To,

Shri Naveen Patnaik,
Chief Minister,
Government of Orissa,
Bhubaneswar, Orissa.

SUBJECT: 7^th National Conference of Women’s
Movements, Kolkata condemns State
repression on the people of Kashipur in Orissa.

Dear Sir,

We, as participants of the 7^th National
Conference of Women’s Movements, 9 - 12
September, 2006, Kolkata strongly condemn the
continuing State and police repression on the
struggle of the people of Kashipur, who are
resisting the attempts of UAIL and ALCAN to begin
bauxite mining in the area.

Our enclosed statement has been endorsed by 62
women’s organizations and activists from the
states of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya,
New Delhi, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttaranchal and West Bengal. It has also
been endorsed by several eminent women like
Mahashweta Devi (Kolkata), Gabriele Dietrich
(Madurai, Tamil Nadu), and Ilina Sen (Raipur,
Madhya Pradesh).

— We view the current ’industrial development’
agenda for Orissa set by multinational companies
and the State, as adversely affecting the lives
of the adivasis and dalits of the area who will
be displaced in thousands by the mining projects.
— We supported the struggle of the people of
Kashipur for land, livelihood and dignity in
conference sessions pertaining to Displacement,
Adivasi Rights, and State Violence.
— We strongly condemn your government overruling
people’s just demands and using repressive
measures to facilitate the entry of mining
companies in the name of development.
— We demand:
o an immediate cancellation of mining projects in Orissa
o immediate stoppage of police repression
o unconditional withdrawal of police charges on local people and activists of Kashipur
o that development of any kind be carried out with the explicit informed consent of the people whose lands and livelihoods are at stake.

Anticipating an urgent intervention from you in
the interests of the people of Kashipur,

Sincerely,

On behalf of the 7^th National Conference of Women’s Movements, Kolkata

Signed/-

Ranjana Padhi, New Delhi; Shabnam, Mumbai; Nilanjana Biswas, Bangalore

Dated: Kolkata, 12 Sep. 06

Contact: kashipur_sangharsh yahoo.co.in

Oppose State and Police Repression on Adivasis and Dalits in Orissa!

In the name of development, a war is being waged
in the state of Orissa today. The primary targets
of this war are the adivasi and dalit people, who
have lived for generations in Orissa’s
mineral-rich hills, forests and plains. Today, a
gigantic corporate mining lobby for whom these
mineral reserves guarantee unimaginable profit is
viewing the adivasi and dalit dwellers as an
obstacle to economic progress, to be removed at
any cost, by any means.

In the centre of the war zone is Kashipur in
southern Orissa where for more than a decade a
fierce resistance movement has grown. People have
put everything, including their lives at stake in
the struggle against these mining companies. In
Kashipur, the Baphlimali hills alone contain more
than 2000 lakh tons of bauxite ore, the source of
aluminium for the booming automobile, aviation,
defense and missile industries. With an
investment of Rs 4500 crores, the Utkal Alumina
International Limited (UAIL) consortium plans to
set up a refinery at Kucheipadar to mine about
200 million tones of bauxite every year from
Baphlimali. The Orissa government, led by Chief
Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has publicly
declared war on any opposition to his plans, is
also signing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
documents with other corporate giants like POSCO
(South Korea), Vedanta (UK), Rio Tinto (UK), BHP
Billiton (UK - Australia), ALCAN (Canada),
HINDALCO and Larsen & Toubro.

As multinational giants close in on Kashipur,
their entry is facilitated through the country’s
new economic liberalization policies. Mandatory
environmental impact studies and social audits of
hazardous open-cast mining projects are waived;
fast track project approval mechanisms created;
large tracts of mineral-rich land are identified
and sold without the knowledge and consent of
adivasi and dalit inhabitants; eviction notices
are served; and finally, to crush local
resistance, armed security forces and gangs of
hired mafia are deployed throughout the region.

Repeated fact finding studies and recently, a
people’s tribunal have testified that the people
of Kashipur are facing brutal state repression.
Three adivasis were killed in police firing on
unarmed villagers on December 16, 2001. In the
recent intensification of repression, the terror
tactics being used to wipe out resistance include
large-scale arbitrary arrests, ’disappearances’,
rape, and constant patrolling of villages by
security forces and hired mafia gangs. It may be
recalled that two decades ago, the Tatas were
forced by the organized resistance of the local
people to withdraw from the plans to commercially
exploit Orissa’s Chilika Lake. Today, capital is
much more determined to wipe out opposition. On
12^th January 2006, 12 adivasis were gunned down
by the police for demanding compensation for the
loss of their lands to the Tata-owned
Kalinganagar industrial complex. So powerful are
the corporate mining lobbies and so widespread
the regime of kickbacks and corruption associated
with each MoU that not just the Orissa government
but also political parties and local media are
dancing to the corporate tune. Ignoring the
plight of the people, local newspapers have
become the mouthpiece for company CEOs.

From the experience of the 14 lakh people who
have been displaced since 1947 in Orissa to make
way for dams, hydro electric plants, industries,
mining projects, firing ranges, and wildlife
sanctuaries, the people of Kashipur have learnt
that when the government wishes to steal from the
poor and give to the rich, it begins to talk
about development. The women of Kashipur, whose
labor, care, creativity and struggles sustain
their communities, know from the experiences of
adivasi women in the neighboring Damanjodi
resettlement camp, that displacement from land is
the beginning of the end. It shackles mobility,
crushes freedom and self-reliance, exposes women
to rape and sexual assault, and offers beggary or
prostitution as the means of survival. The
plunder of the natural resource base through
commercial activities, combined with the lack of
essential services like food, water, health, and
education has reduced adivasi and dalit
populations from a state of relative
self-sufficiency to one of utter market
dependency.

When Naveen Patnaik declares: "No one - I repeat
no one - will be allowed to stand in the way of
Orissa’s industrial development and the people’s
progress", whose progress is he really talking
about? Is the state of Orissa no longer a part of
a functioning democracy for, of, and by the
people or is it merely the Chief Minister’s
private property to sell at will to the highest
bidder? Are the people of Orissa willingly
sacrificing their lives, land and dignity to
promote aluminium extraction for the global
military industrial complex? Why have they not
been asked?

As participants of the 7^th National Conference
of Women’s Movements in Kolkata, September 9-12,
2006, we affirm the aspirations of the people of
Kashipur to lead a life of dignity with better
education facilities, health care, and
sustainable irrigation facilities. We also affirm
the inalienable right of the people of Orissa to
their land, lives and livelihood.

Hence, we:

–  Oppose the war on adivasis and dalits in the name of development.
–  Oppose the model of development that
crushes the rights of millions, irreversibly
poisons the environment and barters our
collective freedom for multinational profit.
–  Demand an immediate cancellation of mining projects in Orissa
–  Demand an immediate stoppage of
repression by the police machinery and the hired
mafia of mining companies.
–  Demand that all police charges on the
local people and activists be dropped immediately.
–  Call for a process of genuine
participation of the adivasi and dalit population
to determine the course of their development.