The post office at Dhinkia village, a bastion of anti-Posco movement, in Jagatsinghpur district reopened on Friday after eight years.
The post office was the first casualty as the village drew international attention for spearheading a protracted agitation against the proposed South Korean mega steel project in the area. The situation complicated in April 2007 when authorities suspended postmaster Babaji Samantray for his alleged involvement in the agitation. Enraged over the action, people boycotted the post office and prevented his successor from joining duty.
With talks of Posco project being shelved doing the rounds, the villagers welcomed reopening of the post office and participated in a simple function at the panchayat office to mark the occasion.
Several people walked into the post office on the first day, said Subhashree Behera, the new postmaster.
"We agreed to reopen the post office after consulting locals and those leading the agitation," said inspector of postal department Dibyasingh Tripathy.
However, Babaji Samantray's fight for justice continues. "I had nothing to do with the agitation. Police registered 15 false cases against me and accused me of attacking pro-Posco villagers," he said. His case is pending with the Central Administrative Tribunal.
The post office was the first casualty as the village drew international attention for spearheading a protracted agitation against the proposed South Korean mega steel project in the area. The situation complicated in April 2007 when authorities suspended postmaster Babaji Samantray for his alleged involvement in the agitation. Enraged over the action, people boycotted the post office and prevented his successor from joining duty.
With talks of Posco project being shelved doing the rounds, the villagers welcomed reopening of the post office and participated in a simple function at the panchayat office to mark the occasion.
Several people walked into the post office on the first day, said Subhashree Behera, the new postmaster.
"We agreed to reopen the post office after consulting locals and those leading the agitation," said inspector of postal department Dibyasingh Tripathy.
However, Babaji Samantray's fight for justice continues. "I had nothing to do with the agitation. Police registered 15 false cases against me and accused me of attacking pro-Posco villagers," he said. His case is pending with the Central Administrative Tribunal.
Source:-The Times of India
No comments:
Post a Comment