Dalit’s Struggle Demanding Land in Kerala

Thousands of Dalits in Kerala is in the path of struggle for the last 43 days demanding land. Dalits from the southern districts of Kerala forcibly occupied the land now under the control of Harrison’s Malayalom Plantation Ccorporation at Chengara , in Pathanamthitta district. This land was leased out to the corporation by the erstwhile Travancore dynasty at a nominal rate. The contractual period has already expired but the successive govts in Kerala never tried to attach the land.

 Last year also the Dalits conducted a similar struggle but it was wound up as an   agreement was reached between the revenue minister of the sate and Dalit leadership that land would be distributed   within six months time. But that promise was never kept.

The state  govt , mainstream political parties and  the  media prefer it better to neglect the whole issue. In the meantime the  authority  is trying to give   an extremist  overtone  to the  struggle .It is alleged  by the 
 Sadhujana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi (SJSV) , which is leading the  struggle that the  govt  was  preparing the  ground for a police attack against the people  in  the model of Muthanga.
Activists of National Federation of Dalit Land Rights Movements and National
Campaign on Dalit Human Rights visited the area and assessed the situation. NCDHR is closely following the  issue and planning serious and effective intervention at the National  and  state level in the  coming days.