Joint statement against atrocities on villagers in Dhinkia, Odisha

We the undersigned strongly condemn the brutal police violence by Odisha Police that continued for hours on the villagers of Dhinkia in Jagatsinghpur district on January 14.  The villagers of the entire region have been carrying out a protest against land acquisition by the district administration for Jindal Steel Work Utkal Limited.

• On January 14, as people were gathering for a rally in the area, they were mercilessly assaulted by the police. The evening news on regional TV channels showed women and children being chased and beaten, groups of police raining blows on villagers thrown to the ground, bodies being trampled by the police and people running helter-skelter and crying for help.  The police carried out a flag march.
• Countless villagers were injured. Many could not step out of the area for treatment because of the terror and violence unleashed by the Odisha Police. The whereabouts of some of them are still not known. Phone calls continue to come about people missing who might be still hiding in the forest or among the betel vines.
• Six people have been arrested that include Debendra Swain the leader of the people’s movement; Narendra Mohanty from Campaign against Fabricated Cases (Bhubaneswar) as he was visiting the area; and Muralidhar Sahoo, Nimai Mallick, Manguli Kandi and Trinath Mallick. The PC number is 21/22 GR-34/22 under sections 307, 147, 148, 323, 294, 324, 354, 336, 325, 353, 332, 379, 427, 506, 186, 149 of the IPC, CLA and PPDP Act.  They were forcibly dragged to police vehicles without any information to relatives, kept in an unknown place, and presented to the magistrate in the wee hours of January 15. This was done deliberately to prevent them from demanding medical examination or informing anyone of ill treatment during police custody.
• The village lanes are deserted now, there are police in the entire area and surrounding villages. They continue to be confined in terror and intimidation inside their houses. Many have had to switch off their phones too.  Many people have locked their houses from outside and are using the back entrances.
• Dhinkia has hundreds of dalit families who work as wage labourers in the betel vine plots or do fishing. Many are getting targeted by police excesses. On January 6, seven members of a dalit family have been arrested. They include Shiba Mallick, Sankar Mallick, Kaushalya Parbati Mallick, Kusum Mallick, Sarat Mallick, Sujan Mallick and Jhini Mallick.
• On January 15, a team of Odisha-SKM and its supporters were stopped right outside Dhinkia from the Trilochanpur side when they were entering the area to investigate into the lathi charge incident and offer support and solidarity to the villagers. Over 50 to 60 men stopped the team on its way, hurled abuses and alleged that human rights defenders bring trouble to the village. They used threats, intimidation and foul language and were also smelling of alcohol intake.  The team comprised: Mahendra Parida, Prafulla Samantara, Jyoti Ranjan Mahapatro, Pradipta Nayak, Santosh Ratha, Jambeshwar Samanatray, Sujata Sahani and Ranjana Padhi. Three team members registered a complaint in the Abhaychandpur Police station.
• As we put out this statement, we hear that the police are knocking on each door and asking people to come out to form peace committees. It is a direct means to legitimise the loot and plunder of people’s land in the name of peace committees.

The complicity of the state government to acquire land for JSW through all means is clear as it continues to ignore appeals made by a wide section of people and progressive organizations.

• The State Human Rights Commission has been informed about arbitrary and fabricated arrests.
• Several citizen’s groups and organizations appealed to the Chief Minister for the withdrawal of police ever since the villagers barricaded themselves.
• PUCL Odisha has demanded for withdrawal of police and restoration of normalcy.
• An appeal has been given to the Governor by the Odisha-SKM.

Indeed, the silence of the Chief Minister makes it clear how complicit the state government is in using terror, violence and intimidation on behalf of corporations.  The situation in Dhinkia Chaaridesh has revealed yet again the iron hand of authoritarian power to push back the gains made by the people’s struggle. Organizations and supporters of the people’s movement are also targeted.  All this amounts to a systemic denial of villagers’ absolute right to protect their land, livelihood and lives.

It is well known how the people of Dhinkia Chaaridesh fought several years from 2005 to 2017 and emerged victorious in stopping the South Korean steel conglomerate POSCO.  But the state is once again usurping hundreds of acres of fertile agricultural land and pauperizing betel cultivators, labourers and fisher folk. In addition to having kept the acquired land for POSCO in the Land Bank, the government is helping JSW with more land. The company is yet to get environment clearance. Last but not the least, a steel plant, captive jetty and cement factory that the JSW project entails will play havoc on the fragile coastline of Odisha with its increasing frequency of cyclones and receding land. The Odisha government needs to wake up to the destruction caused by mining of minerals and steel production that compounds ecological havoc.

We urge the Odisha Government to:

1. Immediately withdraw all police force from the area.
2. Conduct an SIT enquiry headed by a High Court judge into the events in Dhinkia from December 4.
3. Withdraw all pending criminal cases on the people from the movement against POSCO until now in the case of JSW.
4. Release all those who are in judicial custody.
5. Give compensation to betel vine cultivators whose betel vines have been demolished without their consent or consent taken forcibly by police terror.
6. Handover the land acquired for the POSCO project back to the people.
7. Protect the land, lives and livelihoods of the people.
8. Uphold ecological sustainability of the fragile eastern coastline and facilitate efforts to prevent the global climate crisis

Signed by:

Biswapriya Kanungo, Advocate and Activist

Debaranjan – Ganatantrik Adhikar Suraksha Sangathan (GASS)

Pramodini Pradhan, PUCL Odisha

Shankar Sahu, All India Krantikari Kisan Sabha (AIKKS)

Srikant Mohanty, Chaasi Mulya Sangha

Mahindra Parida, AICCTU, Bhubaneswar

Bhalachandra Sadangi, New Democracy

Sudhir Pattnaik, Journalist and Social Activist

Ranjana Padhi, Feminist Activist and Writer

Sujata Sahani, Poet and Activist

Pramila Behera, AIRWO, Bhubaneswar

Sabyasachi, TUCI, Odisha

Tuna Mallick, Adivasi Bharat Mahasabha, Odisha

Hena Barik, Secretary, Basti Suraksha Manch, Bhubaneswar

Nigamananda Sadangi, Writer and Translator

Srimant Mohanty, Political Activist, Bhubaneswar

Pramod Gupta, Political Activist, Kolkata

V Geetha, Feminist Historian and Writer, Chennai

Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR) -Tamil Nadu

Saheli Women’s Resource Centre, New Delhi

PUCL, Maharashtra

Forum against Oppression of Women (FAOW), Mumbai

Swati Azad, Political Activist, Bhubaneswar

Nisha Biswas, WSS, Kolkata

Sujata Gothoskar, Labour Rights Activist, Mumbai

Arya, Labour Rights Activist, New Delhi

Venkatachandrika Radhakrishnan, Thozhilalar Koodam, Chennai

Venkat Narasimhan, Thozhilalar Koodam, Chennai

Alok Laddha, Teacher, Chennai

Santosh Kumar, Workers Unity, New Delhi

Anuradha Banerjee, Saheli, New Delhi

Shambhavi, General Secretary, Collective

Feminists in Resistance, Kolkata

Worker Peasant Student Unity Forum, Kolkata

Refraction, Kolkata

Revolutionary Students’ Front, Kolkata

Inqilabi Students’ Unity, Kolkata

Teachers Against Climate Crisis (TACC)