കേരളത്തിൽ ദലിത്-ആദിവാസി ഐക്യവും മുന്നേറ്റങ്ങളും വളരെ അനിവാര്യമാണ് | K. K. Surendran | TMI | Ep 19/n

Описание: The Muthanga agitation was a significant milestone in the tribal land struggles in Kerala. The agitators occupied the Muthanga forest in January 2003, part of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. The occupation had a backstory, a story of betrayal.

In August 2001, a hut-building protest was launched in front of the Kerala State Legislative Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram. The agitation was led by tribal leader C. K. Janu and dalit leader M. Geethanandan. They protested the historic failure of the government of Kerala to ensure land for the marginalised. The much acclaimed Kerala Land Reforms in 1963 ensured land security only for the tenants, but not the agricultural labourers who came mostly from the tribal and the dalit communities. Further, much of the land owned by the tribal people also got alienated, and plantations and well-off sections in the society took control of it. Starvation deaths of the tribal people remained unresolved for generations.

The 48-day agitation in Thiruvananthapuram ended in October 2001, when Chief Minister A. K. Antony agreed to provide up to five acres of land for the landless. But well after the deadline when the tribal people did not see the promises were not met, they decided to start the agitation afresh. Under the leadership of C. K. Janu and M. Geethanandan, the tribal people built huts in the Muthanga forest. About 800 tribal families occupied the forest land from January 5, 2003. They also planned to start cultivation in the occupied area.

On February 19, police and forest officials surrounded the protestors. They started demolishing the huts, and setting them on fire. The protesters resisted the police with bows, arrows and sticks. The police retaliated with guns and lathis. Police fired 18 rounds of bullets, and a protester named Jogi was shot dead. A police officer, Vinod, who was allegedly taken hostage by the protesters, was also killed during the clash.

Two days later, the police arrested C. K. Janu and M. Geethanandan. Both of them faced brutal torture in the police custody. The Muthanga land struggle became a legendary struggle in Kerala. It gradually led the Kerala government to start distributing land in some pockets, even if it was not to any level satisfactory to the protestors. This agitation also played an important role to facilitate a national level conversation which among other things led to the passing of the Forest Rights Act 2006, even if it is still not implemented with enough force to benefit the landless tribal people in Kerala. The 2003 Muthanga agitation is a historic episode in the history of Kerala’s marginalised people asking for their rights to land.

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INTR0- 00:00- 02:34
EPISODE 19- 02:34- 15:26