Tata Motors decision to suspend work indefinitely in Singur underlines the rise of civil society movements in the last decade in the context of land acquisition by industry aided by government, and more recently in the context of the SEZ Act.
And in almost all cases, the movements tend to echo and support one another in demanding repeal of both Land Acquisition and SEZ Acts. The villain in most movements appears to be the political leadership, which is seen as colluding with the industry, whether it is in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra or Jharkhand.
The victory of civil society organisations in Singur has meant reaffirmation of other movements against the Tatas, with organisations now hoping for gains in other pending projects of Tata Steel, like the Rs 2,000 crore project in Kalinga Nagar in Orissa, another in Saraikela in Jharkhand, and a 5,000 acre mining project in Lohandiguda in Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh.
The oldest movement against land acquisition and displacement of communities in Kalinga Nagar began in 1999 and continues under the Jana Sangram Samiti along with a movement against Utkal Alumina in Kashipur in Orissa.
Kalinga Nagar Sangharsh Samiti leader Prafulla Samantara says the fact that Tatas have stayed on in Orissa at the cost of a delayed project, means they will not leave Singur in a hurry. He recalls how Tatas were virtually driven out of Gopalpur in 1995, though now a SEZ may come up in place of the steel plant proposed earlier. But the people will not let it happen, he says.
Every new project has meant a new movement by the civil society in Orissa. The leading movements now are against Posco’s Rs 52,000 crore mining project in Keonjhar, Vedanta’s mining and refinery projects that require 721 hectares and 1,458 hectares respectively in Raigadha and Kalahandi districts, and Arcelor Mittal’s mining project in 7,000 acres in Keonjhar, displacing two villages besides the dormant agitations in Kalinga Nagar, Kashipur and Gopalpur.
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Prakrutika Sampada Suraksha Parishad led by Devranjan Sarangi has been keeping the resistance in Kashipur alive where a move to transfer 2,000 acres acquired from tribals prompted formation of the group in 1996, activists from the group say.
Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti leader Abhay Sahu marked the resurgence of their movement with a huge rally this week. “We are trying to show the company and the government that those villagers the company had tried to lure into silence are again with us and we are stronger than ever,” the activists said.
Another huge rally is planned for the next week in Bhubaneshwar against the recent Supreme Court judgement giving the go-ahead for both Posco and Vedanta mining projects, says Samantara, one of the petitioners in the case against Vedanta.
Since most of these movements involve land rights of tribals, Campaign for Survival and Dignity, which is a platform for most tribal land rights movements, has been coordinating efforts nationally. It is currently using the Forest Rights Act as its weapon to question the ongoing efforts for land acquisition, its activists say.
Adivasi movements have tried to keep themselves away from the shadow of political parties like the Trinamool Congress or big-time activists like Medha Patkar, says an activist from Orissa.
Xaviur Dius, who leads the Jharkhand Mines Areas Coordination Committee, which has prevented land acquisition for greenfield projects for the last five years in a state where Arcelor Mittal, Tatas and many others are struggling to get in, says that the industry and the political leaders have lost faith of the people. “We have managed to stop the Tatas from investing Rs 60,000 crore,” says Dius, adding, “Tatas will never be able to come here.”
“JMACC is not against industry. We want industry to deal directly with the people rather than let government exploit people,” he says.
Dius is linked to a wide web of local and national organisations and that gives him strength to stand against the government and industry.
In many states, CPI has been actively supporting these movements, especially in Orissa and Chattisgarh.
Next week, the Tribal Welfare Society is organising an inter-state conference on displacement in Raigarh, the home of many upcoming power projects.
“The government is on an MoU-signing spree and people are not being consulted,” says Pravin Patel of the society.
“Tatas are going global. Don’t they see that governments are nowhere involved in acquiring land?” asks Patel.
In Maharashtra, Dow Chemicals has been the latest victim of opposition from social action groups to its plans to acquire land for an R&D plant in Chakan area of the Pune district. A local organisation, Lok Shashan Andolan, began the agitation but it is now backed by the entire Warkari sect. They have joined hands with Bhopal groups, culminating in what is now called the Quit India Dow movement.