Jagatsinghpur, June 18(ANI): Social activist Swami Agnivesh on Saturday extended his support to villagers in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district to protest the forceful acquisition of their lands for the 12 billion dollar POSCO steel project.
Agnivesh said that he has come to support the villagers and tell them that the whole country is standing in their support.
"We have come here to support these people and tell them that we are standing with the farmers of Dhinkia and Govindpur to support them. We have come to tell them, 'you all love this land as your mother, the way you are trying to protect it, and you are not scared of the government and police atrocities, you are ready to sacrifice your life, so the whole country is with you, all the farmers are with you, you have the blessings of all the women from across India.' This is what I have come to tell them," he said.
The land acquisition for the steel project, which was scheduled to resume on Friday in Dhinkia village, was postponed for at least a day due to incessant rains.
The government resumed land acquisition after the Union Environment Ministry gave a final clearance in May to the project, after the state clarified the area did not belong to forest-dwellers.
Touted as the largest foreign investment in the country, the project by the South Korean steel giant failed to take off for five years due to opposition by locals.
Agnivesh further said that the government could not force wrong policies on the public and the government could acquire the lands by force.
"The government should not force such wrong policies on the public and Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said it clearly that no kind of force should be used in land acquisition," Agnivesh said.
"The public does not want to give the land willingly, so the government sends their police force and want to acquire the land forcefully. This cannot be done," he added.
Agnivesh also urged Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to look into the matter.
POSCO had signed a memorandum of understanding with Orissa state in June 2005 for the 12-million-tonne-capacity steel plant to be built in three phases by 2016, with production scheduled to begin by the end of 2011 at the completion of the first phase.
However, from 2005, continuous local opposition delayed the project amid allegations the Central and state governments had been illegally trying to acquire land and forests for the project. (ANI)
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