CPI(ML) Member of Parliament and the General Secretary of the All India Kisan Mahasabha (AIKM) Rajaram Singh has written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging the state government to cancel the proposed acquisition of 1,777 acres of fertile farmland in Devanahalli taluk for a planned High-Tech Defence and Aerospace Park.
In the letter written on July 2, Rajaram Singh stated that farmers from the region have been protesting continuously for nearly 1,200 days. He pointed out that the Devanahalli area consists of highly fertile land that sustains the livelihoods of thousands of farmers and supplies fruits, vegetables, milk and other essentials to Bengaluru. The region, along with surrounding districts, produces an estimated 7 to 8 million tonnes of horticultural crops annually and delivers over 10 million litres of milk each day to the city’s Nandini and Mother Dairy networks.
Rajaram Singh emphasised that the affected farmers have categorically rejected any proposals for partial withdrawal or monetary compensation. The farmers, he noted, are demanding that no acquisition take place and that they be allowed to continue cultivating their ancestral lands which have supported their lives for generations.
Calling the use of eminent domain a “colonial relic,” Rajaram Singh said that forcible acquisition has no place in a democracy. He further criticised the growing trend of governments acquiring land that remains unutilised. Rajaram Singh urged the Karnataka government to prepare and publish a white paper on all lands acquired under various statutes and for various purposes, including data on their utilisation status.
Rajaram Singh requested the Chief Minister to use the opportunity of the meeting with the protesting farmers to announce the withdrawal of the land acquisition in all 13 affected villages in Devanahalli. He also called upon the government to begin the process of publishing the proposed white paper on acquired lands.
