Condemn V iolent suppr
ession of
suppression
w or
k er
s and people a
t Lanjig
arh!
ork
ers
at
Lanjigarh!
The
CPI(ML)
strongly
condemns killing of the activist Dani
Batra at the gate of the Vedanta
Alumina refinery plant at Lanjigarh
in Kalahandi district on the morning
of March 18. Over 50 people were
badly injured in the brutal lathi
charge by the Odisha Industrial
Security Force (OISF) and admitted
to the Lanjigarh hospital.
The contract workers were
sittinga in front of the gate
demanding permanent jobs,
education for their children and
provision of jobs for more people.
Villagers
from
Rengopali,
Chatrapur and Bandhaguda too
joined the protest. the OISF
resorted to unwarranted and brutal
lathi charge with the aim of
suppressing contract workers of
the Lanjigarh plant and on people
from surrounding villages.
Their demands are an
outcome of years of simmering discontent ever since the company
had acquired their land by making
false promises of employment,
education, health care facilities
among others. The Odisha state
government too has failed
completely in making the company
fulfil its promises. Instead of
listening to their just grievances on
March 18, 2019, it let loose a reign
of terror.
It is deplorable that instead of
the government implementing the
2013 Gram Sabha verdict, the local
administration has only increased
the presence of CRPF and its
surveillance. The entire of
Niyamgiri has been subject to
relentless state repression ever
since the gram sabha verdict. It is
evident from the more recent arrest
of Lingaraj Azad who has been at
the forefront of the struggle of the
people against bauxite mining. The people living around
Lanjigarh plant at the foothills of
the Niyamgiri mountain have been
putting up with untold suffering.
The pollution caused by effluents
discharged into the River
Vamsadhara has caused both
deaths and diseases among the
people dependent on the river. The
creation of ash ponds too has been
the biggest environmental hazard
to the Niyamgiri habitat with its rich
diversity of flora and fauna. Indeed,
the corporate greed for bauxite
from the mountain is making the
company flout all existing laws while
the state government aids in
providing security forces and
crushing the voices of its citizens.
We urge all democratic and
progressive forces to protest
against corporate violence against
people!
From the Press: chain of events illustrates how
broken the entire system of
agricultural credit has become.
The banks claim to have no choice
but to engage in these activities
because the government berates
them for not giving more loans as
well as for not recovering them.
Farmers’ march “disrupts
traffic” in Patna
The All India KisanSangharsh
Coordination Committee has not
stopped agitating and organising
farmers. Last week, they marched
in Patna and while most places
didn’t cover it, Times of
India reported it again mainly for
the traffic disruption. This is a
constant practice by large media
outlets – ignoring the life-and-
death reasons people strike and
simply describing the inconve-
nience to middle-class readers. Apathy
Empathy
Punjab farmers face jail as
banks file criminal cases
The Indian Express reports
that “scores of Punjab farmers …
have been convicted or are
facing trial in criminal cases of
cheque-bouncing filed by banks
under Section 138 of the
Negotiable Instruments Act,
1938.” Apparently, the majority
of these farmers qualify for a loan
waiver because their holdings are
so small. The farmers claim they
were asked to sign blank cheques
and hand them over to the bank,
which is a practice that bank
employees have accepted. So
now, farmers have to furnish
bonds (which might involve
borrowing more money) to be
released on bail. This vicious
April, May - 2019
s how-cased
as
The Hindu reported that the
two Group of Ministers (GoM)
constituted by the centre to suggest
measures on anti-lynching and
prevention of harassment of
women at work places have been
put in cold storage. The supposed
reason was the election code. The
GoM on lynching was formed in July
23, 2018. It met twice and asked
the high-level committee to give
inputs. Other GoM on harassment
of women was constituted in
October last year. It met only once
and tasked another sub-panel to
compile a report. Both GoMs are
not in a position to give their
recommendations. This is how the
governments used to function –
commissions to be constituted only
to side line the real issues.
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