POSCO supporters are boycotted

Kendrapada, July 17: A youth was denied entry into a village temple just because he was supporting the establishment of mega steel plant proposed by South Korea steel major POSCO.

One Bijaya Dash, who got married on July 6, could not enter the sanctum sanctorum of the village temple to perform some rituals on his marriage day by the anti-POSCO agitators.

The anti-POSCO supporters even threatened the priest of the village to boycott him socially if he performed the rituals of Bijaya.

As a result, the newly married couple could not perform the rituals in their own village and went to the sanctum sanctorum of the presiding deity '' Maa Baidehi'' at the nearby Trilochanapur village.

Bijay Dash alleged that the anti-POSCO agitators of his village prevented his family members from entering the sanctum sanctorum on his marriage day to perform the religious rites before the village temple as per the Hindu tradition. The rituals were performed by another priest of the nearby Gadakujanaga village.

In another incident, the anti-POSCO villagers of Dhinkia village allegedly assaulted a priest, by forcibly entering his house when he was talking with pro-POSCO supporters. He was forced to give a fine of Rs 1001.

About 20 families in the village supporting the POSCO project were not allowed to draw water from the village tubewell, purchase grocery items from the village shop and prevented to worship in the village temple by the anti-POSCO villagers .

They alleged that not only anti-POSCO group had been terrorising them and their family members but prohibiting them to use the village road.

To protest this kind of social boycott, the villagers of Dhinkia staged demonstration before the Kujanga police station Saturday demanding arrest of Abhaya Sahu, the president of POSCO Pratiroadha Sangram Samiti and other anti-POSCO agitators, who had been terrorising and attacking them in regular intervals.

They had submitted a memorandum to Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take stern action against the anti-POSCO people for unleashing a reign of terror in the villages.

The villagers later withdrew their demonstration after Additional District Magistrate Parsuram Parida and other officials, including the police officers, promised them to take necessary steps against the anti-POSCO supporters.

Panicked supporters of POSCO project had taken shelter at Dhinkia High School and a platoon of police force had been deployed to protect them from the wrath of anti-POSCO agitators, police said.

UNI