TATA starts work at KalingaNagar - So as local fights

TATA has started its work at KalingaNagar from 28th of May, and the BVJM (Bistapan Virodhi Jana Mancha) has tighten its stand for the last fight as after a full fledged work there will be no value for the union.
It’s quite interesting to see that a group of people, especially women, come out of their silence to support TATA openly. On Monday (31^st may 2010), when women leader of BVJM cum Sarapanch of Gobarghati panchayat, Swarnalata Banara, came with her nearly 10 to 20 supporters to TATA work site and started throwing stones, they hardly had imagined to get a stiff opposition on the face from another group of women who supports TATA and have benefited from TATA. The tussle between the two groups lasted for almost 5 mins till the police came to rescue the BVJM members.

Three of the members from BVJM were arrested from the spot. However two were later released except the sarapanch who was sent to court.

I think the wind started blowing in support of TATA. Last night after the incident I made few calls to my hometown, KalingaNagar to get the details. Most of the people who are really displaced voiced out in support of TATA. They are getting full benefit from rehabilitation plan; they got home, job, money, medical facility and all...what more needed. It’s true that they have to leave their land, but come on, in each industrial process it’s the deal...few has to be displaced. But the point is we have to see that whether they have got enough bargain for that. In my view TATA at KalingaNagar is a better bargain to deal with.

Kalinga Nagar: Police Firing Reloaded

If you are keen on English movies, you can find that most of the hit movies are having their sequels, for example, The Matrix and Matrix-Reloaded movie. Police firing incident in Kalinga Nagar is not less than a movie plot taking Odisha Govt, TATA Steel, Police and Administration and Poor Tribals as characters. How come a hit story not repeating the plot??? Keeping all the humanity and mercy to the bay, here comes another bloody incident of police firing in Kalinga Nagar, Kalinga Nagar: Police Firing Reloaded

Kalinga Nagar still gets foul dreams on police firing on 2nd Jan 2006 and today the incident repeated with one more person being killed and several injured in police firing in Kalinga Nagar, the steel hub of India.

The poor dead man was identified as Laxman Jamuda, a resident of Chandia village. If you have to believe the sounds of the bullets, the policemen have fired at least 10 rounds and ‘Laxman’ became the scapegoat between the police firing skills and protest by other fellow tribals. The incident happened as villagers were opposing construction of a common corridor road in the locality and they too opposed the entry on policemen into their villages.

As per other news sources, officials in both the police and administration were tight lipped about the firing incident. The irony does not end here as the leaders of Bisthapan Virodhi Jana Manch were also not available for their comments as mentioned by Kalinga times (May 12th, 2010). However, the district administration, in a statement, clarified that Laxman died of heatstroke. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, after his return from New Delhi, said, “I’m informed that nobody was killed in police firing. My government does not believe in violence. However, the matter will be looked into.”

The Predecessor of the incident smells as the trouble had started in the area when hundreds of policemen raided Baligotha village in the area on March 30 and resorted to lathi-charge and firing injuring about 40 persons.

Further Reading on Jan 2nd 2006 Police Firing:Police Firing at Kalinganagar: An Insider Introspect

The author is from Kalinga Nagar area and can be reached at kalinganagar@gmail.com

Police Firing at Kalinganagar: An Insider Introspect

Monday, 2nd January, 2006. Sounds of bullets echoed in Kalinganagar. 12 tribal were killed in the police firing of Kalinganagar. The 12 plate like stone pillar are standing as witness to the incident near Ambagadi village of Kalinganagar.

Let’s keep all the anguish aside and ask any of the residents of Kalinganagar, “Do you support industrialization (especially TATA) at Kalinganagar?” The answer will be unanimously ‘YES’. Do you want to ask how do I know? The answer is I am a native of Kalinganagar from the day I know my world and from the day the area was distributed as few small villages trying to figure themselves in the Orissa map. You can say, I saw the birth of today’s Kalinganagar, the steel hub of India.

Then why all the hue and cry over the issue?