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ALCAN OUT OF KASHIPUR!
Picket at Alcan Annual Shareholders Meeting in Solidarity with Kashipur Resistance!
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DATE: Thursday, April 27th
TIME: 8:30 am to 12:30
PLACE: Centre Mont-Royal, corner of Mansfield and Sherbrooke, Peel Metro

Communities from India’s Kashipur region in the state of Orissa continue to face repression and state-sponsored police brutality in their struggle against Alcan’s proposed bauxite mine and alumina smelter. On April 27th, Alcan executives and shareholders will gather at the Annual General Meeting in downtown Montreal. Come out and bring the Kashipur struggle to the streets of Montreal!

** AT 8:30 AM, MAKE NOISE FOR ALCAN EXECUTIVES AND SHAREHOLDERS!!

BRING YOUR POTS, PANS AND NOISEMAKERS TO MARK THIRTEEN YEARS OF RESISTANCE!!

Over the last thirteen years, the adivasi (indigenous) and dalit (low-caste) grassroots resistance movement in Kashipur has prevented Alcan and its corporate partners in UAIL from building a bauxite mine and smelter on their land. Since late 2004, the consortium and its allies within the local government have been executing a wave of police violence and political repression. Dozens of anti-mine village activists are being held on false charges and the entire region is under police occupation, creating an escalating climate of fear for communities fighting for their land and livelihoods.

THE KALINGANAGAR MASSACRE: A MESSAGE TO ALCAN

In January 2006, in nearby Kalinganagar, police opened fire on villagers protesting against a steel plant, killing 12 people and leaving behind 37 severely injured demonstrators in an incident which sent shockwaves throughout India. The political regime behind the Kalinganagar massacre is the same regime which is working closely with Alcan and its partners to crush resistance to the Kashipur project. This incident is a stark reminder of police shootings at an anti-mine protest which left three villagers dead and thirteen seriously injured in Kashipur in December 2000.
Read the full report by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Orissa on the Kalinganagar massacre

DEMAND DIVESTMENT!!

In solidarity with the grassroots resistance in Kashipur, India, Montreal’s Alcan’t in India collective is demanding that Alcan divest from the UAIL alumina mine and smelter project. This demand is based on :

1.The ongoing police brutality and political repression which has resulted in dozens of political prisoners, three deaths and increasing militarization in Kashipur and nearby Kalinganagar,

2.The serious environmental risks which could jeopardize the lives of tens of thousands of marginalized dalit and adivasi people, whose means of livelihood are dependant on agriculture,

3. Recognition of the right to land and self-determination of the dalit and adivasi people.

For more information or to get involved in the Alcan’t in India Campaign: alcantinindia@yahoo.com.

www.alcantinindia.org