CPI(Maoist)Karnataka press release on land revenue act

Respected editors, reporters and other representatives of the media, struggle greetings to you.
We are sending this press release with concern of recent Karnataka govt’s amendment to land revenue act. For recovering govt lands.
Requesting to publish this in the media.
Yours in struggle Gangadhara
For the the statecommittee CPI (MAOIST)Karnataka
13-04-2007
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PRESS RELEASE

Karnataka assembly passed an act, draconian in nature, on grabbing and encroachment of govt lands. It provides the authority to arrest and send to jail land grabbers and encroachers with 10000 rupees fine. It was said that this act is for punishing those rich and real estate people who commit these crimes. This act passed without much discussion in the floor of the house and outside the house. Chief minister orally assured that this act would not harm interests of the poor. But there is no provision for the same in the act so far. This shows the real nature of the act, govt intended to implement.

This is nothing but getting further legality to the anti people activities of the govt, which is vacating forcefully the slum dwellers, poor and middle peasants, small businessmen in the name of beautifications of the city, national parks, reserve forests, sanctuaries, dams, mines, power projects, forest protection, sezs etc. These are all according to the dictates of the imperialists and comprador bureaucratic bourshoisies.

In Bangalore and other cities, vacating slum dwellers forcefully without any minimum human considerations are going on. In Western Ghats and coastal Karnataka, govt is trying to dislocate tribals and other peasants from their birthplace. Most of them are not having any records of their own. So called democratic govts, not provided any records for these small pieces of land holdings up to now. All these people will become culprits in the eyes of these rules and any concerned official can send these people into the jails without any queries. Such a draconian act enacted without much opposition. Few opposition parties queried for the namesake only. They are not having any real concern to the poor people. They are conniving with this conspiracy.

In reality all laws and rules are only applicable to poor and down trodden, not applied to big landlords, big business houses, ruling class politicians etc. This is prevailing in ‘independent’ and ‘democratic’ India as well Karnataka.

The ruling class politicians, big planters, imperialist companies, big industrialists, they grabbed thousands of hectares and still grabbing land in daily manner. Does this government confiscate those? Or stop those? Never. Then what is the purpose of the act? Only to getting control over the common people’s land and paving the way for smooth hand over of land to the above said schemes of imperialists and big business houses. State and central govt is handing over thousands of acres of land to the sez etc, where no rules of the land apply. It is nothing but fortifications like advanced British east India Company. We can imagine, what is the govt’s approach towards the common people, west Bengal’s nandigram, singur, recent examples is there. Karnataka’s Thatkola,Kundur, Sargod of Mudigere taluk etc, are there.

Last year district collector and police superintendent of Chickmagalore district took initiative by using stipulated law to distribute encroached lands of the planters to dislocated people of Thatkola. But not left to materialized. Consequence was punishment of transfer and harassment to them. This is the reality of Indian democracy and it’s ruling system.
We strongly oppose this act and demanding the government to withdraw it immediately.
Frame suitable law to confiscate all extra and illegal lands of the big landlords, big planters, big industrialists, real estate agents, politicians, and religious institutions etc.and implement it.
It should be distributed to landless and poor people with records.

We are strongly demanding to give records to poor people for their land holdings where they are living now.

We urge govt to give back all confiscated lands of the poor and common people for the benefit of imperialists, big business houses etc. with compensation for the loss.
We call upon all poor and landless people to stood firmly to safeguard lives and land with all preparations to fight back govt’s ill fabricated laws and actions. Expose all election parties and wage struggle to confiscate all extra and illegal lands of big land lords, big business houses, imperialist companies, religious institutions, big politicians etc and distributing the same to the common people.

We are appealing to all progressive, democratic forces to oppose this act and struggle against these anti people law enacting. Pressurize govt to confiscate extra and illegal lands with proper framing and implementation of law.

With revolutionary greetings
Gangadhara
For the state committee
CPI (Maoist )Karnataka

13-04-2007