Since March 2007, villagers in Kujang have been protesting against a project by South Korean steel giant POSCO near the port city of Paradeep in Orissa. By mid April, there was heavy police presence in Kujang village. Faced with resistance from the local people against sale of their lands for the proposed Rs 52,000-crore steel plant project, the state government rushed police forces to the area in the second week of April.

The parallel to the situation in Nandigram, where the state government and the party in power sent in police and goons to beat up and kill people who had blockaded all access to their land, is unmistakable. Like in Nandigram, a large section of the people living on the lands that would be acquired for the project has barricaded their villages and is ready to face the bullet and the baton before they allow anyone to enter.

As state governments across the country sign away thousands of acres of land to set up Special Economic Zones, they are coming up against the resistance of people whose very lives and livelihood are at stake. Savage state power is being used to forcibly deprive people of their land and resources, appropriating the same in the interest of big capitalists.

The pattern of resistance and the subjugation of the same by State power is the same across all the states. Everywhere, small and medium tillers who are toiling to make a living are facing the prospect of being deprived of their source of livelihood. Organisations of resistance are being formed as people come together with the common aim of safeguarding their livelihood and rights.

Till the recent changes to the SEZ Act, the state governments were acquiring the land on behalf of the monopoly capitalists like Tata, Reliance, the Salim Group (Indonesian real estate developer), POSCO, etc. Now, the central government has advised the state governments to try a different route if the earlier route faces massive opposition — that is enable the capitalists to buy land directly from the peasants. However, as people refuse to accept this route, the state will still unleash its armed repressive might to enforce the will of the capitalists. This is what the developments in POSCO reveal.

The right of people over their land and resources cannot be compromised under any justification. The struggle of the people of Orissa against the POSCO project is an integral part of the struggle of the working class and peasantry against capitalist reforms and for a new India wherein the economy will be oriented to serve the needs of the people and not the private profit of Indian and foreign monopolies. Any attempt by governments to render the people's struggles illegitimate must be strongly condemned by all those who stand for justice.