At least twelve tribal people died after police opened fire on a crowd at Kalinganagar in the Indian state of Orissa on Monday.
The people, mainly from the Ho tribe, were protesting against
controversial plans to build a steel plant on their land. The plant is
one of at least thirty big mining and metal factory projects being
forced through on tribal land by Orissa's state government.
Bulldozers started construction of a wall at the site on Monday
morning, in the presence of local officials, representatives of the
company Tata Steel, and hundreds of armed police.
Orissa has a large and diverse tribal population. Thousands of tribal
people in the state have already lost their land to industrialisation
projects, and many thousands more have been displaced in the last
twenty years by dams built to provide power and water for metal
factories.
One policeman was also killed in the conflict at Kalinganagar.
For more information call Miriam Ross on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or email mr@survival-international.org
