the village in the dead of the night. The
unsuspecting, sleeping villagers were woken up, bundled into trucks and carried
away to jail, reminding the Nazi style
of carrying people to the Concentration Camps. The hearths and homes, the
forests, the orchards like everything else were razed to the ground in a few
hours time. The number of the uprooted families was 639, out of that only 100
have been “rehabilitated” with cash payment and put into company controlled
”colony”, a euphemism for tin roofed structures without any Panchyat rights.
They are transformed from a happy farming community with spacious homesteads
into wage earners on the mercy of the “company” living a slum-like existence.
Rest 539 families disappeared. No one knows their whereabouts and the
government and the company have no answers. Like the displaced peasants of
other mega and not-so-mega projects, they must have become part of slum or
footpath dwellers in some of the cities. Stirred with shock and surprise people
became aware of the reality of Development.
The activists of JVJ, many of them
graduates and post graduates who are farmers by choice, are well aware with the
histories of displacements and anti-displacement struggles. They want to remain
content agriculturists and are determined to refuse to be proletarianized at
the altar of the Development.
They are happy farming communities living in perfect harmony
with nature. The crux of their seven-point demand is “No Displacement”, proper rehabilitation of already displaced by
other projects with land and punishment to guilty officials responsible for the
brutal attack on the peaceful protesters, killing 13 and wounding and maiming
many. As compared to many other tribal belts, the Munda tribals of these
villages are quite mindful of education. Ravindra Jharika of Ambagadia village,
a core group member of the movement, is a postgraduate in Sociology from the Utkal University,
Bhubaneshwar. He resigned a government job and is a farmer by choice. After
giving the horrifying details of the lives of the earlier development-induces
oustees of the area and other parts of Orissa, he argues with technical details
that a steel plant needs only 50-60 acres of the land but they acquire
thousands of acres, probably for the future real estate development. Tatas
alone plan to eventually acquire over 180 Sq. Km area in this mineral belt. He
along with many other co-agitators expresses concerns over the over –production
of steel beyond the national needs. They also expressed their anxiety over the
large-scale export of the mineral ores, particularly the iron ore, raising the
doubts upon the “patriotic” intentions of the government and the corporate
houses. In this village (Ambagadia), there are other educated men and women
pursuing farming by way of choice. The nearest college is 8 Km away. There are
30 college going students in the village – 10 of them girls. All of them are
determined to give up their lives but would not leave their land. They are also
acquainted with the history of industrial revolution that was accompanied by
proletarianization and pauperization of self-sufficient agricultural
communities. In Chandia, one of the villages “already acquired” according to
Birakishore Panda, the ADM, Kalinganagar, the landmines laid to trap the
protesters on 2nd January 2006, have irreparably damaged Birsingh’s
legs and he is not sure, whether he would be able to walk on them again. He is
agonized and tormented by the design of trapping the people between the Police
bullets and the land-mines fencing, and pained at the governmental callousness
and indifference towards Adivasis and excessive favor to corporate houses. But
ready to further face repression, he is not disappointed and feels confident of
continuing the struggle on his crutches.
Well, as always happens there are always traitors in any
movement. Few, very few people have been bought over by the government and
Tata. But the movement is so powerful that sold-out agents have no courage to
face the villagers and have disappeared from the area. Opin Jamuda of Atti village lost his son in
the Police firing refuges to discuss any R&R package and is determined to
fight till end. Natti Angarai of Gobarhatti village declared, “we shall give up
our lives but not the land. The Government has killed our 13 comrades, we shall
not leave the land even if 13000 are killed. People are determined and the movement
is gaining momentum and expanding its support base. Oustees of previous mining
and industrial projects, anti-displacement mass organizations, pro-people
political parties and democratic intellectuals from all over the country have
openly come out in its support as was witnessed in the Bisthapan Birodhi Samkalp Samabesh.
Subhanshu Sekhar Das is an advocate in Jajpur, the District
head quarter of Kalinganagar. After talking the follies of the displacement
based industrialization, charged the government for allowing the so many plants
and industries to use the ground water in violation of the Supreme Court
orders, as a result of which the level of ground water has come down to
alarming levels. He expressed the hope that the Kalinganagar movement shall
eventually grow into an All India anti-displacement, anti-imperialist movement.
Professor S.A.Tahir an oustee of the Jindal Steel Plant expressed
dissatisfaction over the R&R. According to him only 8 of the 58 ousted
families have been “rehabilitated” on the outskirts of the Jajpur town. He
expressed his resolve to join the movement despite the allurements and the
threats from the government. In his opinion the firing was part of a deep
conspiracy. Rjendra Sarangi of Lok Pakkha, a supporter of the movement, is
quite confident of the expansion of the base and the support. In July 2006,
when a team of Delhi
based Janhastakshep – movement against
Fascist Designs, held a meeting of intellectuals in Bhubaneshwar after the
visit to Kalinganagar, it was attended by a large number of academics,
students, artists, writers and poets. Sudhir Nayak, editor of a pro-people
Oriya journal Pragatiwadi had
informed the gathering that the situation is fast changing and the middle class
and the students have begun to debate the issue of displacement in the broader
political economic context of the development. Rabindra Sahu a popular Oriya
poet linked the displacement with the ideology of capitalism and emphasised
that its opposition is imperative responsibility of the radical political
forces.
The history of displacement-based development is as old as
the history of industrial revolution itself. Slums became the logical corollary
of skyscrapers, the landmark symbol of the capitalist development. This model
practiced by Europeans, acquired barbaric heights in “developing” the
continents of Americas,
Africa and Australia,
where the original inhabitants were enslaved, massacred or marginalized and
fenced into “reserves” or the exteriors. The similar barbarism, of course not
at that scale and intensity, is being “legally” resorted to by the
state-corporate nexus against the Adivasi peasants for “developing” the Kalinganagar
Industrial Complex in the Sukhinda Valley of Orissa.
The Kalinganagar has raised the issues that question this
anti people development model and insist upon the debate over the alternative
models. Shiny Shenoy, President of the BBJ’s
Women’s Committee lost her son in the Police firing but undeterred by
allurements and threats, she is determined to be in the forefront of the
struggle till the last drop of her blood. After talking in details about the
newer methods of mobilization in general and among the women in particular, she
delved upon the limitations of the representative democracy. She regretted
having voted for Praful Gadai, the Finance Minister of the state, who instead
of acting as people’s representative was acting as the agent of Tata. Then,
reminding of the Eklavya, she added to it that the Adivasis are used to give away their thumbs but they have learnt to
shoot the arrow without using their thumbs. Only future would tell how
heroically and for how long the determined villagers can hold against the
formidable state-corporate nexus, but the unprecedented support from various
quarters, despite the joint conspiracy of all the ruling class parties against
it, gives us a ray of hope.
In the light of all round opposition to the land acquisition
for SEZ and other industrial/commercial purposes the results of the
Kalinganagar movement would set the precedent.
