By IANS
New Delhi : It was a mutiny of the dispossessed, albeit a peaceful one. In a rare protest, nearly 27,000 landless peasants, marginalized tribes and dirt-poor people Sunday marched into the Indian capital in a defiant mood, asking the government to give them either land or put them away in prisons.
Although they had traversed some 350 km from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, in central India, to Delhi on foot, they did not look tired or fatigued. A sense of burning injustice and callous neglect by the powers-that-be had brought out hidden reserves of energy in them, their leaders said.
As they chanted slogans at Ramlila Maidan, ‘Jamin do ya jail’ (give us either land or jail), it looked like an incipient revolution. But for the protesters in such large numbers, they were surprisingly well behaved, with the march free of rowdyism or violence.
They were not alone in their struggle for naked survival with simple demands of land and water. The rally, organised by Ekta Parishad (solidarity front), was joined by a clutch of over 250 foreigners, including activists from several NGOs like Oxfam, Solidari’te and Ekta-Europe.
The Janadesh Yatra is the brainchild of P.V. Rajagopal, a veteran Gandhian who carved a name for himself by persuading bandits in central India to disarm in the 1970s.
The protesters will move to Jantar Mantar, the converging point for protesters who march to the capital, Monday and try to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Most protesters said they have no ‘patta’ (land deeds) that prevented them from accessing state welfare services. Even if it would take 10 more years they are ready to fight for it, but they won’t be violent even if anybody hits them, they stressed.
“We don’t want to live like this any more, where we don’t have anything to eat and no proper house to live in, we earn Rs.20 (less than a dollar) a month and can’t even feed our children,” said Shomnath, a bedraggled protester from Punjab.
People who could barely see or walk also joined this march for justice. Most protesters have been having one meal a day since they started marching nearly a month ago.
India’s independence and subsequent economic growth that has made the rich only richer has passed them by, some of them complained bitterly.
“We are still not independent. We are still being exploited and these leaders are hijacking our land, and then asking us to give bribe to get our land back,” said Dataram, a protester from Madhya Pradesh.
“If we fight with them for our land they threaten to kill us and we can’t even do anything against them. No police, no leader helps us,” Dataram added.
“We have been hearing that we will get our land and proper water supply. They say they will make schools and hospitals but do nothing,” said Devshyam, another protester.
Dry wells, barren land and deforestation are some of the problems killing them, said some protesters.
Some foreigners who had been marching with these tribes from Gwalior said they were doing so for a noble cause.
“I have never been to any rally before this but I am supporting this because it is fight for social cause and this is real country and not socialites having a good time,” said Julius Reubke, an activist from Ekta-Europe.