Launching a blistering attack on the TRS government for allegedly unleashing repressive measures against tribal people cultivating podu lands in Agency areas, CPI (M) State secretary Tammineni Veerabhadram has warned of intensive tribal movements akin to those led by revolutionary leader Alluri Sitarama Raju and Gond tribal leaders against tyranny.
The TRS regime earned notoriety for driving away tribal farmers from podu lands that had been in their possession for generations, destroying their standing crops and slapping cases against them, all in the name of Haritha Haram, he charged.
Addressing mediapersons along with the CPI State secretary Chada Venkat Reddy and CPI (ML-New Democracy) State Assistant Secretary Potu Ranga Rao here on Tuesday, he alleged that the hostile attitude of the State government towards podu cultivators amounted to undermining their legitimate rights guaranteed under the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
A joint team comprising leaders of the Left parties and farmers’ organisations will visit the houses of distressed podu cultivators in four districts, including Khammam, for two days, he said.
The Barosa Yatra by the seven Left parties is aimed at instilling confidence among the distraught podu cultivators those attempted suicide unable to bear the agony of losing their podu lands, he said. Mr Ranga Rao alleged the TRS government was defeating the very spirit of ROFR Act by resorting to repression against podu cultivators.
