Displaced Dalits, joined by hundreds of activists of the Opposition parties and Dalit organisations, allegedly stormed a disputed piece of land at Devarapalli, near Parchur, on Saturday.
Tense situation prevailed in the village for some time even as Parchur Mandal Revenue Officer Srinivasa Rao and police personnel camping in the village made a vain bid to prevent their entry into the disputed land.
The assembled Dalits vowed to grow crops during this kharif season in the “Kunta Poromboke land,” which they had been enjoying for decades before the authorities took it over to restore the defunct water bodies under ‘Neeru Chettu’ programme.
Pouring out their woes, a group of Dalits, who formed the Devarapalli Dalit Bhoo Porata Committee to spearhead a struggle to reclaim the land in their possession for decades, said during the Indira Gandhi regime, 39 Dalit families had been given small pieces of land measuring 20 to 50 cents each for undergoing family planning operations.
“We have been growing, among other crops, cotton, chilli, Bengal gram and tobacco for six decades. But all of a sudden we have been deprived of their land by the present government,” lamented 65-year-old Dayasali, who is now clueless on eking out livelihood after losing 50 cents given to him.
“What can we do when our only means of living is taken away,” asked an 80-year-old Pedda Seshamma, who has lost 40 cents.
“We had even paid land tax for the land in our possession in the past,” added another Dalit P. Manikyala Rao.
Taking up cudgels on behalf of the displaced Dalits, CPI(M) district secretary Punati Anjaneyulu asserted his party along with Left and other like-minded parties would wage a protest till the Dalits were given back their land.
Congress district president E. Sudhakar Reddy, CPI Ongole city secretary U. Prakasa Rao, Kavulu Rythu Sangam district secretary P. Hanumantha Rao, Kula Vivaksha Porata Sangam district secretary B. Raghuram, Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Workers Union (APAWU) district secretary K. Anjaneyulu expressed solidarity with the agitating Dalits.
Case registered
Meanwhile, the Parchur police registered a case of trespass against the Dalits and the Opposition party leaders on a complaint from the Mandal Revenue Officer, who maintained that the land in question was ‘Kunta Poramboke land’ and belonged to the government.
The Left parties would thwart every efforts being made by the ruling Telugu Desam Party to deprive Dalits of the meagre land holdings given in the past in, among other villages, Posalapadu, Nagulapalem, Nilagallu, Inagallu, Mupalla and Bhimavaram in the district, Mr.Anjaneyulu asserted.
