January 3, 2006

Press Statement

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Protest Massacre at Jajpur

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) denounces the brutal massacre of tribal people in Jajpur district of Orissa. Eleven adivasis have been killed in police firing in Kalinga Nagar where the tribal people have been protesting against their displacement and demanding adequate compensation.

The BJD-BJP state government has established a bloody record of killings of tribal people through police firings wherever they put up resistance when being deprived of their lands. The state government is adopting a policy of repression against the tribal people to enable mining companies and industries to operate in the forest areas. The killing of three adivasis in the Kashipur firing a few years ago, the repression launched against those opposing the Vedanta project in Kalahandi district, are some instances of the Navin Patnaik government’s inhuman attitude which has no concern for the basic rights of the adivasi people.

The CPI(M) calls for a full-scale review of the policies of allotting industrial projects and mining contracts on the traditional lands of the adivasi people. The Navin Patnaik government must put a halt to this relentless onslaught on the lands and livelihood of the tribal people.

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) calls upon the Party units to organise protests against the massacre in Jajpur district and to demand that the Orissa government and the Central government take immediate steps to protect the rights of the tribal people to their lands and their habitats.  The guilty officials responsible for the massacre must be punished.