People of Orissa Make a Political Statement
/M.ALOK
Government and commercial activities throughout Orissa were brought to a halt by a state-wide hartal for twelve hours on Jan 7, 2006 to protest the killing of 12 of people by the police during a political action in Kalinga Nagar a few days earlier. Some 30 million people responded to the call of the Kalinga Nagar Surakshya Samiti (Defense Committee) to stage the shutdown, staying away from commercial and government activity, shutting down factories and shops, paralyzing rail and road transportation and closing down schools and colleges.
Tribal residents of the Kalinga Nagar area had organized political actions to protest the acquisition of their land by authorities without due compensation. The state government, instead of first settling the land acquisition question, permitted Tata Steel to proceed with construction work under police escort to erect a plant. Police fired on a large gathering of men, women and children when the demonstrators refused to move out from the disputed land to make way for bulldozers.
Organizations all over the state, far and near from the Kalinga Nagar killing site, mobilized people in large numbers to press for justice and call for a political settlement of grievances without the use of force. According to news paper accounts,
At Kalinga Nagar, the centre of attention, the tribal agitators took out a rally from Madhuban, where mass cremation of the 12 victims was conducted, till Duburi. A cycle rally was also taken out to the cremation ground. The Express Highway, as usual, was deserted. Three protestors were injured in a clash in Sukinda during the bandh. Police deployment was massive at Kalinga Nagar even as thousands of tribals were transported into the region. More than 32 platoon police were pressed into service.
The shutdown was thus a political response of the entire people of Orissa condemning the state authorities for settling political questions by force. The reaction of the political parties of Orissa state was most pathetic. The ruling party and its leader Mr. Naveen Pattnaik – the Chief Minister of Orissa - “thanked the people for their peaceful protest”, willfully ignoring the fact that the police force under his command was the one that committed violence and was standing ready for more violence in defense of his government’s policy to use force to settle a civil conflict on land ownership and compensation question.
The leader of the opposition Mr. Janaki Pattanik, an ex-Chief Minister of Orissa, characterized the protest as a reflection of the “growing demand of the people for the government to quit”, reflecting his partisan opportunism to return to power by hijacking the protest of the people against the use of force by authorities that he is a part of. These responses and the responses of other smaller legislative parties were in line with their common desire to transform the street demonstrations to serve their narrow parliamentary maneuvering for power.
The mass action in Orissa was a spontaneous manifestation of unity in action for common political aims. The fountainhead of that political action was the consciousness that the killing of 12 members of the Oriya polity was an attack on the entire polity of Orissa. It also reflected the realization that people could not rely on the political parties to provide solutions to the compensation issue and deliver justice without direct political intervention through street action. The partisan response of the political parties in fact pointed to the fact that people have to prepare for more such mass action in defense of their rights.
People’s forces must draw the conclusion that unity in action is the need of the time and with proper organization, spontaneous struggles can give way to an organized movement for conscious political aims.
Government and commercial activities throughout Orissa were brought to a halt by a state-wide hartal for twelve hours on Jan 7, 2006 to protest the killing of 12 of people by the police during a political action in Kalinga Nagar a few days earlier. Some 30 million people responded to the call of the Kalinga Nagar Surakshya Samiti (Defense Committee) to stage the shutdown, staying away from commercial and government activity, shutting down factories and shops, paralyzing rail and road transportation and closing down schools and colleges.
Tribal residents of the Kalinga Nagar area had organized political actions to protest the acquisition of their land by authorities without due compensation. The state government, instead of first settling the land acquisition question, permitted Tata Steel to proceed with construction work under police escort to erect a plant. Police fired on a large gathering of men, women and children when the demonstrators refused to move out from the disputed land to make way for bulldozers.
Organizations all over the state, far and near from the Kalinga Nagar killing site, mobilized people in large numbers to press for justice and call for a political settlement of grievances without the use of force. According to news paper accounts,
At Kalinga Nagar, the centre of attention, the tribal agitators took out a rally from Madhuban, where mass cremation of the 12 victims was conducted, till Duburi. A cycle rally was also taken out to the cremation ground. The Express Highway, as usual, was deserted. Three protestors were injured in a clash in Sukinda during the bandh. Police deployment was massive at Kalinga Nagar even as thousands of tribals were transported into the region. More than 32 platoon police were pressed into service.
The shutdown was thus a political response of the entire people of Orissa condemning the state authorities for settling political questions by force. The reaction of the political parties of Orissa state was most pathetic. The ruling party and its leader Mr. Naveen Pattnaik – the Chief Minister of Orissa - “thanked the people for their peaceful protest”, willfully ignoring the fact that the police force under his command was the one that committed violence and was standing ready for more violence in defense of his government’s policy to use force to settle a civil conflict on land ownership and compensation question.
The leader of the opposition Mr. Janaki Pattanik, an ex-Chief Minister of Orissa, characterized the protest as a reflection of the “growing demand of the people for the government to quit”, reflecting his partisan opportunism to return to power by hijacking the protest of the people against the use of force by authorities that he is a part of. These responses and the responses of other smaller legislative parties were in line with their common desire to transform the street demonstrations to serve their narrow parliamentary maneuvering for power.
The mass action in Orissa was a spontaneous manifestation of unity in action for common political aims. The fountainhead of that political action was the consciousness that the killing of 12 members of the Oriya polity was an attack on the entire polity of Orissa. It also reflected the realization that people could not rely on the political parties to provide solutions to the compensation issue and deliver justice without direct political intervention through street action. The partisan response of the political parties in fact pointed to the fact that people have to prepare for more such mass action in defense of their rights.
People’s forces must draw the conclusion that unity in action is the need of the time and with proper organization, spontaneous struggles can give way to an organized movement for conscious political aims.
posted by charcha-editor at 15:03
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