Kozhikode, Jan 26 (IANS) Around 500 landless farmers and tribals, led by Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) activists, Friday occupied government lands in Kerala's Wayanad district and set up 150 tents to live in.
The activists of Bhoo Samara Samithi (Land Agitation Committee) and CPI-ML occupied the land at Meppadi in Wayanad, demanding distribution of government land among the landless.
The 1,800-acre land was taken over by the government in 1970 from Harrison Malayalam plantations in the wake of land reforms. It is currently held the state forest department.
A majority of the 500-odd activists who pitched tents on the land are tribals and farmers. Tribals make up 36 percent of the population of the hilly district of Wayanad, around 500 km north of Thiruvananthapuram.
"We want the government to give one acre of this land to each of the 500 landless families. We will not vacate the land till the government takes steps in this direction," said M.P. Kunhikanaran, state secretariat member of CPI (ML), who was leading the agitators.
The district administration has initiated talks with the squatters. "We are trying to make them vacate the land in a peaceful manner," said Wayanad Additional District Magistrate E.T. Lohitha.
A similar agitation for land by tribal outfit Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS) in 2003 at Muthanga in the district led to violence, resulting in the death of a tribal and a policeman.
Showing posts with label CPI ML. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPI ML. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2008
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