[Excerpts from the paper presented by N. Murthy in the Hyderabad convention on “Land Reforms and State Repression in AP]
OF late, East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh has been witnessing a new wave in land struggles by the rural poor under the leadership of the CPI(ML). At present, land struggles are going on in at least 15 villages simultaneously. The struggles are primarily being led by the village-level struggle committees of agricultural labourers and poor peasants under the leadership of local Party committees.
In recent times, about 1500 people have been arrested implicated in around 30 false cases, mostly under non-bailable sections, in different villages. The police are also resorting to brutal repressive measures like severe lathicharge on women in Lachireddypalem village. Unable to suppress the movement through repression alone, the administration is also resorting to new divisive tactics to split the struggling people. For example, the district administration is forcing the Endowments Department (Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department) to conduct auction on lands already under the occupation of the poor and lease them out to middle peasants from intermediate castes and kulaks. In several instances, it is making use of the SC Corporation to lease in the lands which promises to rent them out only to dalits while denying any land to non-dalit agricultural labourers though they are also organized under AIALA and are already occupying the lands. The rural poor unitedly rebuffed this divisive tactics of the administration, rejected the offer of the SC Corporation unitedly and took up land redistribution into their own hands. With its policy of equitable land redistribution to agricultural labourers of all castes, the district unit of AIALA carried out independent land survey and redistributed the land to agricultural labourers belonging to all castes and sections who participated in the struggle and thus defeated the divisive schemes of the administration. The example of Tondangi village in Tuni mandal is a case in point.
Below we give some examples of land struggles in some villages.
In Thetagunta village, 17 acres and 60 cents of ceiling-surplus land was given to the Forest Department to raise nursery instead of distributing it to landless poor. Enraged by this attitude of the government, people organized under the banner of AIALA demanded distribution of these lands. They also identified 8 acres of poramboke land in which a landlord had raised a cashew garden and 9.5 acres of ceiling-surplus land which has been under a High Court case for a long time. In the month of May, 400 people hoisted flags on the lands. Reacting to this, landlords filed a police case on 250 people. Police came twice to the village to arrest the people but they resisted.
In the same village, 2 acres of revenue poramboke land was occupied and huts were erected by the people. The landlords instigated some people under the banner of caste who are aspiring for this land and filed cases, brought the MRO and police, and in their presence landllords’ henchmen removed the huts. Condemning this incident, people from different villages were mobilized under the banner of CPI(ML) and the landlords were warned of dire consequences if any of them tried to suppress the people. Ultimately, the landlords came to a compromise and conflicts arose among them.
In Agraharam village of Kotananduru mandal, 19 acres of land belonging to the Vidhya Sankara Swamy temple was captured by an absentee landlord. He managed the Endowment Department and delisted this land from the endowments property list. He leased out this land to 6 middle peasants. 120 people hoisted red flags on the land and seized the mango crop and distributed it among the people. Police came twice to the village and seeing the determination of the people they went back.
In Tondangi village, struggle started during the earlier Telugu Desam regime centering on 508 acres of Endowment land. 34 acres of this land was under the possession of small and middle peasants and the remaining 474 acres were under the possession of kulaks and landlords. After several rounds of struggle our people captured the lands under the possession of landlords. So far the police and the administration supporting the landlords filed 8 cases implicating 224 members of poor people from all castes. A 37-member people’s committee is leading the struggle. So far the MRO office has been gheroed 5 times and dharnas were conducted 6 times before the Collectorate. There were clashes with landlords’ forces on four occasions but the final clash took place on the day when people entered the fields to hoist the flags. This incident took place in the presence of police who encouraged the landlords and their henchmen. Landlords mobilized 180 people to obstruct the people entering the fields numbering 400. The landlords’ goons threw stones on the people, 17 of our people were injured, and in retaliation, people chased the goons injuring 13 of them.
The SC Corporation tried to divide the people along caste lines and its efforts were foiled. Though the negotiations are dragging on our people have started cultivation despite the fact that the AP High Court played a reactionary role by granting a stay against our people.
