The eighth anniversary of the Kalinganagar firing was observed by the Bisthapan Virodhi Mancha at the site of the firing at Champakoili village on Thursday. Over a thousand people belonging to the Mancha and other anti-displacement organisations paid tributes to those who were killed in the firing by the police on this day in 2006.
Fourteen tribals, it may be remembered, had been killed in what has remained a blot on the record of the Naveen Patnaik Government for opposing the construction of a boundary wall for the proposed Tata Steel plant at Kalinganagar. A rally was organised on the occasion by the Mancha later in the day, its secretary Rabindra Jarika said. He also said, “We reaffirm our pledge to continue the fight against displacement for which the tribals laid down their lives.” Four platoons of police, along with two magistrates, were deployed to prevent any untoward incident at Kalinganagar.