Anu Muhammad
The US ambassador in Bangladesh termed Phulbari uprising against an open mining project as ‘nonsense’. I was not surprised. We know very well how US administration looks at people around the world; how they destroy country after country to ensure corporate grabbing; how they celebrate war to give boost to war economy; how they mean war by peace, democracy by dictatorship, development by plunder. We know how US administration lied to the world about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to invade that country and justify war of mass destruction. We know how the US administration has been engaged in war of terror in the name of war against terror; we know how rajabadsha sheikh general and repressive rulers are being patronized by them to ensure resource plundering from the ‘poor’ countries. We know how they show their might to implement projects of mass destruction (PMD) around the world. Historically they have always been behind PMDs; Phulbari open pit mining coal project of the British company Asia Energy Corporation (AEC) is one of them (For detail discussion on the project, see various articles in www.meghbarta.org). Therefore, US envoy’s strong support for that is very consistent. We also understand British or Australian envoy’s concern. We know they move together with the US.
However, I was shocked to see a series of articles written by Bangladeshis, living at home and abroad in the Daily Star, Prothom Alo and some other dailies. I wonder how people who have access to information worldwide, who have high education and supposed to know about experiences of development and underdevelopment around the world, about human potential and human suffering, to have ability to distinguish between right and wrong, to understand cost and benefit could be so insensitive, so cruel to the people of their own country? For them the cries of thousand of people to cancel the Asia Energy’s disastrous project are comparable to the irrational move by a group of student to postpone examination dates, the displacement of 1 hundred thousand people from their lives and livelihoods is comparable to displacement of hundreds to build highway.
For them it is capitalism and development, therefore, we have to accept it. For them while MNCs like Asia Energy was going to contribute development for Bangladesh, people of that area and the national committee were the troublemakers, anti-development tall talkers. For them Asia Energy’s views and promises are trustworthy, but analysis and views of experts opposing the open pit mining (OPM) are not even readable not to mention views of local people, who were going to be victims.
In all those articles, we find sentences from AECs long promises but no mention of facts, figures or analysis, which revealed its anti-people and anti-environmental nature. For them, giving away coal mine to a foreign company is much better choice for Bangladesh then to keep it for the best utilization for the country, for them the best utilization of coal could be to allow the company to take huge part of it because that would bring some royalty income and development of road and port to take that resources. For them, it is foolish to think of developing own expertise and ability to have the fullest utilization of natural resources. They are in favour of the fullest extraction of coal and its drainage to give maximum profit to a foreign company and therefore against the fullest utilization of coal resources for the people and the country.
I am aware of corporate power; there are piles of records how corporates create lobbyist, how they spend huge money in Public Relation (PR) activities. Also, I am aware of ideological hegemony of so-called developmentalism in corporate terms. These writers, clearly imbued with corporate vision and interest, were so upset with the victory of the people that they could not keep their words in bhodrolok’s limit. They made slang and expressed worst possible hatred to the organizers and participants of that uprising, gave wrong facts and impression to the readers.
For the benefit of readers, therefore, I feel obliged to give a narration of the occurrences before and after 26 August. This programme on 26 August to seize AEC office at Phulbari was not a sudden one. This was a result of series of events; company’s moves to ensure maximum profit as well as people’s reaction to ensure their own safeguards.
The people of Phulbari are not so foolish that they dance with the tune of ‘anti-development’ ‘anti-state conspirators’ ‘talkers’ like us. Actually, it is they who initiated the struggle as a reaction to the moves of the AEC, and they eventually contacted us when badly looking for a national body that had been working to preserve national interest and peoples lives. It was the ‘National Committee for the Protection of oil-gas-mineral Resources and Port-Power’, which had been working hard on scrutinizing deals on natural resources since 1998 and raising voices against bad deals.
On the people’s invitation, we first visited Phulbari in mid 2005 and following their fear, we investigated AECs documents. Deconstructing AECs own documents, we discovered the gravity of danger for the people in the region and the country’s economy from the project. In October 2005, we had a dialogue with experts and had intensive discussion on our working paper ‘Phulbari Coal Project: Whose Gain Whose Losses’. That was the beginning from our part. By then AEC had submitted the Environment Impact Assessment report (EIA), but mysteriously environmental clearance had been awarded to them before EIA was even submitted.
