Trivandrum, October 06: The 26-month-long agitation for land launched by tribals and backward classes at Chengara in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala ended on Monday.
The Sadhu Jana Vimochana Samyuvktha Vedi (SJVSV), which spearheaded the stir, called it off following talks with Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan in the presence of opposition leader Oommen Chandy here in the morning.
SJVSV president Laha Gopalan told reporters after the talks that they had accepted the government offer to provide one acre land to scheduled tribes, 50 cents to scheduled castes and 25 cents to other backward classes, as they did not want to make Chengara another Nandigram. “We would have lost several lives if we had continued the agitation. The activists of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) had made several attempts to kill me and my colleagues. We are ending the agitation to save our lives,” he added.
The Chengara struggle began on August 4, 2007 when about 300 Dalit families moved into the Kumbazha rubber estate of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, demanding five acres of land to all the landless Dalits.
Soon the number swelled to 7,000 with landless people belonging to all communities from various parts of the state pitching tents at the estate braving the strong resistance from the plantation workers led by the CPM-led Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
The government also made several attempts to evict them following the Kerala High Court order on the basis of the Harrison Malayalam’s petition. However, the agitators resisted the move by threatening immolation.
The police were forced to withdraw when the protesters perched themselves on tree branches, armed with kerosene and ropes, in a bid to end their lives.
Later, they received support from several top national human rights activists, including Arundhati Roy, Medha Patkar and Swami Agnivesh.
The package approved by the SJVSV has also provision for financial assistance to the landless for building homes.
As per the package, the scheduled tribesmen would get Rs125, 000, the scheduled caste Rs100, 000 and others Rs75, 000. The chief minister said that the package would be implemented within three months. He said the government had identified 1432 families for distribution of land.
Laha Gopalan had insisted for at least one acre of land to each landless family at the talks. He said that the chief minister had rejected the demand, saying that the government did not have enough land in its possession.
“This indicates the approach of the CPM towards the Dalits. The approach would have been different if it was forward community organisations with political clout like the Nair Service Society or the Sree Narayana Dharmaparipalana Yogam,” Gopalan said.
–Agencies