Bhumi Adhikar Andolan 

36 Pt.Ravi Shankar Shukla Lane (Canning Lane), New Delhi-1

Press Statement

Bhumi Adhikar Andolan condemns the state repression and illegal land grab of marginalised people and stands in solidarity with people resisting the state repression in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

New Delhi: A core group meeting of Bhumi Adhikar Andolan was held on 18th May 2022 at the All India Kisan Shaba office. The meeting was chaired by Ashok Choudhury, AIUFWP. It was attended by Hannan Mollah, AIKS, Prem Singh, AIKM, Krishna Prashad, AIKS, Roma Malik, AIUFWP, and Com N.K. Shukla, AIKS and other members of Delhi Solidarity Group.

This year witnessed an alarming wave of violent repression of land defenders across the county. The extractive industrial model, together with the state repression, is destroying the forest, land and water. In the meeting, a joint analysis was conducted of the present situation of Land grab and the people’s movement against it.

At the onset of the meeting, a brief assessment was done on the land grab attempts by the central and state government to benefit the corporate around India. A few main issues discussed were the forceful excavation of tea plantations in Dolu Tea Estate in Silchar, Assam, without any consent of Tea Garden Workers. 

More than 4.5 lakh plants covering 170000 hectares of land in Hasdeo Aranya area in Chhattisgarh is being brought down by the state government for coal mining. 

In Deocha, Birhum, the West Bengal state government has proposed open cast mining without any consultation with the affected families and environmental experts. The project will impact 4,314 households. This will result in the displacement of 21,000 people, of whom 9,034 are from the Santhal community (Scheduled Tribe) and 3,601 from the Scheduled Caste. 

In Odisha, seven untouched forests have been auctioned by the state government for bauxite and iron ore mining. Similarly, in Dhinkhia, brutal police repression was done on the anti-Jindal protestors who were trying to protect their land from getting illegally grabbed by the Jindal groups. In Koraput, the government conducted a public hearing to get the environment clearance without allowing dissenting voices in the public hearing. In 2021 a fresh lease for 6 million tons of bauxite for 50 years was given without any consent of the gram sabha. 

In Bihar, people who were residing in the government wasteland are being forcefully evicted without giving any notice. 

In Gujarat, Narmada district, indigenous people are being harassed by the state machinery in the name of upgrading the area surrounding the megalomaniac Statue of Unity.

In Rajasthan, the government has proposed a nuclear plant at Banswara that will acquire 107.3 Ha of forest land for Mahi Banswara Rajasthan Atomic Power Project.

In Tamil Nadu, the High court banned cattle grazing inside forest areas and directed the state government to prohibit cattle –rears from taking their cattle for grazing inside the forest. 

The meeting also had a focused discussion to take up the ongoing issues of communally attacking the working class and using bulldozers to demolish their homes for corporate benefits. This act of govt was condemned, and it was resolved that BAA would oppose this kind of politics tooth and nail.

Com. Prem Singh called for unity of activists and social movements urgently against the state repression and present model of land grab. 

Roma Malik from the extended solidarity to the prolonged organized struggles against the eviction of the indigenous communities and marginalized sections across India by the state governments.

The meeting resolved to organize the national level convention in July, and it was decided that in the month of June, state-level conventions will be organized at Raipur Chhattisgarh to extend solidarity to the struggles of Hasdeo Arand Bachao Sangarsh Samiti, and similar solidarity visits and meetings will be organized in support of long-standing struggles of indigenous people of Dhinkhia against the brutal state repression.    

Com. Hannan Mollah announced that a detailed report compiling all land grab issues titled “land grab issues in the interest of corporate” will be released before the national convention.