Agnivesh offers to facilitate talks between govt and agitators

Bhubaneswar, June 18: Social activist Swami Agnivesh today (June 18) said peaceful settlement of POSCO impasse was possible through talks and offered to work as a facilitator between Orissa government and anti-POSCO agitators.

"Peaceful settlement of the POSCO issue is quite possible. I am willing to play the role of a facilitator for talks between the state government and agitators for a solution," Agnivesh told PTI.

Expressing solidarity with the anti-POSCO agitators, he said there would be no displacement and no loss of fertile land if both the state government and POSCO agreed to shift the plant site. It was wrong to allow a multi-national company to have its captive port.

"The proposed captive port by POSCO will certainly pose a threat to the national security. I am surprised as to how Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh allowed it," he said.

Agnivesh said that the earlier talks between the state government and the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) failed to yield any result as the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik remained silent all along the discussion.

The deadlock could easily be resolved if Patnaik directly spoke to the affected people instead of engaging officers, he said.

PTI