Jobat Satyagrah: Fresh surveys from 20th January

Sat, Jan 11, 2014 at 5:33 PM

Alirajpur Collector withdraws Sec 151 cases against 40 adivasi oustees

Intense dialogue with Collector, SP, Addl. SP for 4 hours: Offer of Land and house plots, fishing rights, fresh surveys from 20^th January

 Jail Bharo Andolan in February, if promises not kept

New Delhi: 10^th January, 2014: (Punjab Screen Bureau): 

Surrounded and questioned by hundreds of adivasis for a second time yesterday, at the gates of the Collectorate, Alirajpur, the District Collector, Mr. N.P. Deheriya announced that he would immediately withdraw the charges of Sec 151, 107 and 116 (3) of Cr.P.C filed against 40 adivasis (including many elderly and 6 women) on the alleged and completely unsustainable ground of ‘breach of peace’ at the site of the Zameen Hak Satyagraha, Jobat.

Joined by Mr. Akhilesh Jha, SP and Mr. Saitaram Sastiya, Addl. S.P, the officials finally conceded that there was no disturbance to the peace by the oustees at Jobat. As the end of 4 hours long debate and dialogue with the Collector, the oustees and Medha Patkar convinced him that the occupation of government land at Jobat Farm was not in any way to disturb the peace of the locality, but was a measure undertaken, as a last resort, to assert the right to land and rehabilitation, which has been seriously affected, since more than a decade, when they have been facing the severe impacts of submergence. 

The following commitments were made by the Collector at the end of the dialogue:

Cases of preventive detention under Sec. 151 would be immediately withdrawn.

·        The State would facilitate the process of seeking bail in the FIR of 2011 and the charge sheet in the same has also been filed.

·        The R&R Officer to begin showing land to the oustees from the 20^th January and will ensure before this date that the land to be shown is cultivable and free of encroachment.

·        House plots will be offered in lieu of Rs. 20,000 given many years ago, without consent.

·        Surveys to be conducted in all the 13 villages once again to assess the actual and left our affected persons and properties.

·        Immediate registration of the proposed co-operatives of the displaced fish workers from Machliya, Umda, Bhiti and Chhota Khattali villages.

·        Assistance for irrigation facilities in the original villages by grant of 100% subsidized motor pumps.

The oustees also informed the authorities that the charges in the FIR of November, 2011 such as destruction of public property are completely false and fabricated and we shall fight this out in the court and also claim compensation for the losses caused due to crop destruction at the satyagraha.

The oustees asserted that this was the beginning of their struggle and expect the officials to keep up their promises, otherwise a massive Jail Bharo Andolan would start from February, 2014, with hundreds of women, children and cattle as well.  Later in the evening, many of the oustees, along with Medha Patkar went to the District Jail and met thesatyagrahis and also conveyed  to them the developments of the day. The 40 adivasi oustees shall be bailed out byMonday. A brief chronology of the events in enclosed.

Idibai            Surbhan Bhilala            Kamla Yadav                  Meera (09179148973)

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CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

pertaining to the unlawful arrest of the Jobat Satyagrahis

24^th November, 2011: Hundreds of Sardar Sarovar and Jobat dam-affected adivasis, farmers who have not been rehabilitated as per law and judicial orders, begin their indefinite Zameen Hak Satyagraha at the Govt. Agricultural Farm, Dehedla, Jobat.

30^th November, 2011: Jobat Police register an FIR against ‘100 to 150 unknown persons’ under Sections 447, 147, 353, 332 of the IPC and also under Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984.

19^th June, 2012: Dr. Afroz Ahmed, Director, Rehabilitation, Narmada Control Authority, visits the Satyagraha and engages in dialogue with the oustees. Dr. Afroz Ahmed also assured to raise the matter with the Rehabilitation Sub-Group, Delhi, after which a direction was issued by the Sub Group in its meeting on 12^th September, 2013 to the Govt. of M.P. to offer Government farm lands in rehabilitation.

