On 2 February, villagers from the khattas (forest settlements) and forest dwellers of a large number of villages came together for a spirited rally at Haldwani.
This ‘Unity Rally’ was held to demand that Bindukhatta be declared a revenue village; the scattered khattas be united and brought under the ambit of the Forest Rights Act 2006; extortion and exploitation of van gujars (forest dwellers) be stopped; a stop to pollution by paper mills and a guarantee of jobs for locals in these mills; Rs 10 lakh compensation for the families of those killed by tigers in the Corbett Park and effective measures to protect the people from the wildlife; and various rights and amenities for milk producers. Khattas are the settlements created within forests for cattle grazers by the Forest Department, and their residents are called ‘van gujars’, mostly from the Muslim community. In spite of being residents of the settlements for decades and coming under the FRA 2006, they are deprived of any citizens’ rights. Thousands of villagers from around 30 villages attended the rally which was addressed by AIKS National Secretary Purushottam Sharma, CPI(ML)’s Uttarakhand In-charge Raja Bahuguna, and AIKS Haldwani district president Bahadur Singh Jangi and Vice President Man Singh Pal among others.
TN updates
Campaign for Land Reforms
On Feb 14 state-wide demonstrations were held by CPI(ML) and AIALA demanding immediate convocation of a special session of the Assembly on land reforms and formation of a Land Reforms Commission in the state.
During the last Assembly elections the DMK had promised to distribute 2 acres of agricultural land to every landless family, but once in power it reneged completely on that promise and instead threw all its weight behind the corporate land-grab campaign. More than 30,000 acres of agricultural land have been given to big industrial houses, especially to SEZs, at throwaway prices. About 2 million acres of Panchama land distributed to Dalits during the British Raj have also come under the illegal occupation of private land grabbers as well as government institutions. Apart from more than half a million acres of wet and dry lands held by temples, Mutts and religious trusts, private universities and colleges and corporate hospitals have also been granted hundreds of acres of agricultural land under Land Reform Act exemption clauses. Against this backdrop, the CPIML and AIALA have been campaigning for the setting up of a high power Land Reforms Commission. Land apart, the February 14 demonstrations also highlighted the demand for rural employment, insisting on at least 200 days of assured employment under MNREGA at a minimum daily wage of Rs 200.
AISA Holds “People’s Parliament on Education”
On the first day of the budget session of Parliament (Feb 21st), AISA held a “People’s Parliament on Education”, in which several noted educationists and teachers, students, and people from all walks of life participated, rejected the corporate-driven education agenda represented by UPA-II’s proposed Bills on higher education and passed a “People’s Charter on Education.” Campaign against Killer Vedanta in Shevaroy Hills
The notorious Vedanta group which has been denied mining rights in Niyamgiri Hills of Odisha in the face of powerful mass protests is engaged in illegal and destructive mining activities in Shevaroy hills of Salem district, an area rich in bio-diversity and mineral resources. A people's convention in Salem resolved to kick-out killer Vedanta from Shevaroy Hills. For the past 40 years the bauxite mining activities in the 700 acres of land, the killer Vedanta did irreparable havoc in and around the hills. Apart from destroying the flora and fauna and rare species, the bauxite mining over 700 acres of land (though the company has lease for only 400 acres) is threatening the very existence of the local Malayali tribe numbering around 50000. This reckless mining is also affecting more than 10,000 acres of agricultural land in the region leading to severe agrarian crisis and large-scale migration of local tribal youth including young tribal girls who are forced to work in conditions of semi-bondage in the spinning mills of Coimbatore.
A campaign has now been launched to save the hills and the people and oust killer Vedanta from the area. Following the release of a well documented fact-finding report on 23 January 2011, a people’s convention was held in Salem on 13 February. The convention was attended by a good number of tribal activists, teachers, researchers, students, workers, left-leaning political activists, literary and cultural activists and journalists. Com. Chandramohan, CPI(ML) State Committee member and an organizer of the Oust Vedanta campaign explained the salient points of the report of the fact-finding team. The convention was addressed among others by Com. S Balasundaram, CPI(ML) State Secretary and tribal leaders KA Gunasekaran and Kubendran.
13th Death Anniversary of Com. Anil Baruah Observed
CPI(ML), AICCTU, AIPWA and Sadou Asom Janasanskritik Parishad jointly observed the 13th death anniversary of Comrade Anil Baruah at Guwahati Press Club on 11 February, the day on which ULFA gunned down the CPI(ML) leader and Lok Sabha candidate in 1998 when he was delivering his speech at an election meeting at Naharani, near Naharkatia of Dibrugarh district, Assam.
On this occasion, a meeting was organised in the Guwahati press club on the topic "Insurgency in Assam and the Peace Question". The meeting was conducted by AICCTU Assam state secretary Viren Kalita and addressed, among others, by renowned journalist, writer Jatindra Kr. Bargohain, columnist and writer and president of "Niryatan Birodhi Eikya Manch" Dr. Anima Guha, CPI(ML) PB member and state secretary Rubul Sarma, General Secretary of All Assam Janasanskritik Parishad Loknath Goswami, ASCSS state secretary Bibek Das, Arup Mahanta, secretary AIALA, Assam, and trade union leader Dhiraj Das. Many trade union leaders of central TUs and leaders of oil, bank and other sectoral trade unions, leaders of cultural organisations including IPTA, and journalists and writers attended the meeting.
While the ULFA today seems to be headed towards some sort of political settlement with the Centre, the meeting unanimously opined that no insurgency could really be resolved without constitutional guarantee of the rights of local people on water resources, mineral resources such as oil, gas and coal, and tea, timber and other forest resources, and a comprehensive settlement of the issues of tribal autonomy and scheduling of agitating ethnic groups. The meeting called upon all democratic and patriotic people of the state to unite against individual terrorism and state terrorism. The meeting also demanded withdrawal of all black acts including AFSPA, UAPA, an end to fake encounters and arrest and killing of innocent people, stopping indiscriminate imposition of 144 on democratic movement and arrest of all ruling party leaders and workers linked with terrorist outfits.
Workers’ March to Parliament, February 23, 2011 Thousands of workers under the banner of various central trade unions marched to Parliament against price rise and demanding upholding of labour laws.
Patna Univ. Students Protest Death of Fellow Student
Chandrashekhar, a BA student at Patna College and Co-Convener of AISA in Patna University, was grievously injured when he fell from the un-barred window of a room in Minto Hostel, and later succumbed to his injuries. Students of Patna University went on strike subsequently in protest against the abysmal infrastructure of the University and hostels in which such an accident was waiting to happen, and against the callous attitude of University authorities who were nowhere to be seen for 36 hours after the accident, leaving Chandrashekhar’s friends and family alone in their desperate bid to secure treatment.
The prestigious PMCH was unable to provide even the basic scans and emergency neurosurgery, and his fellow students were forced to take him from hospital to hospital in vain before a neurosurgeon could be found to perform an operation seven hours after the accident. The Chief of Neurosurgery at PMCH said that had surgery been performed immediately after the accident, there were very good chances Chandrashekhar’s life could have been saved. As it was, Chandrashekhar could not be saved even after he was brought to AIIMS in Delhi.