http://www.ibnlive.com/news/rural-india-streams-into-delhi-after-340km-marathon/51287-3-1.html
Rural India streams into Delhi after 340-km marathon Rupashree Nanda / CNN-IBN Published on Saturday , October 27, 2007 at 23:09 in Nation » India section New Delhi: The national highway has seen many close shaves. But few like Banwari, a carpenter from Madhya Pradesh, marching to Delhi to demand his right to land. He is a Dalit dreaming of tilling his own farm. "Isn't there place for the poor in the country? Is being poor a crime, a curse?" he asks. The 300-kilometre march has worn out Kalicharan's shoes but not his resolve. "I will die but not go back without a piece of land. How will we live? " he asks. Some men share a smoke and their personal history. Of them two were evicted from their land by the uppercaste Thakurs. "It's been more than 15 years but no one listens to us," says Bog Singh from MP. There are tribal groups from Kalahandi, Orissa, who are resisting the mining in their hills, and Mussahars from Bihar who want the government at their doorstep. "All this is very beautiful – big buildings, different variety of food. But tell me why is my village so impoverished," says Kaili Devi from Bihar. The faces comprising the march are the faces of Incredible India, but are incredibly invisible, walking towards Delhi to make itself visible and be heard. They have one demand – land. Land to build their huts on, land to bury their dead in, land to graze their cattle, land for farming, and land for life. It remains to be seen how the UPA government which calls itself as the government of the aam aadmi greet them once they reach Delhi. -- Subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a BLANK email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
