The $12-billion Posco steel project in Orissa, billed as the biggest foreign direct investment in the country, has been stalled for the past six years due to stiff opposition from the locals rallied under the banner of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS). Abhaya Sahoo, president of the anti-Posco brigade, talks to Dillip Satapathy on the reasons for this peoples’ agitation and its future. Edited excerpts:
You have been leading the agitation against the Posco project for the past six years even though you do not belong to the Posco-affected villages. Being an “outsider” in that sense, how do you see your role in this agitation?
I may not belong to the Posco-affected villages, but I belong to the Erasama block under which this project is coming up. This is propaganda by a certain section of people to take attention away from the main issue. The protest is being carried out under the banner of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) and I am its president. Our stand is to not allow Posco to establish its plant in this area and we will not deviate from our stand at any cost. The people have successfully started this revolution and I just happen to be channelling their discontent. In a public protest, it doesn’t matter which region I come from.
Are you against setting up the Posco project in its present location or anywhere in Orissa?
We are not opposed to Posco per se or industrialisation. Those who are trying to defame our protest are analysing it in the wrong way. Industrialisation is required for the economic development of the state and country. Agriculture cannot match the output of industries. But at the same time, ignoring agriculture and focusing on industry alone cannot help the country’s economy. There should be balanced economic growth. For that, there is no need to set up industries in a region with fertile land that yields guaranteed income from agriculture. Any effort of the government in this direction will be strongly opposed. At the Posco site, people have a thriving economy with the cultivation of betel and cashew, and fishing activities.
Apart from the location, what are your other reservations with the Posco project?
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Posco is one of the most controversial MoUs signed by the state government. It lapsed over a year ago. If we consider the old MoU, no political party or public organisation has agreed to it. The mines are particularly under controversy because these will displace scores of tribal people. The right of tribals on forest land has raised questions. On the issue of the supply of water from Mahanadi river, the state government has realised that after fulfilling the needs of people in five to six districts and taking the demand of irrigation into consideration, it will not be possible to supply water to the Posco project. So the need of supplying water from Hansua river has come up. Regarding the captive port, the people of Jagatsinghpur, irrespective of their party lines, are opposed to the proposal. The government is being very clever by going in for land acquisition without solving these issues first. The government is mulling the renewal of the MoU after acquiring the land and taking up the mining and water issues later. It cannot touch the mines now as the matter is sub judice.
Do you think the government has blundered in driving such a mega investment project properly?
I think if the government had brought about a political consensus, it would have been possible to establish the Posco project in Orissa. It will be advisable for the government to call an all-party meeting and have an elaborate discussion on the Posco issue. PPSS will not agree on the establishment of the Posco project at the present location, comprising three panchayats of Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang.
If the Posco project is established here, it will signal the end of farmers’ rights to land and livelihood. Industries should only come up on infertile and barren land with zero displacement.
The government is saying there is sizeable support for the project in the area. This is demonstrated in the peaceful land acquisition in Nuagaon and Gadakujang. It is alleged that in Dhinkia, where you have your base, you used coercive methods to force people – who were otherwise willing to sell their land to the project – to join your agitation.
This is a baseless allegation. On the contrary, the police and administration are terrorising our people. Let there be a probe by any independent committee into these allegations. I also support the proposal for the conduct of a referendum to decide the fate of the Posco project. If there is a consensus in Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang in favour of the project, I am prepared to back down. But I am confident, the mindset and the mood of the people here is not in favour of the Posco project. The government has arm-twisted people to acquire land in the Polang area, but it will not be possible to acquire land in the Dhinkia area, where without resorting to police firing, the government cannot acquire an inch of the land. We are determined to intensify our agitation.
Is it fair to use children as shields in the human barricade formed by PPSS to block the entry of officials for land acquisition in Gobindpur and Dhinkia?
The children here know that their future is uncertain and the livelihood of their families is in danger because of the Posco project. Besides, when their parents have joined the protest, how can they stay away?
It is alleged that you are acting as a tool in the hands of some corporate rivals of Posco who do not want this project to come up.
I am a member of the Communist Party of India and have always believed in leftist principles. It is not in our party philosophy to act in favour of one corporation to subvert the interest of another.
Being someone with an affiliation for the Left, is it not political opportunism on your part to seek support from other political parties?
We have not sought support from any party. Ours is a comprehensive peoples’ protest that has drawn support from the BJP, the Congress, the BJD and is not only confined to Left. The support and agreement created by PPSS, cutting across party lines, is a unique achievement for us. It is widely known that the state and central government want the Posco project. I will not accuse anyone, I would rather say we will continue our fight against what the central government is doing and the immoral ways adopted by the state to acquire land for the Posco project.
