Don’t delay compensation to Brahmins: Yogakshema Sabha

The Yogakshema Sabha State unit has warned of launching indefinite agitation, protesting against the inordinate delay in disbursement of compensation to the Brahmins across the State for the land taken over by the government following the Kerala Land Reforms Act - 1970.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the Yogakshema Sabha State president, Akeeramon Kalidasa Bhattathiri, alleged that the government has done gross injustice to the Brahmin community by not paying any compensation to them as promised while taking over their thousands of acres of land in 1970.

Mr. Bhattathiri said as per the figures calculated way back in 1970, an estimated Rs. 5.5 crore was due to the Brahmins who lost their land following the Land Reforms Act. He said the government should make any further delay in disbursing the compensation amount with interest to the Brahmins whose condition has become pathetic.

The plight of many Brahmin families was pathetic in many parts of the State, especially in northern Kerala and the successive governments have been conveniently neglecting this sad truth for reasons best known to them, he alleged.

He said the Yogakshema Sabha leaders would visit the Revenue Minister, K.P. Rajendran, next week to apprise him of the problems facing the community and seeking disbursal of their compensation amount with interest on a war-footing.

Mr. Bhatatthiri said Kerala’s “land to the tiller” land reforms had also left thousands of Brahmin families in utter penury, taking them from “riches to rags”.

He said the Sabha would stage a dharna before government offices across the State as part of its first phase of agitation, seeking justice from the government. The Yogakshema Sabha State committee has also resolved to stage fast before the Secretariat, if the government failed to amicably settle the compensation issue in a time-bound manner, he added.

‘Love jehad’ racket

Mr. Bhattathiri said the Sabha State committee has also decided to launch an awareness campaign among the Brahmin community on the controversial ‘love jehad’ racket wherein girls belonging to other religious faiths were allegedly lured into marriage and converted to Islam.