|
|
| |
|
Tryst
|
| |
|
|
|
Development is hijacked by multinationals
The term development is hijacked by multinational
companies and their campaign managers, says P V Rajagopal ,
member, National Land Reforms Council and president Ekta
Parishad, a Gandhian organisation fighting for the rights of
Dalits and tribal. In an interview to TSIs K Sunilkumar, he
says land is the biggest
issue
|
| |
![]() How do you see the ongoing agitations
for land in various states?
Struggle for land is a
major issue in various states. Despite 60 years since
Independence, the governments have not been able to solve the
problem. A major portion of the land in the country is still
with a handful of mighty people. And the number of poor,
landless persons throughout the country is increasing by the
day. Dalits, tribals and other marginalised sections are the
victims of this issue. Simultaneously, the struggle for land
has converted itself into a political issue in several states.
In West Bengal, Kerala, Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh,
the land issue has now come to occupy centre
stage.
Does the dispossession of people for
developmental activities also pose a challenge?
In
the name of development, governments forcibly acquire land
from the people. For creating expressways and highways, people
have been evacuated from their ancestral land. With new roads,
the number of vehicles will also go up exponentially. To meet
the demand for more vehicles, motor companies have to
perpetually identify land for new vehicle production units.
Peasants are being forcibly evacuated from their cultivable
land. The increasing demand for fuel has also become an issue
for farmers. In a move to resolve the fuel crisis, state
governments and other agencies are trying to find out
alternative fuels like Jetropha. In Rajasthan and Chattisgarh,
large areas have been used to cultivate Jetropha. With this,
farmers have lost the land which rightfully belongs to them.
Another problem is SEZs and other large
projects.
The situation is very alarming. Land
grabbing is the real agenda for Multinational Corporate
companies within India or outside. Even in UP, where Dalit
messiah Mayawati is in power, there is a proposal to build a
20-km Taj Corridor along the bank of River Yamuna. When the
corridor comes into existence, 80 villages in the region will
lose their source of drinking water. In Kalahandi and Raigad
in Orissa, a large area has been set aside for bauxite mining,
as part of a project to construct a port. Tata proposes to
build a giant steel unit in Jharkhand and instal 300
mini-hydel stations in Uttaranchal . These projects will
displace lakhs of people and majority of them are Dalits and
other marginalised section.
There is an argument
that these land agitations are anti-development. How do you
develop without land?
The term development should
be redefined. Development has been hijacked by multinational
companies and their campaign managers. Their virulent
campaigns have silenced many voices from the marginalised
sections of society. Is it right to say that `development is
only for the development of Tata, Birla, Harrison or Reliance?
I cannot agree with this argument. Development is a process
designed for the well being of all, from top to bottom.
Development will be meaningful if there was no hungry man left
in the country. Ignoring this one basic issue, one cannot talk
of development. |
| |
|
What about the land
policy of the Centre and state governments?
Land is a ladder for betterment of life. But
when people reach the glorious heights in life, they should
handover the ladder to those who have no other means of
survival. Agricultural development is also part of our
country's development. Our governments are busy implementing
the World Bank agenda on land reforms. According to them, it
is time to put to an end the land reforms issue. For them land
to the people means only bare living space for a family. The
demand for distribution of agricultural land is not going to
be solved with this limited, one-sided agenda.
Land
struggles are gaining momentum in other countries also.
The struggle for land is gaining momentum in
various parts of the world, including America, Europe, Asia
and Africa. Indigenous people become landless because
corporate giants have grabbed their lands in connivance with
their governments. There is a powerful land struggle on in the
Latin American countries, especially in Brazil where the
landless are fighting every inch for land. In such a vast
country, nearly 80 percent of people still live in slums and
over 100 multinational firms between them hold majority of the
land. Only three percent of land has been transferred to the
poor in South Africa even after its independence. In the US,
the first citizens (terms used for natives), are still
fighting for land. Europe, too, witnesses a peasants struggle
for land.
How do you view the land issue in Kerala
and Bengal which are ruled by Leftist governments?
The attitude of Left governments in Kerala and
Bengal is really shocking. Though the Communist parties claim
themselves to be pro-poor, in both states their governments
and party cadres try to suppress the voice of landless people.
I am at a loss to understand CPM's approach in Kerala
which is reluctant to hold a dialogue with Dalit organisations
agitating for land. I believe that the Chengara issue is
sustaining itself because of this attitude.
Moreover,
Communist parties in India have changed their policies and
attitude along with their line on globalisation. They have
reached the conclusion that the land reform process has come
to an end. Their leadership and the Left government has
rejected the demand for a second round of land reforms which
assures land to Dalits and tribals in the country. According
to them industrialiation is the only way out for development.
So they are in a tearing hurry to allot as much land as
possible to Tatas, Salim Group, Birla, Harrison and other
corporate houses.
Like Chengara in Kerala, Dalits
and tribals are in the forefront of land struggle. How do you
view this?
I think this is a new phenomenon. It is
also in the right direction. Dalits, tribals and other
marginalized people are the major victims of globalization.
And now they have realised that no government or political
party can help them to acquire land and other basic rights
guranteed under the Constitution.
Is there any move to integrate these various
agitations?
Ekta Parishad is trying to bring these
various organizations and movements under a common platform.
We have created a forum called National Campaign for Land and
Livelihood for this purpose. We have already opened an office
in New Delhi for the forum.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
