Nandigram, Posco SEZs different stories for CPI(M)

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik might have taken a leaf out of his West Bengal counterpart's book on Nandigram to deploy security forces to remove the blockades put up by farmers to prevent acquisition of their land for Posco's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) near Paradeep in Jagatsinghpur district.

But the similarity between the two ends here. Those supporting police deployment in Nandigram "" CPI(M) cadres "" have crossed the fence in Jagatsinghpur to prevent the police from reaching the project site.

The Left party cadres in Jagatsinghpur are proffering the same arguments to oppose police action in Orissa as were being offered by the Trinamool Congress and the Naxalites in Singur and Nandigram "" that the 4,004 acres of land proposed to be acquired is fertile and that farmers cannot be forced to give up their only means of livelihood.

Posco Pratirodh Sangathan (Posco Resistance Front) has the support of the CPI(M), the CPI, the Congress and some independent organisations. This organisation has mobilised farmers from three panchayats including about 20 villages where the land is proposed to be acquired. For about a year they have put up blockades and have not allowed entry of any government vehicles.

"We are not against Posco. All we say is that you don't take the land forcibly. The empowered group of ministers on SEZs has also said that the states should not acquire land. Why is Naveen Patnaik government trying to take farmers' land forcibly? Thousands of peasants will lose their livelihood," state CPI(M) secretary Janardan Pati told Business Standard on phone.

Incidentally, when there were similar protests against the land acquisition for a Tata project in Kalinganagar last year, many senior Left leaders including CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, Politburo member Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary AB Bardhan had flown from New Delhi to support the protests. These leaders have kept away from Jagatsinghpur. "We have not sought their (central leadership's) involvement here," explained Pati.

Many arguments proffered by the state CPI(M) unit to oppose the Posco project sound familiar. For instance, like in Singur, many agitating farmers have no lease deeds to claim compensation. Again, "anti-social elements" and "some non-governmental organisations" have allegedly been roped in by those supporting land acquisition; the opposite was the case in Nandigram where the Left party said that outsiders and anti-social elements were fanning trouble.

CPI(M) state secretary Janardan Pati, however, saw no parallel between Nandigram and Jagatsinghpur. "The government had not given any notice for land acquisition in Nandigram; it was foolish on the part of Haldia Development Authority to give a notice. In Jagatsinghpur, the government has issued proper notification."

Meanwhile, people from three panchayats facing displacement to make way for the Posco project today decided to boycott a public hearing on the matter scheduled for April 15.