Another brutal assault by security personnel was reported on Odisha’s peaceful protestors in Dhinkia village on January 14, 2022. Anti- Jindal and Anti-POSCO Movement leaders Debendra Swain, Murlidhar Sahu and INSAF State Convener Narendra Mohanthy were arrested shortly after they released a fact-finding report on previous crackdowns by the administration.

According to villagers, the leaders were illegally detained by the Abhaychandpur police while several villagers suffered injuries during lathicharge. Residents also claimed the personnel houses and targeted women and children.   

The conflict between authorities and villagers has persisted since 2005 when POSCO-India Private Limited aired a plan to start a development project in the area. Locals resisted the idea citing the issue of settlement of forest rights under the Forest Rights Act 2006. After the company backed away in 2017, the High-Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik transferred the land to the JSW Utkal Steel Limited (JUSL). This move in itself violated the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR) of 2013. Yet, authorities even granted a forest clearance despite claims that the villagers faced severe oppression from police.

Finally, near the end of November 2021, villagers resumed protests against further division of Dhinkia into two revenue villages without the consent of residents. Similarly, they said that the administration, on multiple occasions, destroyed their beetle vines, causing severe economic damage.

To detail such instances of conflict, the Civil Society Forum on Human Rights (CSFHR), the Human Rights Defenders Alert – India (HRDA) and Indian Social Action Forum(INSAF) drafted a fact-finding report on December 18, 2021, with the help of movement leaders. It indicated the “corporate-State’s” attempts to target Swain, the leader of the Jindal Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, spearheading the peaceful resistance.

Villagers held protests at the site of demarcation work and in an open ground on the outskirts of Dhinkia village, attended by thousands of adults and children. Rallies were also taken out along main roads in villages as participants shouted slogans decrying government high-handedness. Although the initial protest took place on July 5, 2021 to oppose demarcation work, the real crackdown began when yet another demarcation effort failed on December 1.

Officials resorted to registering FIRs against protestors and HRDs, prima facie all of them fabricated. The team interviewing villagers found that FIRs mentioned some individuals who were not in Dhinkia on the day of the alleged incident. Even people above 70 years and those who need help for daily chores have been mentioned in the FIRs. Village leaders accused the police of referring to the voting list to indiscriminately build numbers and names and target those closely associated with leader Debendra Swain.

“False and fabricated FIRs continue to remain tools to oppress people’s resistance in Dhinkia. Of the close to 400 FIRs registered since the protests against POSCO, not a single conviction has occurred, speaking volumes of the conduct of police in Abhayachandpur police station,” said the report.

Targeting of Debendra Swain

On December 2, police personnel arrived in seven jeeps and launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters opposing a fresh round of demarcation exercise in Mahala. Police failed to arrest Debendra Swain, but arrested his paternal uncle Ajodhya Swain and elder daughter Mili Swain. Villagers said police had arrived at his house but could not find him. The 71-year old paralysis patient and 22-year-old woman were charged under various sections of the IPC including criminal intimidation.

This incident was a culmination of the several reprisals and institutional attacks on the grassroot leader. Debendra Swain was elected to the Dhinkia panchayat samiti (PS) in 2017. He objected to the creation of new revenue villages in the panchayat area and participated in peaceful protests in Patana and Mahala on multiple occasions since July 2021. He also objected to the lack of adequate notice for demarcation activities.

In response, he received a show-cause notice on September 30, from the Panchayati Raj department accusing Swain of abusing his powers as a PS member by obstructing official vehicles and abusing officials. The report went on to say he threatened to murder officials with bomb blasts and that “he is a habitual obstructor in every developmental works executed through PRIs. He is opposing various beneficiary-oriented government schemes violating rights of common masses.”

Following this notice, Swain was expelled from the panchayat samiti in October 2021. The expulsion of an elected representative on the recommendation of the local administration raises serious concerns regarding the possibility of further reprisals, said the report.

Demands for justice

Following interviews and referring official documents, the fact-finding team stated that the rights of gram sabhas should not be taken away from the people. Gram sabhas must be allowed proper time to deliberate, discuss, and decide about any project, creation of new revenue villages and demarcation of territories for the same.

Similarly, all cases against all human rights defenders and protestors in the area must be withdrawn immediately to uphold the right to peaceful assembly and expression. Members also condemned the massive deployment of security forces. They demanded an independent team of business and human rights, law, forest rights, agriculture, corporate affairs experts to examine the actions of the administration and police and determine if the past actions were in fact legal procedure.

