Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Saturday came down heavily on the state government for ‘police brutality’ on betel growers at the proposed plant site of JSW in Dhinkia of Jagatsinghpur district.
Senior leaders of the party took to social media to condemn the police action on the farmers and women who were protesting the project on Friday. “The visuals of police brutality against the poor betel growers in Dhinkia raises questions on the intention of the so called pro-people government of Naveen Patnaik,” said the Congress in a release.
The party also launched an aggressive campaign with #JusticeForDhinkia on Twitter.
Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Narasingha Mishra in his tweet said, “Stop uncivilized and barbaric attack on women by police at Dhinkia. The Chief Minister should immediately intervene and stop it.”
OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said the Constitution gives people the right to protest peacefully, but the Odisha government believes that protests need to be countered with lathi-charge.
Joining the campaign, Odisha in-charge of the party Dr A Chellakumar said, “Government forcibly acquiring the land for the proposed Jindal Steel plant…Agriculture and farmers’ life were ruined by BJD.”
Chairperson of the party’s social media department Abhishek Mahananda tweeted, “This will haunt you @Naveen_Odisha, beating up farmers , women and children using your police will not go down well in the history. Is it not the curtain raiser to what happened in Kalinga Nagar. #JusticeForDhinkia “.