In Sringavriksham village, the issue centered on Endowment lands of 180 acres. Two cases were. 30 members, including leaders, were arrested. Later the Revenue Department entered the scene and brought the SC Corporation into the field. Our people forced the SC Corporation to lease in 180 acres under the occupation of rich farmers from the Endowments Department and redistributed it among the poor. The membership of AIALA is 332 in this village.
In PE Chinnayapalem village, 35 acres of ceiling-surplus land still under the occupation of landlords was identified and AIALA demanded that the government seize and distribute it among 160 AIALA members. After several representations, the mango garden (35acres) was seized at last. Landlords’ forces and the police jointly came to raid the dalits’ settlement but they foiled their attempt and forced them to retreat through resistance.
In Kommanapalli and Ravikkampadu villages a land struggle has been going on for more than a decade. 663 acres of land spread over in the above two villages belonged to landlords who were brothers who had no legal heirs. After a period of time, the government declared 95 acres and 85 acres of lands belonging to the two landlords respectively as surplus land. But the government distributed only 37 and a half acres and 47 acres of these lands and left the remaining lands with the landlords. In the meantime one landlord died. In the absence of legal heirs to the deceased, the other landlord who was alive started selling the surplus land of his brother also.
The rural poor people of Kommanapalli as well as the people of Ravikampadu, armed with CPI(ML) and AIALA banners, seized the surplus lands. Landlords mobilized their forces and 70 policemen to raid the dalit settlement of Ravikampadu. They raided the dalitpeta, laticharged the people arrested some people. Three false cases were foisted on them. Nevertheless the agricultural labourers are continuing their struggle. Now the RDO has intervened and talks are going on. The AIALA membership is 500 in these two villages.
In Dharmavaram village, 300 acres of Endowments lands belonging to Srivenuglopalaswamy temple are there. In May 2005, local AIALA seized 75 acres of this under the control of landlords and hoisted red flags. Mainly dalits have joined AIALA in this village. A section of BCs have also joined. The landlords announced through a mike that the dalits and BCs should not join CPI(ML) but can join the Congress of the TDP. But when our people asserted that they would join only CPI(ML), the upper caste landlords, under the leadership of the village sarpanch, declared a social boycott against them, refusing them agricultural work and preventing them from drawing water from the common water sources of the village for cattle etc. CPI(ML), AIALA and AIPWA organized a big dharna before the District Colletorate on 11th July, 2005 and 300 people from this village participated.
In Ommangi village a struggle is going on over 90 acres of ceiling-surplus land and the police arrested and filed cases against 165 AIALA members twice. But the struggle is continuing.
Land struggles are going on in Gaigogulapadu and Panduru in Kakinada rural mandal. Gaigogulapadu is located on the outskirts of Kakinada town and due to expanding urbanization a single acre of land cost more than 25-30 lakhs here. Here we are waging struggle over poramboke land for housesites for the poor.
In the adjoining village of Panduru, we are conducting a struggle over 11 acres of poramboke land under the illegal occupation of kulaks. After an intense struggle, the kulaks came for a compromise under the mediation of the MRO and offered only 5 acres for us. Our people did not reject compromise in principle but went in for a hard bargain offering only 3 acres for the landowning farmers. The struggle is continuing.
In Yeleswaram mandal, 90 acres of land was seized by AIALA in Marribandam village and distributed among the tribals.
In Gontivanapalam village, AIALA launched a struggle to occupy lands acquired by the government for the Yeleru canal but left unutilized. The landlords who had given this land to the government and taken compensation are still in possession of these lands. A struggle was launched by the local AIALA to seize these lands. One landlord gave a false complaint to the police that CPI(ML) activists had stolen the teak trees from his land though he had sold these trees to merchants a few months back. To challenge the temerity of this landlord who dared to file a false case against CPI(ML) and to crate red terror, a ‘Gontivanapalam Chalo’ call was issued in that mandal. Thousands of people from all the villages in this mandal marched to this village to gherao this landlord who ran away from the village seeing the militant mood of the people.
Militant resistance struggles have also been organized in recent times in Lachireddypalem village and Sangavaka tribal village in Kotananduru mandal. Successful land struggles have also been conducted in new delta areas like Karapa village in Peddapudi mandal and in another village in Sampara mandal. q