21^st June, 2013: Physical Attack on the oustees at Jobat Satyagraha, in the presence of the SDM and Tehsildar, by the Farm Officer, his son and many outsiders. FIR registered, but no action taken.

12^th November, 2013: The administration consents for a temporary electricity connection to the oustees at the Jobat Farmland.

24^th December, 2013: Tehsildar, Jobat issues notices to 26 oustees, asking them to voluntarily remove themselves from the occupation / encroachment at the government land by 11 a.m. on the 27^th December, otherwise the encroachment would be removed with the help of police force and that the oustees would be responsible for any economic loss during the eviction.

26^th December, 2013: Oustees reply back to the notice dated 24-12-2013, narrating the sequence of events over the past 21/2 years and the legal grounds for their cultivation. The oustees also express willingness for a detailed dialogue with all the officials, but there was no response from the Tehsildar.

28^th December, 2013: Collector, Alirajpur visits the Satyagraha site and threatens the oustees to vacate the land. He also proposed that land would be provided to the oustees at Pangula (Jobat). The same day, two oustees are taken by the local revenue officials, but the said land is already under encroachment since long time and the encroachers are fiercely resistant to give away the lands.

31^st December, 2013: Tehsildar, Jobat issues second notice to the oustees, asking them to voluntarily remove themselves from the occupation / encroachment at the government land, otherwise the encroachment would be removed with the help of police force and that the oustees would be responsible for any economic loss during the eviction.

3^rd January, 2014: Oustees reply to the second notice of the Tehsildar, Jobat describing that the land shown at Pangula has been encroached and no other land was shown to them, thereafter.

5^th January, 2014: Collector deploys a huge contingent of police force and forcibly gets the adivasi oustees, including many elderly, 6 women and 2 children arrested. The tents were uprooted and all other belongings were seized. The oustees were arrested under provisions of Section 151, 107 and 116 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code. All of them were taken to Alirajpur directly and were produced before the SDM, Alirajpur. They were later sent to the Alirajpur District Jail. The oustees were not produced before the SDM, Jobat and were also not lodged at the Jobat Jail ! The police prays the SDM to heavily fine the oustees, so that they do not repeat the ‘offence’ of occupation again!

6^th January, 2014: Oustees march to the office of the Superintendent of Police, Mr. Akhilesh Jha and question the arbitrary manner of arrests.  He was convinced that the contentious issue is lack of rehabilitation and that the police has no role to play, but had to act on the basis of the FIR. The oustees also submit a complaint under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 demanding legal action against all the concerned officers for arresting the adivasis, evicting them from the land, causing destruction of the standing crop at the Satyagraha and submergence of their lands and homes, without lawful rehabilitation. The same day, police file an application before the SDM stating that these 39 oustees are the same persons wanted in the FIR filed in 2011. The SDM grants permission and the oustees are ‘formally’ arrested inside the jail.

7^th January, 2014: Hundreds of oustees gherao the office of the Collector, Alirajpur. In his presence, the R&R Officer, agrees to show land to the Jobat oustees. Since no assurance regarding the unconditional release of the oustees was given, the protestors cautioned that the struggle would intensify after 3 days.

8^th January, 2014: Arrested oustees are produced before the Judicial Magistrate (Second Class), Jobat and sent back to the District Jail, Alirajpur.  Charge sheets / Challan is filed by the police. 

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Related Links

Jobat Satyagrahis stand vindicated

40 Narmada Adivasi Oustees in Jail since 4 days

40 Narmada Adivasi Oustees in Jail since 4 days

Wed, Jan 8, 2014 at 7:38 PM

Demand Unconditional Release : Announce intense struggle

*Hundreds storm offices of Collector and SP, Alirajpur

*Condemn Illegal Eviction from 2.5 year old Jobat Zameen Hak Satyagraha

8^th January: Hundreds of adivasis and farmers, representing a large number of oustees affected by the Sardar Sarovar and Jobat Dam Projects in the Alirajpur District of Madhya Pradesh, stormed the office of the Collector, Mr. N.P. Deheria yesterday and engaged in a day-long protest, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of about 40 adivasis, including 6 women, who were arrested on 5^th January in a completely illegal manner from the site of the Zameen Haq Satyagraha at Jobat.

