[Bloquez l'empire!] DEC 16: ALCAN OUT OF KASHIPUR! VIGIL IN MEMORY OF THREE COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS KILLED PROTESTING ALCAN MINE

[tamara]

3 DEAD + 5 YEARS + NO JUSTICE = NOT JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE FOR ALCAN!

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VIGIL IN MEMORY OF THREE COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS KILLED AS A RESULT OF 
ALCAN'S "DEVELOPMENT" IN INDIA: 5TH ANNUAL COMMEMORATION 
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CANDLE LIGHT VIGIL & FILM PROJECTIONS
+ music, speakers, tea, snacks

WHEN: DECEMBER 16TH, 2005, 4:00 TO 6:00 pm
WHERE: MAISON ALCAN, 1188, Sherbrooke W. @ Stanley (Peel Metro)

Called by the Alcan't in  India Solidarity Project

Alcan't in India will also hold an all-day picket outside the Maison 
Alcan (8 am to 6 pm). Come show your support!

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REMIND ALCAN THAT DECEMBER 16TH WILL NEVER BE JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE.
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On December 16th 2000, several policemen were dispatched to the village 
of Maikanch, in India's Kashipur region. Their orders: to search for 
and arrest targeted "leaders" of a peoples' rally that had taken place 
the day before.

The gathering had been organised to denounce the development of a 
lucrative mining project by the Utkal Consortium - owned in part by 
ALCAN of Canada - on the sacred land of the Adivasi (indigenous) and 
Dalit (lower-caste) People of Kashipur.

On that day, the police shot and killed three villagers: Damodar, 
Raghunath and Avhilas Jhodia. These men's opposition to the plundering 
and destruction of their ancestral land by a foreign corporation was 
their only "crime".

ON DECEMBER 16TH, 2005, THE ADIVASIS AND DALITS OF KASHIPUR WILL 
CONFRONT POLICE AND PARAMILITARIES TO GATHER IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 
SHOOTING OF DAMODAR, RAGHUNATH AND ABHILASH. SOLIDARITY MOVEMENTS FROM 
ALL OVER INDIA AND THE WORLD WILL GATHER TO DO THE SAME.

Five years later, ALCAN still denies any responsibility in this 
tragedy. Yet the company continues to push the Utkal project forward 
and its active share has grown to 45%.

Despite having no documented evidence, Alcan executives continue to 
allege that the project has the support of local villages. At the same 
time, Alcan refuses to acknowledge signed statements of opposition by 
elected village leaders and a motion passed in the village council 
calling for the projects' cancellation.

THIRTEEN YEARS OF RESISTANCE & MOUNTING REPRESSION

Over the last thirteen years, the people's grass roots resistance has 
actually prevented the company from beginning construction. But in the 
last year, the company and its allies within the Orissa government have 
once again resorted to police violence to repress the people's movement.

After Chief-Minister of Orissa called for the suppression of all 
anti-mining activity in Kashipur in late 2004, police executed a 
violent charge with batons against villagers who had gathered to 
propose the mine. Since then, targeted "leaders" have been bullied and 
jailed under dubious charges while anti-mine villagers and local 
pro-People NGOs have been submitted to continued political harassment. 
The entire region is essentially under police occupation.

STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT IN KASHIPUR.

Remind Alcan, as repression continues due to its investment, December 
16th is not just another day at the office.

For more information on Alcan's Kashipur project and the people's 
resistance movement or to get involved:

-ALCAN'T IN INDIA-

www.alcantinindia.org