No Land for Dalits
Channel: VideoVolunteers
Date: 2014-04-14

The 'Jabran Jot' (forced cultivation) movement (http://landmovements.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/page/22/) of the 1960's spurred many landless, especially Dalit, farmers to forcibly take possession of cultivable forest land. This assertion of their rights, an attempt to correct the wrongs of a history were met with severe resistance from the landed communities accompanied by violence and bloodshed. 

Dalit leaders involved in the land struggle began to realize that they must work together to advocate for the rights of the landless. Consequentially, the 'Jamin Adhikar Andolan' (land rights movement) was born in the 1990's. Of the thousands who took part in these movements and started farming on otherwise empty land, only a handful have been given legal ownership to their land through the 7/12 extract (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7/12_extract). 

Since then, even though JAA has been advocating for a uniform land reform policy to ensure land entitlement to all the landless farmers and pushing for increased government investment to develop natural resources to enhance the livelihood options of the poor and the marginalized, there has been constant resistance from the landed communities. Today's video from Maharashtra is a telling tale of the continuing brute force 'upper caste' people use on Dalits.

In Wasai village in Maharshtra, 40 Dalit families amongst 90 families trespassed on grasslands and have been cultivating crops on them every year. In October 2013, the so called 'upper caste' people from the village called a Village Council meeting and decided to destroy the crops of the Dalits. 

Community Correspondent Radhika Chincholikar documented the case and is trying to resolve the situation by involving the District Collector and all other relevant authorities. Below are the testimonies from the victims of this atrocity. 

"I have been occupying the grassland for the past 40 years and since 2002, I have the ownership license of that land in my name. And from that year till today, I have been earning my livelihood by growing crops on that land. The entire field has been grazed on and spoiled by the cattle brought by the people of the 'upper caste'. After spoiling the crops, they threatened to kill us. And after threatening us, they have even blocked all roads leading to the fields." -Sheshrao Bhalerao, Farmer, Wasai village.

No leniency was shown to the elderly either. 

"When we started cutting the grown crops of Soya bean, 50 men belonging to the 'upper caste' entered our field with cattle and sticks.
We started pleading and begging them: 'Please go out of our field, please don't spoil our crops.' Even then they didn't listen to us. There were around 50 men altogether and I was alone in the field. I tried to convince them in various ways but they didn't listen to me." -- Elderly Dalit woman.  

One person decided to go the police in order to report what had been going on. Almost instantaneously, the people of the 'upper caste' pelted stones at his house. 

"I neither filed a report nor gave any names at the police station. I only informed that the cattle grazed on our crops and spoiled it. I only told this to the police; I did not file any FIR. The people from the Maratha community thought that I had filed a case against them. The police told me to show the place, so I showed him the entire place. Then he went this way. He was about to leave the village when a lot of people came towards my house and pelted stones at it.' -Tukaram Bhise, resident, Wasai village.

This instance is not a stand alone nor is it a rare case. But the fact is that we as a society need to combat this and nip it in the bud. They can be resolved if the concerned authorities take a stand and implement laws better. If the District Collector focuses his attention on this issue, then 40 Dalit families from Wasai will get justice according to the constitution. 

Call to Action:  Please call Narendra K. Poyam, District Collector, Hingoli district, Maharshtra at 02456222560 / 221701 and pressurize the government to provide compensation to the Dalit families in Wasai.