Journalist for a Day
on Margaret Campbell's Rambles (India), 08/Dec/2009 08:58, 34 days ago
Recently, two tribal men were shot and killed by police here. The  situation is complex, as Koraput is in India's"Red Corridor" where the Communist Party of India's Maoist wing has bombed railways, blown up police stations and otherwise disrupted the peace. The tribals were part of a grassroots land rights group here that is fighting for the return of lands that have been, from their perspective, illegally alienated. The government and media have branded them as radical extremists and are now bent on arresting those who escaped being shot. Sensibilities on all sides are inflamed. The land rights group is trying to have the Supervisor of Police removed from office (not before he signs my VISA extension, please!) and the police are trying to have the local District Collector (like a county supervisor) removed. Our NGO works on land rights issues so is deeply concerned and I was asked to write an article refocusing attention on root causes. For your reading enjoyment, here it is... Narayanpatna: The Lay of the LandKoraput District, Orissa: Much ink has been spilled over the deaths of two adivasis at Narayanpatna on 20thNovember, 2009, but unfortunately, most of it has been red.The undisputed facts are that 100 or more tribal people belonging to a land rights group gathered outside the Narayanpatna police station about 2 o’clock in the afternoon to express grievances about alleged harassment suffered at the hands of police during “combing” activities in the area intended to combat extreme leftist activities. Arguments ensued and police fired upon the crowd, killing Kendruka Singanna and Andrew Nachika and injuring many more. Calls from human rights organisations to the government have been made to investigate the matter and redress wrongs.Like most conflicts, this incident had both immediate triggers and deep seated causes. The immediate trigger was alleged harassment by police. But while the focus of many has been on the alleged activities of radical extremists in the area, this serves as a distraction from the deep seated causes of unrest: the social and political context that gave rise to widespread landlessness and poverty.Koraput District has a rugged terrain, with a population consisting of approximately 50% adivasis. According to government reports,83% of Koraput citizens live below poverty line with an annual income of less than Rs 20,000 and having less than 2 acres of land, a holding considered minimal for subsistence. 56% of children below 3 years of age and 62% of 2 year olds are undernourished.Semi-starvation is common. This rural part of India is agrarian, so landlessness strikes at the very foundation of people’s livelihoods. Without agricultural land to till or forest to provide sal, kendu and other non-timber forest products, the landless poor have limited options. Herding cattle, performing menial labour such as sweeping and petty business occupy some. Many must migrate to distant sites for construction and railway work, where, far away from home, they are at increased risk for exploitation.The roots of this problem go back generations.Survey techniques created a two-tier system where lowland people receivedpattas(proof of land ownership) but upland people did not, although they had cultivated and protected the land for generations. Survey technology available in the 1950’s registered only those lands at less than nine degrees of slope. Koraput’s tribals occupy the uplands, where they historically practiced “shifting cultivation” and gathered non-timber forest products for their livelihoods. The uplands were characterized as government property, and anyone who resides there or raises crops has encroachment fees levied upon them and is at risk of being evicted. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 and new survey techniques can rectify matters but implementation is slow.Mass displacements occurred as India developed its national energy and industry programs. Over the past 50 years, large hydroelectric projects were built in Koraput district, displacing hundreds of villages and thousands of people, few of whom were provided new land for homesteads and agriculture or adequate compensation. The landless were provided no compensation at all. Ironically, no displaced villages have received either electrification or irrigation. Public sector industry has also proved a disturbing influence on the poor here. Inexpensive but mineral-rich land was seized under eminent domain to develop an aeronautics plant, various mining concerns and railway lines. Some unfortunate villages have been relocated three times. Additional projects are in the pipeline.Land alienation– the illegal transfer of tribal lands to non-tribals – is commonplace. The Orissa Land Reforms Act and the Orissa Scheduled Areas Transfer of Immovable Property Regulation were enacted to stem the transfer of land out of adivasi hands, but the laws have not been effectively enforced. Unscrupulous actors are able to exploit illiteracy and naiveté among the adivasi to get their thumbprints on illegal land transfers. Local moneylenders acquire mortgages on land during lean years when marginal farmers need loans to buy seed or survive crop failure. High interest rates make these loans impossible to repay so the land stays in the hands of the lender. Some officials are willing to record approval for the sale of land to non-adivasis for a “fee”. Illegal sales of “country liquor” lubricate all these transactions and help bring parties to the table.     This is the backdrop against which Koraput’s adivasis joined in collective action to protest further land alienation and demand the return of lands that had been illegally transferred. Although an impartial judicial investigation to the events of 20thNovember and follow up actions are necessary, they are not sufficient. The laws to reverse the past injustices over land ownership, displacement and land alienation have been enacted. The citizens of India now need to ensure they are promptly and fairly applied.