Discussion and debates continued. As the days passed, we became more and more convinced about the disastrous characteristics of the project. We embarked on a road march extending 3 days from March 23, 2006 to take facts to the people of other regions as well. On March 25, there was a big gathering in Phulbari, about Twenty to Twenty Five thousand Bangali and Saontal women and men gathered there. In Phulbari Declaration of that road march we stated categorically that, ‘Bangladesh does have the need for coal, need for fuel, need for electricity, need for development and these premises are presented by the plunderers as arguments justifying the project. We want to clearly emphasize that these are precisely the same reasons why we are making the demand for scrapping the proposed project. The project is intended to transfer ownership of the valuable coal and other mineral resources from the hands of Bangladesh people to the plunderer, an inexperienced and imposter company named Asia Energy Co. If the project is implemented, coalmine will become AEC’s property, a small portion (proposal was one-third) of extracted coal will be offered to Bangladesh to be purchased at an exorbitant price. Besides, the open pit mining method proposed for coal extraction will result in destruction of a prosperous area comprising the thanas of Phulbari, Parbatipur, Birampur, and Nawabganj, cessation of all agricultural and other economic activities, extinction of schools, colleges, hospitals, places of worship and loss of archaeological treasure including eviction of lakhs of people, desertification of a vast area of about 600 sq.km. And pollution and poisoning of rivers, canals and wetlands in the vicinity. Those who attempt to portray this project of destruction and plunder as “development” and propagate the view that foreign investments are essential ingredient of “development” are committing crime.’
The declaration continued, ‘on the one hand the life of people in Phulbari and surrounding thanas would be ruined, while on the other AEC would gain a huge sum through plunder. Those who are prepared to indulge in such a vicious profit making through siphoning of non-renewable resource born in 270-280 million years are the enemy of the people. At the different meetings and contacts held during the three-day march, a demand has been raised for putting the people’s enemies to trial. This august assembly declares that we shall never let our lives and property be sacrificed at the altar of racketeers’ profit schemes. We shall not let local and foreign plunderers plunder our precious coal resources.
‘People of Bangladesh and particularly people of Dinajpur are ever vigilant guardians of their resources. We pronounce the following demands from this mammoth gathering of Phulbari to the government of Bangladesh:
- All secret agreements with AEC shall be scrapped.
- The ministers, bureaucrats responsible for this give-away contract shall be penalized through forfeiture of property and subject to exemplary punishment.
- The recently promulgated coal policy aimed at facilitating plunder and appropriation by AEC and Tata shall be annulled and a new energy policy shall be prepared for maximum utilization of oil-gas-coal resources by building a skilled human resource and institutional base.
This meeting demands immediate expulsion of Asia Energy from Phulbari or else the people would be constrained to take stern steps including seize (gherao) unless the demands raised in this meeting are fulfilled immediately.’
Therefore, we together with the inhabitants of the area informed about peoples opinion to the company and the government much earlier. Nevertheless, neither government nor the company showed any respect to the peoples will. They proceeded with the plan to implement to create havoc. While the government was saying that no final contract had been signed, the AEC was expanding their fieldwork, trying to bribing people in many ways and therefore made people suspicious and terrified. In that perspective the gherao programme of 26 August was declared with a hope that both the parties would take necessary steps to cancel the project before the dateline. They did not.
On August 26, 2006, Sixty to Seventy thousand people, men women Bangali Saontal, were marching at Phulbari in Bangladesh to say NO to AEC’s big Open Pit Mining (OPM) Project. People wanted to give a strong message to AEC that they were totally unwanted in the region and also in the country. They were clear in expressing their verdict that no OPM would be allowed in the area. People were angry, nevertheless disciplined. They were gathered under the banner of National Committee.
Police and BDR created a barricade in front of Choto Jamuna River Bridge about a kilometer far from Asia Energy office. Before reaching there at around 3.30 pm we were first hit by several tear gas shells and were lathicharged, but, after the initial chaos we gathered again and marched towards the barricade. We stopped there and on behalf of the people I read out declaration of the massive rally and Engr SM Shaheedullah concluded the programme. It was around 4.15 pm.
