Major tribal agitation for land brewing in Kerala's Wayanad
KALPETTA: Wayanad is set to witness a major tribal agitation for land in the coming months. Community leader C K Janu and political parties, including the CPI(ML) Red Star, are planning to launch protests against the district administration for its failure to implement an official order to transfer nearly 60,000 acres of land owned by foreign companies and currently held by individuals or institutions into government hands.
According to a 2019 state rural development department order, district administrations are supposed to file civil suits against private individuals in possession of foreign plantation land. There are 48 such parcels in Wayanad. But the district administration is yet to file any case in civil courts, a Wayanad revenue department source told TNIE.
“As of now, we haven’t filed any case, but the department has initiated all procedures that need to be covered before a legal battle,” the source noted.
All British plantations in Wayanad were established in the 19th century by displacing tribal communities. “All this land belongs to the tribal people. The government should acquire these plantations and distribute them to landless tribals and establish land ownership,” said Janu, president of the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha.
"Since 2001, various governments have held numerous ‘Pattaya melas’ to allot land to landless tribals and dalits. But at these events, tribals are given possession certificates whereas beneficiaries from other communities are handed the title deeds. Tribal people are being treated like second-class citizens and denied their rights. What will the tribals do with possession certificates? They can’t even pay tax on their rightful land. Without a tax receipt they can’t even get loans from banks,” said Janu.
“Even in cases where tribals have received title deeds, their rights have remained on paper. There are thousands of poor tribals who have title deeds but are unaware of where their land is. All the plantations and lands which were possessed by foreign companies and later transferred to private individuals should be taken back by the government and distributed to tribal communities,” she said.
“There are tribal protests happening in various parts of Malabar. The protest in Nilambur has crossed 250 days. Yet the government hasn’t taken any steps to distribute their rightful land,” Janu added.
The CPI(ML) Red Star will launch its protest in January. “With the district administration failing to file civil suits, many foreign companies are transferring their land rights to private individuals,” said K V Prakash, the party’s Wayanad secretary.
“There are many such illegal land ownerships in Wayanad. This can be prevented only by the intervention of district and state administrations. Our protest on January 16 will be of a token nature. But it will followed by many more agitations to press the district administration to implement the government order,” he added.