A Fact-finding report

(On 14 August, ironically the eve of Independence Day, farmers protesting against corporate land grab were fired upon in Western Uttar Pradesh. A team of the All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM) comprising AIKM Vice President Comrade Prem Singh Gehlawat and National Executive member Comrade Afroz Alam visited the site and met with protesting farmers. Main findings and observations of their fact-finding report are summarized below. Ed/-.)

Farmers whose land is being acquired for the Yamuna Expressway and the associated Hi-Tech cities have been agitating for long against land acquisition. The Yamuna Expressway would be 165 km long, acquiring the fertile lands of Gautam Buddha Nagar, Aligarh, Mathura, Agra and Hatras districts of Western UP and affecting 1192 villages. Jay Prakash (JP) Associates are the builders and developers of this project. Other than the expressway, some 30,000 bighas of land on either side of the Yamuna are being acquired for building townships and commercial ventures. It is this prime land which the Government is acquiring from farmers at throwaway prices and handing over to JP for mega profits that has irked the farmers and brought them out from their farms to the battlefield.

Villagers from the six villages - Zikarpur, Kansera, Jehangarh, Udaypur, Tappal and Kripalpur villages of Tappal block in Aligarh district had been sitting on an indefinite fast since 27 July under the banner of Sarva Dal Kisan Sangarsh Samiti, led by Ram Babu Katelia. 88 villages of Tappal block would be affected as 510 hectares of their farm land would be acquired for building the township. Their main demands were 1. Increase of land rate from the existing Rs. 412/m2 to Rs. 870/m2, the rate given to farmers in Noida two years ago 2. Residential accommodation in the new township to the farmers whose land had been acquired for building the township 3. Residential accommodation to landless labourers of the area who would lose means of livelihood after land acquisition.

Background of movement

Farmers had not wanted to sell land initially. Land was first acquired from small farmers, mostly Jatavs (Dalits) in Kripalpur, Birja Nagla at the rate of Rs 336/ m2. Farmers say only 22.5% of them have agreed to sell their land. Farmers filed a writ in the High Court against land acquisition. The judgement on 2 July went against them. After that, between 8-11 July, the district administration in collusion with JP razed to ground the standing crop of farmers of the six villages, building embankments to encircle their lands and forcefully evicted them. Farmers in Udaypur broke these embankments. The Government had also deviously acquired possession of the land in land records even before the agreement with farmers was finalised. The farmers were then compelled to start an indefinite fast from 27 July against the state government. Thousands of farmers from the nearby villages would gather daily at the dharna in solidarity with the movement.

The Incident

On 14 August, at about 5 pm, a plainclothes Station Officer of Tappal Police Station along with some masked goons of JP reached the dharna site and arrested Ram Babu Katelia. When farmers resisted, they were fired upon by the SO and four people received gunshots. Hearing that their leader had been kidnapped, villagers from the neighbouring villages started gathering at the scene. Meanwhile, a PAC truck reached there and uprooted the tents at the dharna. The people then realized that Katelia had been arrested by the police and they retaliated against the PAC. The PAC fired on the unarmed villagers, killing three, including two children. The PAC entered Zikarpur village and mercilessly beat up even women and children. The villagers fired in self-defence and in the ensuing melee one PAC officer was killed. The farmers were in no mood to relent and ultimately the PAC had to flee. Meanwhile some farmers erected blockades on the Aligarh-Palwal road. Next day, on 15 August, thousands reached the dharna to chalk out the next course of action. The neighbouring towns of Tappal, Jattari and Zewar observed total bandh. In adjoining Mathura, farmers blocked the roads. A large part of Western UP was celebrating its own version of Independence.

On 16th, a massive Kisan Panchayat was organized at the Dharna. Leaders of all major political parties addressed the Dharna. Com. Prem Singh Gehlawat, the National Vice-President of AIKM and Com. Afroz Alam, the national Executive member of AIKM also reached the spot and addressed the gathered villagers and visited their homes.

To dowse the spreading fire, Mayawati rushed her Cabinet Secretary to Aligarh where Katelia was jailed. Under pressure from the movement, Katelia was unconditionally released, a compensation of 10 Lacs was announced for those killed by the police and the land rate increased from 412 to 570/m2.

Those killed in police firing include 13-year-old Mohit, a Class V student from a Jatav family; 13-year-old Prashant Sharma of Jahangarh and 26-year-old Dharmendra of Sarol village. 13-year-old Rafiq Khan, a Class VIII student of Kansera village, has also disappeared since the day of the firing and is presumed dead. Comrade Prem Singh visited the homes of all four.

The UP Unit of CPI(ML) has declared that it will observe 23 August as a Black Day all over the state against the corporate land grab and police firing on farmers. 