Folk singer Nanjiyamma, who has won the national award for the best female playback singer, has alleged that four acres of her ancestral property at Attappady has been encroached upon by some people.
“The land was owned by my grandfather. Some people encroached upon the land a few years back. They are not allowing us to enter the land. We have registered a case against it. The police stopped us from cultivating in the land until the case is settled. We have documents to support our claim. The case has been posted for August 2,” she said.
Nanjiyamma says hers is not the lone case in Attappady. “Such kind of encroachments are too common in our place. Land of many tribal people has been encroached upon by influential people. We fight the case from the money that we get from daily wages.”
“We are too helpless. When it is even difficult to find money for a living, how can we afford to fight a legal battle,” she asks?
“Agriculture too does not give us the yield as earlier. Elephants and wild boars destroy crops every time. Earlier, our children were healthy as we used to cultivate millets, roots, and tubers. The land and forest used to feed us well and keep us healthy. Now we have to buy everything from shops,” she says.
