Vedanta chased away by threatened Villagers

Last week, a group of more than 500 villagers set up roadblocks in Orissa’s Puri district to protest the construction of “Dev Sanskrati Vishwavidyalaya” (Divine Culture University) a project funded by the rather-unenlightened company we know as Vedanta Resources.

The villagers are angry that the institution, which will apparently establish “a Cultural Renaissance” in India, is situated on agricultural land that the Orissa government ‘acquired’ without the peoples consent. The government then donated the land to Vedanta for free (Wikipedia).

The company defends the governments actions by claiming the land isn’t fertile and of no use to the villagers. It’s quite absurd, since the villagers actively grow rice, mango, cashew, papaya, betel, pumpkin, and coconut in the region.

Similarly, Vedanta claims that the region is only sparsely populated, and that only a hundred or so people will be displaced. Activists say it’s more like 1,000 — on top 20 to 50,000 more indirectly effected.

Whatever the actual number is, the fact remains that none of the villagers have given their consent.

These concerns peaked during last week’s protest, which took place at the ground-breaking ceremony for the institution.

The protesters rushed the ceremony, some of them carrying lathis (a sturdy stick made of bamboo) and eventually forced the officials to withdraw.

Following the protest, a company official stated that they have temporarily stopped work on the University, but will resume it “soon.”

“We are in talks with the local people, but few of them are creating disturbances. However, in view of the violent situation yesterday we have stopped the work of the university and intend to resume the construction work soon.”

Clearly aimed at demeaning the villagers’ struggle, the statement is a stark contrast to what the protesters were told. Umaballav Rath, leader of the Vedanta Vishwavidyalaya Virodhi Samiti, the organization heading the movement against the project, states that “officials of the Vedanta Group have assured us in the presence of the district administration that they are not going to start work on the project without our consent.”

In light of recent history — namely, the struggle of the Dongria Kondh, who are facing similar displacement (as well as the destruction of their culture) at the hands of Vedanta — the former statement is probably the most accurate.

The company doesn’t seem to care one way another how must destruction it causes. Just as long as it maintains the face of enlightenment for its shareholders.

Fortunately, the villagers, and of coursethe Dongria Kondh, are not so willing to play make believe out of some obscure fear of their own knowledge.

photo: http://nazaronline.net

http://intercontinentalcry.org/vedanta-chased-away-by-threatened-villagers/