Karnataka:
Decade Long Peasants’ Struggle summed up in the Convention
As I travelled from Guntur in AP to Bellary in
Karnataka, the vast expanse of parched lands has
no state borders. The region is rain shadow area
and chronically drought prone. Surprisingly, lush
green vegetation greeted me when I reached
Chaganur and Sirivari villages near the district
headquarter town Ballari. The taluk of Ballari along
with Hospet and Siriguppa are few taluks blessed
with water when Tungabhadra dam came up. The
lands turned fertile having two crops a year and even
three.
The state government decided to build another
airport for Bengaluru and notified the lands of these
two villages. The people stood firm to protect their
lands. The attempt at acquiring lands from the
farmers by the government in 2009 led to the
formation of Chaganuru - Sirivari neeravari Land
Protection Committee. The resistance to land
acquisition is going on since then.
“The decade long struggle for land-rights has
taught us many things”, said R. Madhava Reddy,
leader of Karnataka Rajya Rytu Sangha (KRRS), “It
has brought us many friends. Love for our lands
has enabled us to face and bear with steadfastness,
the many wounds inflicted on us, the many false
cases foisted against us and the many humiliations
hurled at us. We truly believe that practice of
agriculture is a way of life and that it has led mankind
into civilization and progress”
“We firmly oppose the anti-peasant policies of
the governments and those who have tried to create
a wrong impression that a peasant’s venture is a
wasteful exercise”, said Mallikarjuna Reddy leader
of the land protection committee, “We understand
and believe that peasantry and the agricultural
labour will not accept government’s alms as charity
and certainly will lead a life of dignity, based on the
sweat of their labour in the lands of their own”.
This spirit reflected in their multiple activities.
Joining hands Land protection Committee and KRRS
took up many programmes opposing introduction of
Bt cotton, agitated against the move by the
government to scale down the Ballari hospital and
many other problems faced by the people. With the
help from the irrigation experts, they studied the
irrigation water scarcity and found that building sub-
surface dams would conserve the water and planned
utilisation of water flowing in Tungabhadra River
would serve agricultural needs both in Karnataka
and adjacent Rayalaseema in AP.
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The KRRS and Land protection Committee jointly
organized a two day convention on February 1 &2,
2019 in Raghava Kalamandiram in Ballari town. The
first day of the convention began at 11 am with
bullock-cart rally by the peasants from Chaganuru
and Sirivara. The Rally was flagged off by Jodalarasi
Gutti Chandrasekhara Reddy, a lierary person of
repute both in Telugu and Kannada languages from
Raghava kalamandiram. It passed through the
thoroughfares of the town for three hours led by the
Madhava Reddy and Mallikarjuna Reddy along with
T G Vittal, agricultural scientist Nagaraju, Maruti
Manpade and AIKMKS leaders Subodh Mitra and
S.Jhansi.
The convention started in the afternoon at 2-30
pm which was presided by Ms. Khazabanu. The
speakers consisting of Maruti Manpade, S.R.
Hiremat, S. Jhansi, Subodh Mitra, C.Peddanna,
Nagabhushan Rao and Madhava Reddy explained
the problems that are being faced by the peasants
and called upon the people to struggle against the
anti-peasant policies of the government.
At 6 pm a session of solidarity to peasants by the
writers and artists took place at the same venue.
While Gutti Chandrasekhara Reddy presided the
meeting, Prof. Rahamat Tarikere (Hampi University),
Suryasagar of Janasahiti, Jan Nagaraju and Kalkura
addressed the meeting. Describing the struggle for
land by the peasants of Chaganuru and Sirivara,
two books were released in the solidarity session –
“Namma Bhoomi; Namma Horata” in Kannada and
“Maa Bhoomi; Maa Poratam” in Telugu. The
speakers at length described the difficulties faced
by the Chaganuru and Sirivara peasants during their
decade long struggle for their land and expressed
their solidarity with their just cause.
On the second day, a meeting of the members of
the KRRS was held to discuss the problems faced
by the people in the district and to discuss the
organization. The meeting discussed the working of
the government hospitals in the area, starting of
agricultural college in the district, how to overcome
the drought situation prevailing in 12 villages of this
area and other issues. Leaders, invitees and
members participated actively in the discussion. The
meeting passed a resolution affiliating KRRS to the
AIKMKS.
As a conclusion, the Chief Engineer of Telugu
Ganga Project, Er.Pratap, explained how the
construction of sub-surface dams built on Papaghni
River benefitted the farmers
contd. on page 23
Class Struggle