IT IS WAR AGAINST THE PEOPLE

GOBINDPURA- SECOND PHASE OF STRUGGLE BEGINS

Last month, when the farm organisations were holding Dharnas at Mansa, Jalandhar & Amritsar on Gobindpura issue, Sh. Parkash Singh Badal CM Punjab invited them for talks. It was promised in preliminary discussion that no land shall be acquired in future for any project without the consent of its owner. The CM also promised to leave the dispute 166 acre land & Dalit houses at Gobindpura from the purview of acquisition, pay adequate compensation, ensure employment to at least one member of the families whose land has been acquired etc. But all this was empty talk. In the formal meeting held on 19th Sept, he backed out from all these commitments.

Farm organizations then decided to relaunch the struggle in the form of a march towards Gobindpura on 24 th September and started making preparations for it.

In order to prevent the march being organized by 17 organizations of farmers & Agri-labour of Punjab towards Gobindpura, a small village in Punjab, to get back the land and houses forcibly acquired by Punjab Govt for Poena Power Company's Thermal Plant, a massive deployment of police & armed forces has been done. All roads & pathways leading to this village have been heavily barricaded. Bus service to the village has been discontinued.

As per police sources 6 SPs, 17 DSPs, 13 SHOs, 10 Inspectors, 55 ASIs, 1940 Constables & Head Constables & 85 lady police officials have been deployed under the personal command of Sh. Nirmal Singh Dhillon IGP Bathinda and Surinder Singh Parmar SSP Mansa. Besides mobilizing armed Jawans from IRB, PAP, Commando Battalions, the police has also deployed Water Cannons, Round Fire Launchers, Tear gas squads etc. While hectic parleys are on amongst various functionaries of the administration, the police is holding flag march in the villages to terrorize the people.

All this is being done to crush the peoples movement and to protect the interests of Poena Power Company, a subsidiary of India Bulls.

N.K.JEET Advisor
LOK MORCHA PUNJAB

Bathinda (Mob.: 94175-07363)