This untitled film powerfully documents the voices of the Dalits and Adivasis who have entered the Harrison estate asserting that the right to land is a basic human right for marginalized communities.

International Campaign against Forced Displacement and Special Economic Zones

Launched at the Third International Assembly of the ILPS –June18-20, 2008 in Hong Kong

The issue of forced displacement has been a concern of the ILPS as formulated in Concern 16 from the very founding of the ILPS at the First International Assembly in May 2001. However, in later years, with the increasing crisis of capitalism and more aggressive methods of plunder and exploitation to feed into the frenzy of maximising the profits of multinationals, the imperialist powers and reactionary forces in power have pursued a devastating policy of mega projects that include large scale land grabs for mining, hydroelectric projects, deforestation, urban beautification and other projects of similar ilk. Such projects cause large scale displacement and are direct attacks on the livelihood of millions of the poorest strata of society including peasant farmers, tribal peoples and urban poor.

The imperialist powers and reactionary authorities count on disorganised and dispersed resistance against such projects and use the authority of the state to ram them through.  They also deploy private sector armed mercenaries to fulfil their aims of satisfying their greed for profit and at the same time cause depopulation of areas where resistance against imperialism is greatest. Adding insult to injury, these projects are cloaked in the rhetorics of development and progress, industrialisation and improvement in the lives of individuals.

In the last few years, popular resistance against such a policy has been growing. This is manifested in legendary and heroic resistance by the poor and the oppressed in various parts of the world. One such outstanding and remarkable resistance is the case of the peasants of Nandigram in India.  In 2007, tens of thousands of villagers around Nandigram in West Bengal spontaneously mobilised to resist the forceful attempts of the local henchmen of the imperialist powers and reactionaries, fronted by the CPI(Marxist) led government in West Bengal in India to seize their land as part of the overall policy of land acquisition and the special economic zones (SEZs)in India. Notwithstanding the criminal actions of the CPI(Marxist) led government that have left hundreds dead and many others injured, the resistance continues till today.

Further, in India in March 2007, a major conference was held to address the growing issue of land acquisition and imperialist development policies in Ranchi. This was a product of attempts to unite the many forces in India and it was strongly supported by the ILPS. The RanchiIndia and attracted a large number of intellectuals and activists to unite and oppose such reactionary and devastating policies. (The declaration and documents from the RANCHI conference are attached for your study). conference succeeded in uniting over one hundred organisations in

Being in full agreement with the Ranchi conference; in support of the ongoing people’s resistance in Nandigram; recognising no less militant struggles in other areas of India, Brazil, US (victims of Hurricane Katrina) and other countries and regions, the ILPS at its International Coordinating Committee (ICC) meeting, in early 2008, resolved to lend its full weight behind such initiatives and set in motion the launching of an  international campaign against forced displacement as part of its general strategy to build up organised resistance to imperialism and reaction on an international scale.

Thus, building on the achievements of the people’s struggle in India and other places and based on the concepts developed at the Ranchi conference in India, the Third International Assembly of the ILPS attended by 246 participants with 168 delegates from 30 countries was an fitting venue to launch a dynamic campaign to raise awareness, educate, organise and mobilise for struggle against imperialism and reaction on a variety of levels, giving priority to the struggle at the mass and grassroots scale.

The Launching of the International Campaign against Forced Displacement and Special Economic Zones

• International Initiative Committee commences preparations for the formal establishment of the campaign within one year

• The initiative committee approves the basic concepts for the Int’l Campaign and calls to prepare for a fact finding mission to India to compile information on forced displacement and the effects of SEZ

The special meeting to launch the International Campaign against Forced Displacement and Special Economic Zones, was held on 19 June, 2008 at the ILPS TIA venue, in Hong Kong. Full report of the meeting was delivered to the assembly, at its plenary session, on June 20th by the coordinator of the initiative committee of The International Campaign against Forced Displacement and Special Economic Zones (ICFD) and received the full backing of all attending members of the ILPS.

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An all India fact finding team comprising of  six  democratic rights organizations visited districts of Gumla, Palamau, Lathehar, East Singhbhum and Saraikela-Kharsewan between the 3rd and 4th October 2008. The objective was to look into issues and experiences related to displacement occurring as a result of projects undertaken in the name of development and growth. These included hydel power and irrigation projects, firing range and steel plants owned by TATAs, Jindal, Bhushan Abhijeet and  Essar group of companies. The specific issues addressed by the team included the very process by which both the government and corporate houses went about informing the affected public, the question of compensation for the land acquired or in the process of being acquired, rehabilitation of people, etc.

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by Amit Bhattacharyya

After the historic Nandigram struggle, it is now the turn of Lalgarh. If Singur faced the initial experience of defeat, Nandigram could legitimately take pride in her experience of victory in course of her long and bloody struggle against the oppressive anti-people West Bengal government, the ruling CPI (M)-sponsored hermads (goons) and police brutality. From the historical point of view, Nandigram elevated the struggle against displacement and the State-sponsored land-grab designs to a qualitatively higher level. It showed a path that, although rooted in the anti-colonial struggle of the 1940s, was new and had elements from which the struggling people of other regions could learn. And Nandigram had already found a rightful leading place in the history of just struggles in our country. The Lalgarh struggle started in a somewhat different context and so has many new features attached to it.

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The concept of the Int'l Campaign, its launch and the decsions of the initiative committe were ratified unanimously by the ILPS pleniary session on June 20th 2008.

Thus, the present website is being launched in order to publish all pertinent documents, reports, and will endevour to compile and distribute news and information relating the issue of forced displacement and the resistance of the people against that imperialist models of "development" that are the largest causes of peoples displacement.

The website will host all such material not only from those within the Campaign and but all those engauged in this just struggle. However, the initiative will closely adhere to the spirit and the concepts as layed out by the Ranchi Declaration of 2007.

Please see the following links for further information on the International Campaign Against Forced Displacement and SEZs:

The Concept

The Campaign

The Community

For further information, please contact:

The initiative committee through info@no2displacement.com or
ILPS Information Bureau info@ilps2001.com

To subscribe to the public mailing list of the Int'l Campaign
please send a blank email to: info-request@lists.no2displacement.com?subject=subscribe