A serious situation prevails at the Chengara estate in Pathananthitta district of Kerala, where several thousand landless families have been camping since a year demanding farm land. Now the trade union movements under the control of the political parties, notably the CPI (M), which heads the State government, have imposed a blockade in the area. The blockade has two aims. One is to force the agitators, most of whom are Dalits and Adivasis, by denying them access to food and medicine. The other is to deny Kerala civil society groups, which have expressed solidarity with them, from going to their help.
I appeal to human rights defenders to raise their voice against the fascist attempt by Kerala's political establishment to smother the peaceful agitation by the most poor section of Kerala society. Chengara: Independence Day thoughts http://keralaletter.blogspot.com/2008/08/chengara-independence-day-thoughts.html Since August 3, some persons, said to be plantation workers, have been engaged in a blockade to force several thousand landless people, most of them Dalits and Adivasis, out of the Chengara estate in Pathanamthitta district, where they have been squatting for a year demanding farm land. While the squatters have been peaceful, the workers involved in the blockade have been violent. They have forcibly prevented social activists from meeting the squatters and damaged their vehicles. They have also abducted women squatters who came out of the estate to fetch necessities. The police, who are present in the area, are clearly in collusion with the workers, who are under the flags of different political parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which heads the government of Kerala. They have arrested and removed activists who wanted to assert their right to enter the estate and meet the squatters. The blockade is inhuman. It denies the squatters, who include a large number of women and children, access to food and medicine. According to media reports, the unions are taking a tough stance and the situation is getting more complex. (See report in The Hindu.) The government of Kerala held two rounds of talks on the issue. One meeting was called by the Chief Minister and the other by the Collector of Pathanamthitta. Clearly there can be no peaceful solution of the problem so long as the blockade, organised with the tacit approval of the CPI (M) and support of the government machinery, lasts. A small incident can lead to a repetition of Muthanga (where the Kerala police broke up a similar agitation using bullets, when the United Democratic Front was in power) or Nandigram (where the West Bengal police broke up a similar agitation in a joint operation with CPI-M cadres and goons). Let us ask the CPI (M), which, as the ruling party, has a duty to act in a responsible manner, to call off the blockade and create conditions favourable to peaceful resolution of the problem. I have sent today a message to the Chief Minister, the Collector of Pathanamthitta, the General Secretary of the CPI (M) and the State Secretary of the CPI (M) in this regard. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The blockade of Chengara estate by workers, with the tacit approval of the CPI (M) and connivance of officials, has created a serious situation. I earnestly urge the CPI (M) and the State government to use their influence and put an immediate end to the inhuman blockade, which denies several thousand squatters access to food and medicine, and resume talks with them to find a peaceful solution to their problems. B.R.P.Bhaskar Silpam, NRA C-29, Cheruvickal, Sreekaryam, Thiruvananthapuram 695017 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ More information on the Chengara agitation is available in the following posts in my blog KERALA LETTER Changing grammar of protest stumps political establishment (April 14, 2008) http://keralaletter.blogspot.com/2008/04/changing-grammar-of-protest-stumps.html Chengara – the problem and the solution (August 8, 2008) http://keralaletter.blogspot.com/2008/08/chengara-problem-and-solution.html Here are links to two reports with a bearing on the Chengara situation: The South Asian: Chengara Land Struggle in Kerala Chengara, Kerala - land grab, Adivasis, and peasant struggle - A ... The following is a rough English rendering of extracts from two reports which appeared in Malayala Manorama, the widest circulated Malayalam daily, on Sunday, August 17: Medical camp will not be allowed in Chengara, say workers Athumpukulam (Konni): The plantation workers' blockade is posing a hurdle to the Health Department's plan to conduct medical camps. The workers' stand is not to permit the camp. There was an exchange of words between Health Department officials, who went to the scene of agitation at the instance of District Collector P.C. Sanalkumar, and the plantation workers over this issue yesterday. The Health Department officials found during the visit that several persons in the scene of agitation are suffering from diarrhoea. Some people are also suffering from chicken pos. They use water from a canal for cooking. Sometimes they draw water by digging near the canal. The officials said this was the main reason for the ailments. Leaders of the trade unions which are conducting the blockade say their common stand is not to allow anyone to enter the scene of agitation. This will make it difficult for the agitators to get medical help. This may create serious health problems there. Chengara: workers' blockade will continue Konnappara: The decision to suspend the blockade of the Chengara estate erected by the workers has been given up. Instead, the workers have decided to continue the blockade with some relaxations. With this, the hope that the tension in the area will end has faded. Social activist 'Grow' Vasu who came to visit the scene yesterday and members of the Chengara Solidarity Committee who marched to the estate were arrested by the police while on the way. Earlier the union leaders had said the blockade will be suspended till the first week of September. Theis, they added, was to allow people in the scene of the agitation to leave. However, a meeting of union leaders held in the evening decided to continue the blockade.
