JAGATSINGHPUR, March 25: A week after the "lathi rally," anti-displacement activists, who are opposed to the Posco steel plant, today held a Jan Garjan Samabesh and warned the government of violent resistance if the plant was forced upon them. "We will also form suicide squads," they declared at the meeting.

The meeting was styled on lines of the pro-Naxalite Jan Ganjan Samabesh held a couple of years ago in Bhubaneswar which had been addressed by Mr Ververa Rao and others from Andhra Pradesh.
Prior to today's meeting at Patana of Dhinikia panchayat, those the factions which are for and against the project clashed, injuring 10 persons. Leaders of the anti-project faction like Mr Abhaya Sahu said the need to reaffirm and a show of strength were due to certain recent developments, including the district administration's notice to lift the check gates erected

He also said recent reports that the project authorities may give up Dhinikia and redraw their layout were highly misleading.

Today's meeting was attended by people from the villages of Dhinikia, Nugaon and Gadakujnag panchyats. Anti-Posco activists declared that they would not hesitate to become radicals on lines of Maoists, if the government tried to force the issue.

They dared the police administration to use force against peaceful people's movement and resistance. "We know how to respond to police force," they charged. The district magistrate, Mr Promoda Kumar Mehreda, issued notice against 12 persons for lifting the entry gates within seven days and warned them of stern action.

The Posco Jana Sampark Bikash Parishad, a pro-plant outfit, however, claimed today that the Jana Garjan Samabesh had flopped and it did not evoke much of a response amongst the villagers.    The Statesman