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Somwarpet, A.27: The Forest Department has continued to harass farmers through C and D land, Section-4, deemed forest and other provisions, and despite drawing the attention of the government many times, to no avail. In this context, it was decided in the meeting of the Farmers' Struggle Committee that a fight should be waged against the government along with the Forest Department.
At a meeting of the office bearers of various rural development committees of the taluk area organized at the Srigandha Hall of the Vokkaligara Community Hall here, the farmers discussed the problems they are facing and made preparations for the next fight.
As an initial step, an open meeting was held at the Jessie Forum in Somwarpet on November 3, and it was decided to call the district-level officials of the Forest Department and the officials of the Revenue Department to the place and submit a petition again. Along with this, it was decided to hold continuous sit-in protests at the district level during the winter session, fight against the government, and draw the attention of the session.
Although the problems related to land have already been brought to the attention of people's representatives, forest and revenue department officials, concerned ministers, and the Chief Minister, there has been no benefit. Against this backdrop, the meeting decided to change the nature of the struggle and hold continuous protests.
There is a conspiracy to seize 50,000 acres of land planted by farmers. There is a conspiracy to convert 40 acres in Negalle, 80 in Kalkandur, 37 acres in Chaudlu, 56 acres in Kooti, and 80 acres in Koogur into forest. In Haraga, 512 acres have been converted into 512 hectares. Due to this, there is a fear of losing 1500 acres of land. Suresh Chakravarthy, president of the Farmers' Struggle Committee, who presided over the meeting, said that the forest officials are only saying that it is a deemed forest by word of mouth and are not providing any documents.
The forest department is saying that there is an order that if there are 50 trees, it can be declared a deemed forest. Farmers have planted thousands of trees in their gardens. There are hundreds of trees around the Vidhana Soudha. Will the forest department also move to declare the Vidhana Soudha a deemed forest? Suresh questioned and said that if the farmers do not organize and fight, their existence will be threatened.
The forest department has encroached on the land of Kalachanda Naniappa of Mukkodlu village and cut down the trees. Now the forest department has given a notice to the victim Naniappa. He said that a fight against such a problem is inevitable.
Although the government has given 2 acres of land to the tribal community in Bettathur through RTC, the forest department has also cleared 2 acres of land. Suresh said that although we have fought, protested and appealed many times, the problem has not been resolved by the government and the forest department.
The peaceful struggle has not been beneficial so far. The struggle should be intensified. Rajesh of Kothnalli said that a fierce struggle should be waged against the authorities and the government. Ranjan of Tholur Shettalli opined that a continuous sit-in should be held in front of the District Collector's office.
Raitha Sangha Taluk President K.M. Dinesh said that if injustice is done to Kodagu, the Raitha Sangha will come to Mandya. The state will also support it. All the parties that have ruled so far have cheated the farmers. All the party MLAs will unite in Vidhana Soudha. If it comes to struggle, they should leave politics and take to the streets, he said.
Right now, farmers are being misled by saying that the case of C and D land is in the Supreme Court. Hasn't Article 370 been revoked in Kashmir? The people's representatives should just make up their minds. All the parties should unite. The people's representatives have no concern for the farmers. Dinesh opined that a non-political struggle should be waged in the future.
In Kodagalli, 42 villages in Section 4, 19 villages are being identified as sensitive areas and 52 villages are being identified as highly sensitive areas. The Forest Department is silent because the farmers are aware. They are already evacuating in the outer districts. The Mukkodlu incident has shown the strength of the farmers, said Secretary Diwakar.
Former Legislative Council member S.G. Medappa said that the government has not woken up about the farmers. If we want to save the land for the next generation, we have to fight right away. In the meeting held a few days ago, the officials had said that they would give a factual report. However, notices are being issued. If there is no united struggle, we will set fire to our own roots. We should fight to save our land for us, he said.
We will conduct a joint survey of Chaudlu village. The officials had said that they would issue notices to the villagers. But Chaudlu villager Dinesh said that the Forest Department is coming for the survey without giving any information. If the survey is stopped, there is a possibility that the officials will sit in the office and submit the old report again. The confusion regarding this should be cleared up, said Bannalli Satish.
Committee convener Deepak said that the officials have prepared the documents they need. The government's attention should be drawn through struggle. He opined that instead of fighting in court for the time being, they should fight in an organized manner and inform the officials at the government level.
Farmers' Association President Edadante Lava said that a committee should be formed at the hobli level. The meeting was attended by the district vice-president of the Farmers' Association, G.M. Huvaiah, and village committee leaders from more than 50 villages.
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