The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR) and the Housing and Land Rights Network in India have sent out a press release calling for the state and central government to act on an imminent threat of force and violence directed towards Dalit villagers. The villagers have been peacefully protesting the take over of their land by the Korean based POSCO steel production company, threatening their livelihoods. Despite protests being non-violent, the police have been terrorising the villagers and threatening them and the press release describes a tense situation where it is feared that the Dalit villagers may face brute force and false charges from the police.
Paul Divakar, General Secretary of NCDHR, comments that:
“The human rights of Dalits have been blatantly violated in the POSCO project villages. An embargo type of situation has been created in these villages through police terror to suppress the peaceful resistance of the people.”