ON November 29, thousands of people marched forward to take the land that legally belonged to them. That land of 44 acres belonged to tribals and dalits. This land was illegally occupied by Isha Foundation that is led by Swami Jaggi Vasudev. He is considered very close to the ruling elite. At least one central minister visits that Foundation in every fortnight. The public sector enterprises are doling out public money to this Foundation. The Foundation and the land that was encroached by them are in the Vellimgiri Hills that lies in the outskirts of Coimbatore.

The encroachment issue was raised by a social activist Rajesh Kumar who was mysteriously found dead in Neeliyar dam. People believe that he must have been killed since he was instrumental in raising the encroachment issue. Another activist, Siva, was arrested on the forged charges and was sent to jail. Thinking that the opposition was silenced, the Isha Foundation was trying to put a fence around the land.

People of that area organised themselves and stopped the fencing work. Though the work was stopped, the pillars that were put-up to do the fencing, still remain there. The government and the district administration took no steps to resolve the issue. People kept fighting for their legitimate right to have that land that was distributed to them.

These 44 acres of land were actually distributed among the tribals and dalits under the Land Surplus Act. But, with the help of some government officials, the land was taken over by the encroachers. The issue was brought to the notice of the CPI(M), AIDWA, AIKS, and Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front (TNUEF) by various NGOs, dalit organisations and social activists.

Sensing the need to intervene, these organisations had petitioned the government officials and insisted them to retrieve the land and distribute it to the deserving people. The silence of the officials could not be broken with the submission of petitions. Hence a series of agitations were carried out to espouse the cause of the affected people.

A protest demonstration was organised on August 17 under the leadership of U Vasuki, Central Committee member, CPI(M). After this, another protest demonstration was held on October 10. AIKS, AIAWU, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI, CITU, TNUEF, Samooga Neethi Katchi, Aathi Thamizhar Katchi and various other organisations took part in that demonstration. On October 21, a picketing programme was also organised in Alandurai. All these efforts were ignored by the administration. Hence, a meeting was organised on November 18. The meeting was presided over by P Sampath, president, TNUEF. In this, various mass organisations and dalit movements took part. It was decided to conduct direct action programme on November 29 to retrieve the land.

MASSIVE

TURNOUT

Large number of people started assembling in the morning itself to go to the encroached lands. The police tried to stop the people by arresting them. Knee-jerk reaction was there from the administration when they saw people in large numbers gathered to take part in the struggle. Thousands of people were moving towards the land from various points. The police and the administration decided to side with the encroachers.

From two points, the leaders of various organisations led the people and marched towards the land. One team was led by P Shanmugam, state general secretary, AIKS, Venmani, general secretary, Aathi Thamizhar Katchi, Panneer Selvam, Samooga Neethi Katchi, Siva, Social Activist, Amirtham, Radhika, Amutha, AIDWA and others. The second team was led by P Sampath, U Vasuki, PR Natarajan, ex MP and CPI(M) state committee member, V Ramamoorthy, CPI(M) Coimbatore district secretary, UK Sivagnanam, TNUEF deputy general secretary and others.

The people along with the leaders marched for seven kilometres defying the police. Many were arrested on the way. But, thousands of people had entered the land and kept the flags all over. Red, blue and white flags converged on the land and symbolised the multifaceted strength of the movement. Slogans condemning the attitude of the district administration were roaring in the air. Finally, the administration had to relent and they came forward to talk to the leaders.

AGREEMENT

After few hours of talks, there was an agreement between the Struggle Committee and the administration. The major aspects of the agreement were that:

1. The documents will be verified and the encroached land in the 44 acres will be vacated. The land will be distributed among the deserving people.

2. Action will be taken against encroachers as per the Criminal Penal Code.

3. The Isha Foundation has undertaken some construction activities that blocked the path of elephants, causing inconvenience to the people. This will be brought to the notice of district collector for early solution.

4. The issue will be resolved in 15 days.

The people received the news of the agreement with loud applause. The leaders have also assured the people that the issue will be taken forward if the administration does not act upon its promise. Various mass organisations have also assured that the struggle will be taken forward. C Padmanaban, CITU, VP Elangovan, AIKS, Kanagaraj, Raveendran, DYFI, Deepak, SFI, Tirumalaisamy, AIAWU, Chandrasekar, Paramasivam, TNTA and M Anandan, AILU also took part in the direct action programme.

FINAL VICTORY

TO THE PEOPLE

A section of the press has tried to underplay the effect of the movement. It was also alleged that the Isha Foundation had successfully silenced a section of the media. Despite the heavy public relation work by the Isha Foundation, the massive turnout of the people had forced the administration to relent.

This struggle has had its impact in the Coimbatore district. This is going to be remembered by the people of Coimbatore for long, long time. A seed of confidence is sown among the people's minds.