Tension prevailed at Gangoor in Arkalgud taluk on Tuesday after the freed bonded labourers of the Dalit colony in the village staged a protest demanding grant of land at Gobbali Reserve Forest.
The villagers had planned to till the forest land as a mark of protest, forcing the district administration to deploy hundreds of policemen to avert any untoward incident.
As many as 91 people, who were freed as bonded labourers in 1994, have been demanding land to cultivate for the last 27 years. The villagers continued to cultivate the forest land, as they had no other land to cultivate.
However, the Forest Department took over the forest land on April 1 this year, evicting the Dalit families forcibly. Since then, the freed bonded labourers intensified their protests demanding the grant of land. They put up thatched huts in the forest land and they had planned to plough the land on Tuesday.
The officers deployed policemen and forest officials at the spot early in the morning. The Health Department had kept doctors and ambulances ready in cases of any violence.
The Forest Department had made plans to remove the huts. The villagers were not allowed even to take their cattle to the forest area for grazing on the day.
Protest
The villagers staged a protest under the leadership of representatives of Communist Party of India (Marxist), Dalit Hakkugala Samiti, Madiga Dandora Horata Samiti and Dalit Sangharsha Samiti at the forest land demanding that their demand be fulfilled. They raised slogans criticising the government for not providing them rehabilitation even 27 years after they were freed from bondage.
Renu Kumar, Arkalgud tahsildar, met the protesters and listened to their grievances. The protesters criticized the officers for failing to grant them land. They said they would not leave until they were granted land.
Speaking to presspersons, Mr. Renu Kumar said as per the directions from the Deputy Commissioner, he had been looking for alternative land. “As many as 91 people were freed as bonded labourers in 1994. Among them, a few have got land. We have to identify suitable land for the remaining people. The rules do not permit us to grant them forest land. We will find suitable alternative land within Arkalgud taluk for them within a week”, he said. The villagers have resolved to wait for a week.
The Forest Department officers maintained that they were only protecting the forest land from encroachers. “Around 55 acres of the Gobbali forest has been encroached upon by the villagers. We are taking up plantations in the area and will not allow them to till the land. Their demand for land will be handled by the Revenue Department”, they said.
CPI(M) district secretary Dharmesh, DSS leader Rajashekhar, Madiga Dandora Samiti district president T.R.Vijaya Kumar, Dalit Hakkugala Samiti leader M.G.P ruthvi, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha district president H.R. Naveen Kumar and others led the protest.
