The Posco project might have divided the local settlers, but Lord Jagannath’s rath yatra tied them in a bond. A day after the Puri rath yatra, residents of the area celebrated the car festival at the Posco project areas.

Burying their past differences over the steel project, villagers today turned out in large numbers to take part in the rath yatra of Lord Jagannath at Gadakujang.

Religious fervour marked the day in the villages of Gadakujang, Nuagaon, Govindpur, Dhinkia and Patana, which are still embroiled in anti-Posco resistance movement. However, the anti-Posco activists, against whom criminal cases are pending in connection with the resistance movement, preferred to stay away from Gadakujang’s annual car festival.

They did so because police arrested Posco opponents at the festival a few years ago.

“Many residents from Dhinkia gram panchayats are facing criminal cases, with police falsely implicating them with commission of non-bailable offence. Fear of police crackdown remained uppermost in their minds. That’s why they did not participate in today’s rath yatra to avert possible arrest. However, others from this area went to the rath yatra ground and pulled the chariot. They prayed to the Lord and invoked his blessing so that they are saved from displacement,” said Abhaya Sahu, president, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samity, the outfit waging a six-year-long resistance movement against the project.

“Observance was on a grand scale in Gadakujang, which is conferred the epithet of the abode of Goddess Subhadra. Legend has that it is here at ‘Sankha Khetra’ that Lord Jagannath and his siblings had safe sojourn here when Muslims invaders had attacked the Puri temple,” said Dushmanta Majhi, a resident of Balitutha village, said.

“If Lord Jagannath ordains, peace will soon return to the village. We are fed up with the prevailing situation. I prayed to God to bless all of us so that peace and prosperity comes to our villages,” remarked Narayan Samantaray of Gadakujang.

“Religious fervour overtook past differences and rivalry. With the large turnout of devotees, festive spirit was palpable. In a way, Jagannath acted as unifying force in these areas. The Lord of the universe bridged the gap between people holding divergent views on the project,” said Vasudev Behera, member, Gadakujang panchayat samity.

The scenario was more or less the same in villages facing displacement. Peace and harmony prevailed in Dhinkia, the nerve-centre of anti-Posco movement as a 20ft wooden chariot carrying three deities rolled majestically on the village road.

The rath yatra has brought about an amount of respite in the troubled villages.

Peace and calm prevailed on the festive occasion as children rode small and miniature chariots. With childlike simplicity writ large on their faces, tiny tots had a great time on the chariots of Puri.