A day after the Orissa government halted land acquisition for Posco's proposed steel project, villagers opposing the venture in Jagatsinghpur district demanded that the land acquisition in their locality be stopped permanently.

Wearing black badges, hundreds of men, women and children raised slogans against forceful land acquisition for the steel project as they observed the day as Black Day.

It is on June 22, 2005 that the Naveen Patnaik Government had signed the memorandum of understanding for the project.

Leaders of five political parties – Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal – addressed the villagers outside Gobindpur village where they have formed a human chain under the banner of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti.

The Sangram Samiti activists said the human chain which the villagers had formed to prevent the entry of land acquisition officials and armed policemen will continue till the State Government agreed to their demand to shift the project site from the three gram panchayats of Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang.

Addressing the agitating villagers, CPI Deputy General-Secretary, Mr S. Sudhakar Reddy, announced that their party along with other political parties and democratic organisations and activists would organise meetings across the country on June 24 to express solidarity with the villagers who have been opposing land acquisition for the Posco project to save their land and livelihood sources.

The State Government had on Tuesday suspended land acquisition following the visit of leaders from the Left parties, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party who came to express their solidarity with the agitators and raise the demand for withdrawal of police force from the area.

Social activists Swami Agnivesh, Medha Patkar and others have already visited Gobindpur village to express solidarity with the agitators and demanded that the State government should hold talks with the Sangram Samiti instead of using force to acquire land for the steel venture.

Meanwhile, the State government said that the MoU for the project, which had expired in June last, will be renewed shortly.

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