That declaration of the gherao programme said,
‘Since, Phulbari coal project is an arrangement to take away coal resources from the people to hand over it to a foreign company,
‘Since, OPM, a profitable means for coal extraction for the company, would destroy the region and would create a disaster for the peoples lives and livelihoods,
‘Therefore we are hereby declaring peoples verdict that, we do not want a project that would destroy our lives, ecology and livelihoods. We do not want a project that would plunder our resources. We will not give our one-inch land to plunder our resources. This project must be cancelled immediately. We urge the government to protect people’s lives and resources not a company’s interest.
‘And, since,
‘In order to grab resources Asia Energy has been engaged in the area in fraudulent activities, bribing, conspiring, cheating;
‘In order to create chaos and violence in peaceful rally, the company and its collaborators tried to spread rumours and panic for the last few days;
‘We are hereby declaring peoples verdict, this company is thoroughly anti-people and its existence will cause more harm and violence here, therefore it must stop all its activities tonight and must leave this place. They are completely unwanted here.
‘If they do not leave by tomorrow morning they will face social boycott.
‘No shop will sell anything to them,
‘No transport will take them,
‘No neighbourhood will allow them to do criminal activities.’
‘If Asia Energy do not leave this place immediately and if the project is not cancelled immediately we will go for further programmes.’
The huge rally endorsed the declaration and whole programme ended peacefully. We came down from the temporary stage and with the local leaders walked down to the opposite of the barricade. Only 200 yards from there a group of people wanted to hear more about the programme. I was explaining, and suddenly at that moment we heard sound of gunfire from the bridge. BDR did that.
It was around 4.30pm. There were about a hundred people both sides of the bridge, they were curious to see what was happening there. Nothing happened there to rationalize firing on the people. We have reason to suspect that the firing by BDR was deliberate, the ‘authority’ had prior plan to kill people to create terror in the area. They probably thought we would break the barricade and would not be able to control the gathering; so firing on us would be justified. However, since we did not break the barricade and did not create any violence despite provocation, the plan was going to be spoiled and therefore on our return they hurriedly went into action. About 20 people were hit by bullets, 5 persons were killed and several hundreds were injured. AEC and their protectors might think that killing people would halt them and people would curse the national committee and whole movement would collapse.
Killing did not stop people from saying NO, rather protests spread countrywide. Women, young and old, came out from their weak shelters to face aggressive BDR. We found the streets full of agitating people majority of whom were women in the following days. From day two, people from adjacent thanas started coming in thousands to express their solidarity. After four days, being unable to stop spreading anger, the government was compelled to sign an agreement with the National Committee, where they made commitment for not allowing open pit mining any time anywhere in the country. The government also declared that it would take necessary actions to cancel Phulbari Coal Project and to say good-bye to AEC. It was a victory of the people; it was a victory of the country.
The people who are embedded with the companies like AEC used to see and enjoy power of the powerful, power of profit and power of plunder. But we witnessed people’s power, power of the powerless, passion of humanity and power of collectivity. Embedded persons may see this as disaster since for them corporate interest must be put above everything, no matter what happens to the people or the country. For them whatever FDI corporates do to maximize profits that must be the best for people, there is no other alternative.
Experiences of many countries of Africa and south America, rich in resources but ugly in poverty and repression, are irrelevant to them. They consider peoples cry against genocidal projects as ‘politics’ harmful for ‘economics’. But facts and figures, the science, clearly shows that natural resources in Bangladesh like in many other countries, have turned into a liability and a source of danger for the people not due to lack of FDI but because of it. A local-global vicious alliance has been working on plundering in the name of FDI.
People are not always passive and fatalist like what this alliance wants them to be. People of Phulbari by sacrificing their lives and many by their sufferings for life made a halt to the process of making PMDs in Bangladesh. That is their best gift to the country. They have written peoples verdict in blood: people will not accept any FDI that goes against interest of the people and the country; second, people will not honour any contracts secretly signed by the commission agents, keeping people in the dark and against their will; and third, natural resources are common good, this cannot be privatized for corporate profit, that must be used for peoples need and development.
Sepetmber 13, 2006
