Dalit-Adivasi led Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra (Land Right March) rally thousands in MP

Dalit-Adivasi led Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra (Land Right March) rally thousands in MP

 

9^th April, Damoh. More than seventy families of Dalits and Adivasis occupied land in 2008-09 for their shelter and livelihood in village Pipriya in district Damoh in Madhya Pradesh. They were ruthlessly beaten by the forest officials and many of them were put behind the bars. The court hearing went on for five years and all families were ousted from the land. However, Puna Rajak wife of Gariba Rajak will not sit in peace until she gets the land back from the Government. Hippu Dhanak and Munna Dhanak of village Barkhera joining Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra tells how 20 families of Dalits and Adivasis were cultivating land in the village for about 15 years. Government gave land titles to five Dalit families, but not the possession of the land. These five families have run from post to pillar in the district, but not to any avail. As a result Dalit families continue to be landless despite having land titles.

 

This is a tip of an iceberg of land situation in Madhya Pradesh. Millions of Dalits and Adivasi have no land for shelter, forget about for livelihood or cultivation. Forest Right Act has largely been a non-starter for most of the 90 million plus Adivasis in India. Land for the Dalits under the Forest Right Act is out of question as it demands from the Dalits to prove that they were living on the land for last seventy five years i.e. before the India got independence in 1947. Seems the law makers and the government has no institutional memory of Colonial Raj and the rules, where large scale land alienation had taken place.

 

Realizing no one coming to their rescue, the Dalits led by the Rashtriya Dalit Mahasabha(National Council of Dalits) and the Adivasis under the Banner of Adivasi Adhikar Andolan(Movement of Adivasi Rights) in Madhya Pradesh jointly launched Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra(March for Land Rights) on the 1^st day of the year 2013 from district Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. At the launch they had about 300 persons attending. On 23^rd February, when I went to remotely located village Jeegodar under Nagod Tehseel of district Satna, there were more than five hundred people in the meeting. Local newspaper Chattarpur Times on 20^thMarch reported "Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra Ko Mil Raha Jansamarthan (March for Land Rights getting people support)."  Dainik Jagran, one of the largest read newspaper in India reported on 22^nd March, "Gaon-Gaon Pahunchi Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra (March to Land Rights has reached from village to village)".  A highly respected daily Naidunia published from several locations in Madhya Pradesh informs on 5^th April that Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra led by theRashtriya Dalit Mahasabha and Adivasi Adhikar Andolan had meeting in 20 villages and filled forms of the landless people. The Naidunia also reports about setting up Bhoomi Adhikar Samiti (Committee for Land Rights) in all villages.

 

On 9^th April, thousands of people from more all over Damoh participated in Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra, where they submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor of Madhya Pradesh through the Collector of Damoh. Dainik Bhaskar, another reputed newspaper published from multiple locations in India reported that Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra travelled from 29^th March to 8^th April in 52 villages of Damoh. Similar news reports have also appeared in other newspapers in Madhya Pradesh.

The Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra is unique in many ways. Firstly it is jointly led by the Dalits and the Adivasis and their organisations – Adivasi Adhikar Andolan and Rashtriya Dalit Mahasabha - have joined hands for a common cause that affects both the marginalised communities. Secondly, the Yatra is led by the grassroot Dalits and Adivasis, most of them are locally known faces. Dadu Dayal Kol, an Adivasi himself can barely read and write, but he is known for his monthly Jan Lok Adalat for Land in Rewa, which he has been organising on the first day of every month. Along with him are a number of committed Adivasi activists. Rajkali, an articulate and firebrand Adivasi women is one of them. Lal Bahadur is another Adivasi leader from Tyonthar in Rewa. Achhe Lal Kole, an intermediate and probably the highest educated among the Adivasis joining this Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra. It is not all. There is Sanjay Bharti, a ninth class pass Dalit, who shifted from Delhi to Chattarpur in Madhya Pradesh. He is the General Secretary of Rashtriya Dalit Mahasabha, Bundelkhand. It was his idea of launching Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra from Madhya Pradesh border on the first day of the year and converge the same into the capital of Madhya Pradesh on the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda on 9^th June. There is Gayatri, a Dalit women. She has to manage her small baby while being part of the Yatra.  There is Munni Kewat, an OBC from village Gada in Rewa. Apart from this, the Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra is joined by a band of local people in respective district, who not only guide the Yatra through the unknown roads and tracts, but also organise boarding and lodging to the people in the yatra.

There caste, clan, name and locations where they come from may be different, but they have a common cause. They are not undertaking this Bhoomi Adhikar Yatra to oblige anyone else, but for themselves and the communities they were born into. Most of them have not seen colleges and might even not be able read Hindi or decipher English, but they know the sufferings of their people much better than those who fight for them.

 

Ashok Bharti

 

NACDOR अत्त दीपो भव   OFFICE M-3/22, Model Town-III, Delhi 110009 Phone & Fax: 011-27442744 011-27419002

Chairman National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) International Commission for Dalit Rights, Washington DC. Global Council Member, Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP); Convener, Task Force on Social Exclusion (GCAP) Member, Steering Committee on the Empowerment of SC, OBCs, and NT-DNT for the formulation of 12th Five Year Plan, Planning Commission, Government of India, Member, Steering Committee on Voluntary Sector for the formulation of 12th Five Year Plan, Planning Commission, Government of India,