A coalition of civil society groups held an “alternative people’s session” on the question of land reforms at Freedom Park on Tuesday and opposed the Karnataka Land Reforms (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
They demanded that the Bill and the ordinance be withdrawn immediately. They also held a people’s land adalat, which saw the participation of those fighting for land for a long time across the State. The adalat was presided over by retired High Court judge Justice Nagamohan Das.
A host of political leaders from the Opposition, including Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar from the Congress and former Ministers H.D. Revanna and Basavaraj Horatti from the JD(S), visited the protest site and announced support for the movement. Mr. Siddaramaiah said the amendments being brought to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961, were undoing the land reforms brought about by D. Devaraj Urs in the 1970s that ensured land for the tillers. “I call upon both the Congress and JD(S) members to act together and ensure the Bill is not passed in the Council.”
Earlier in the day, speaking at the alternative people’s session, Noor Sridhar, from Bhoomi Mattu Vasati Hakku Vanchitara Horata Samiti, said land reform has remained an unfinished agenda of the spirit of the national freedom struggle.
Justice Nagamohan Das suggested a slew of measures to ensure land resources stay with farmers. He said that the government needs to conduct an audit of use of lands acquired for industries and other public projects and return the lands that have remained unused.
The Aikya Horata, a coalition of farmers, Dalit and labour organisations, said it would soon announce its stand on the Karnataka bandh proposed on September 25 against the agriculture reform bills passed by the Union government and the two ordinances being brought in by the State government. All-India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, an umbrella body of over 250 farmer organisations across the country, has called for a Bharat bandh on September 25.