“The National and State Human Rights Commissions must record and inquire all instances of police violence in Dhinkia and recommend medical treatment and compensation to all victims, and disciplinary and legal actions against police and administrative officials,” they said in the report.

Further, they called upon the NHRC to engage its core groups on ‘Business, Environment and Human Rights’ and ‘NGOs and Human Rights Defenders’ to jointly inquire the allegations against the government in handing over the project to JUSL, compliance to all legal processes for JUSL to operate and crackdown on peaceful dissent in Dhinkia, Jagatsinghpur district.

The full report may be read here:

Related:

Dhinkia: A story of perseverance against administrative oppression

End police oppression! FIAN Int. stands with Odisha’s adivasis

Odisha Police beat up Adivasi villagers

Tougher than Steel: Odisha villagers condemn govt’s to attempts to usurp their land

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A four-member fact-finding team of Ganatantrik Adhikar Surakhya Sangathan, Odisha visited Gadakujanga, Dhinkia, Noliasahi and Govindapur villages of Jagatsinghpur district on 19th November 2019. The government of Odisha is handing over the land already acquired for POSCO to Jindal Steel Works Ltd for setting up of a steel plant (13.2MTPA capacity), Cement plant (10MTPA), Power plant (900MW) and a port (52MTPA). The POSCO left the place because of the strong resistance of affected villagers. But the government is stubborn enough to hand over the land to yet another corporate body. This is perhaps first such example in the country.

When the team met village leaders, movement activists, villagers and women, all of them expressed their resentment and desire to oppose the company. That was reflected also in action when they narrated how they stopped the work of Jindal employees in Gadakujanga village. The employees were preparing the ground for the public hearing. The public hearing was scheduled to be on 21st of November. Meanwhile, the district administration rescheduled it to 20th December on the plea of ongoing ‘session of Odisha legislative assembly’. The villagers feel that the government shifted the date due to the resistance at Gadakujanga village.

All the villagers the team met are unaware of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Jindal project. The administration has only fixed up notice at Panchayat office for the public hearing and some company persons are moving in the areas inviting villagers to come for the public hearing to make the hearing success. Entire Odisha coast has been cyclone prone and this project would will cause further damage to the ecology. Another port at the mouth of Jatadhara to be built by Jindal would cause flooding of the area belonging to upper part of the river. 250 villagers of Noliasahi who are coming inside the JSW port (as per the map) project would be rendered homeless.

People of the area, even today, have their betel vines, cashew and mango orchards over that 2950 acres of forest land. Hence, they enjoy primary rights as per Forest Rights Act 2006. Besides, the private land owners whose land was occupied by IDCO for POSCO project are entitled to get back those land under the Land Acquisition Act 2013. Because that land remained unutilized for long five years. Instead, the government is handing over both private land as well forest land to the Land Bank formed under Land Acquisition Rules, 2016. This is in violation of the Land Acquisition Act 2013 and is also against the Singur judgment given by the Supreme Court. On 6th December 2017 the villagers of Govindpur have already passed resolution in Gramsabha to return those land to its original owners as POSCO left.

We met 65 – year old Basudev Behera of Noliasahi village who is an example of harassment caused by the government, POSCO staffs and supporters of the project for his involvement in the anti-POSCO struggle. Near about 72 criminal cases have been filed against him accusing him of rape, murder, dacoit, arson, riot etc. Hundreds of villagers like him are appearing in court cases and incurring heavy expenses from their own income to meet legal expenses. Given the number of cases, an Additional District Judge court has been opened in Kujanga panchayat area which is itself a rare phenomenon in Odisha. Can we call it ` peaceful ‘development’ as the Chief Minister often says?

We demand:- a) The govt. should cancel JSW project b) Villagers should be provided forest patta under Forest Rights Act c) the government should withdraw all criminal cases filed during anti-POSCO struggle d) the government itself should provide literature in simple Odia language about the company’s project and its impact on people prior to the public hearing at any place e) public hearing should not be treated as just ‘consultation’ rather should be taking ‘consent’ of all members of the areas in Pallisabha and if required the government should amend Panchayati Raj act also.

Deba Ranjan
General Secretary, GASS
Fact finding Team members: Swati Mishra, Gyanaranjan, Brajendra Mohanty and Deba Ranjan

Courtesy: Counter current

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