Tontoposhi (Seraikela-Kharsawan), Jan. 10: Villagers of Tontoposhi, the site where the Tata?s proposed steel plant is supposed to come up, have thought up a different way of hammering in the message that they are opposed to the steel plant proposal.

And that is why the festival of Tusu (Makar Sankranti) will be different this year. The guests will not only be served the traditional delicacies but also songs that have been written to send across the villagers? opinion to the government.

?This time, we have composed special couplets for chief minister Arjun Munda, who represents our area. The lyrics have been penned to tell Munda and all the investors that the villagers are not at all in favour of industries coming up their area,? said Nagendra Mandal of Shindugopa village, one of the places selected for Tata Steel?s next project.

Since last fortnight, Mandal, Azad Karmakar, Phulmani Hembrom, Bhado Murmu and other villagers have been racking their brains to come up with the right lyrics and verses.

?Mukhyamantri (chief minister), you got a palace (read home) in Ghorabandha and state capital, then why you are selling your motherland here. Have you forgotten the days spent here during your childhood,? Mandal said, translating a verse written in Kurmali dialect.

Known as the ?makar songs?, which are composed in various dialects such as Kurmali, Santhali and Panchpargana and sung to celebrate the harvest festival, these lyrical pieces often contain stinging remarks. Take for example the couplet that targets Tata Steel managing director B. Muthuraman. ?The land in question is not an ancestral property of Munda that he can hand it over to you for setting up a steel factory,? the song says.

Bhado Murmu, who also happens to be the spokesperson of Bhumi Raksha Gramin Ekta Manch, the organisation spearheading the campaign against industrial projects, informed that local Tusu fairs would be flooded with such messages.

The idea to use the songs as a vehicle of protest was thought up by the village heads of all the 23 hamlets selected for the Tata Steel?s Seraikela project.

?We wanted to tell that we are unhappy with the government?s decision. Through the songs, the villagers have also appealed to the investors to do something worthwhile for agriculture, which feeds an entire population, instead of ousting them from their native land,? explained a villager, suddenly not looking all too sure that all the efforts would pay off.