| Adivasis may repeat Muthanga at Aaralam farm | |||
|
|||
| Police
are keeping a tight vigil in the region following reports that the
Adivasis, led by tribal organisations, may capture the farmland during
the anniversary of the Muthanga police firing, which took place on
February 19, 2003, in which two persons, including a tribesman and a
police constable, were killed. |
|||
| The Muthanga incident had rocked entire Kerala and was the first-ever standoff between the Adivasis and the police in Kerala. |
|||
| There
was a similar operation barely two months before at Neelaimala, close
to the Aralam Farm, and the revenue and police authorities had a tough
time negotiating with the tribals, who had captured more than 40 acres
of forestland. |
|||
| The
operation was spearheaded by the Adivasi Vimochana Munnani, a tribal
organisation that has links with the People's War Group (PWG). Though
the present threat is from the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), led by
its firebrand leader CK Janu and close associate M Geethanandan. The
latter had masterminded the Adivasi agitation at Muthanga. |
|||
| Police
and revenue officials are not ready to take any chances as other
Adivasi organisations, including the AVM of Aruvikkal Krishnan, are
reportedly planning a violent agitation in protest against the delay in
the distribution of farmland to Adivasi families. |
|||
| It
may be recalled that hundreds of Adivasis, including women and
children, had illegally occupied the forestland near the Muthanga
wildlife sanctuary in the first week of February, 2003. They held
hostages 10 police and three forest personnel on February 18, which led
to the indiscriminate police firing on the tribals the next day. |
|||
| The
government had earlier promised to distribute two acres of land each to
1,000 tribal families as part of an earlier agreement reached between
it and various tribal organisations. However, the government could not
keep its word following an indefinite strike launched by the Employees
Coordination Committee at the Aralam Farm, demanding that their jobs be
protected when the farmland is disbursed to the Adivasi families. |
|||
| The
Chief Minister's promise was that in the first phase, two-and-a-half
acres of farmland would be distributed to 1,000 tribal families in the
first week of January. This did not materialise and the process is
likely to be scuttled by the ongoing agitation by the employees
belonging to class 2 and class 3 categories. |
|||
| There
are 119 employees belonging to this category and they fear that they
would lose their job once a major portion of the 320-hactare farm is
distributed to the tribals. |
|||
| The
striking employees on Monday held captive the revenue officials who had
reached the farm to earmark the land surveyed for distribution. |
|||
| The
revenue officials, led by Thalassery tahsildar V Sreenivasan, had to
return without completing their job following the employees' agitation.
|
|||
| Meanwhile,
the Rashtriya Maha Sabha, the political outfit of the AGMS, has alleged
that the revenue officials had left out a number of tribals in Kannur
district from the list prepared for distribution of land. |
|||
| "While
deserving Paniya community members from Kannur have been left out, a
large number of Adivasis from Wayanad have been included. We cannot
accept this as this is against the spirit of the agreement and aimed at
creating division among the tribals," Sreeraman Koyyon, district leader
of the Rashtriya Maha Sabha, said. |
|||
| The Adivasis, he said, would march into the farmland if the government does not keep its word. |
|||
| When
contacted, police and revenue officials told The Pioneer that they were
keenly watching the situation to avert another Muthanga-type incident. |
|||
|
|
|||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