The protestors were stopped at the gates of the Collectorate by a large contingent of armed police brought in from Alirajpur, Badwani, Dhar and Thandla, while the women, men, elderly and youth, tried to barge inside for a dialogue with the Collector. The women, who had come along with little children demanded that their family members must be immediately released otherwise, they would sit on an indefinite protest at the Collectorate.

The Collector, came down thrice and heard the issues raised by the oustees from behind the gates, but could not given concrete and correct answers. After many hours of intense action and heated discussions with the Collector, SP, Addl SP and the Rehabilitation Officer, NVDA, it was assured that the process of offering land to the Jobat-dam oustees would begin within 3 days and process of showing land to the SSP oustees would begin within 10 days.

Shouting down the false information provided to the Collector by the NVDA officers that ‘the oustees don’t want land, that all have been paid compensation, that many are non-affected and that oustees are being provoked, the oustees stated that illegal submergence in the hilly villages of  Sardar Sarovar began since 1994 and submergence in Jobat began since 2003. However, till date, cultivable, irrigable, suitable and un-encroached land has not been provided to the affected families. The only land offered to the SSP-affected adivasis was bad, uncultivable, encroached land, which is in utter violation of law and orders of the Supreme Court.

It may be noted that the Collector of Alirajpur, deployed a large contingent of police force on 5^th January, 2014 and illegally took into custody 40 Satyagrahis, including women, 75 year old and 2 children, who were camping at the Government Agricultural Farm, Jobat. It is well-known that hundreds of oustees have been on an indefinite Satyagraha, since the past 2.5 years and have been cultivating the land, not just as a protest, but also to feed their families, who have already faced illegal submergence since many years.

The Jobat Satyagraha is one of the longest non-violent, occupation struggles in recent history and has been resorted to by the oustees after umpteen attempts of petitioning, court cases and mass action by the adivasis. The oustees have been cultivating the land and have also reaped three harvests on this land. Infact recently the Collector also permitted the oustees to have a temporary power connection for irrigating the crop. However, since two weeks notices were being issued to the oustees to vacate the land, else they would be forcibly evicted. Our replies to these notices and appeal for a concrete dialogue were not responded to by the authorities and a brutal eviction drive ensued. It may be noted that the arrests are completely motivated and arbitrary, since the fact that the oustees have not yet been rehabilitated and the fact that all the officials, including the police have complete knowledge of the occupation since 2.5 years is well-known.

Infact, Dr. Afroz Ahmed, Director, Rehabilitation, Narmada Control Authority, indore and Kantilal Bhuria, Former Tribal Affairs Minister, Govt. of India also visited the Satyagraha and engaged in dialogue with the oustees. Dr. Afroz Ahmed also assured to raise the matter with the Rehabilitation Sub-Group, Delhi, after which a direction was issued by the Sub Group in its meeting on 12^th September, 2013 to the Govt. of M.P. to offer Government farm lands in rehabilitation.

The arrests have been made seemingly under Section 151 Cr.P.C. i.e. ‘causing disturbance to peace in the area’, while the oustees were in the farm land and there was absolutely nothing they did to disturb peace in the locality. Secondly, an FIR registered against 100-150 ‘unknown people’ 2.5 years ago when the Satyagraha started, but no arrests were made, is now being used against these oustees in a wrongful and vindictive manner ! It may also be noted that in a similar case of illegal arrest and lathicharge at the Badwani Zameen Hak Satyagraha in June, 2007, the High Court, Jabalpur directed the Govt. of M.P. to pay Rs. 10,000 each to the arrested Satyagrahis and half payment has already been made, after the Supreme Court’s intervention and the case is still pending.

While in Sardar Sarovar, many hilly adivasis have not accepted any cash compensation, most of the Jobat Dam advasi oustees being illiterate, their signatures were taken on affidavits and were paid very meagre cash compensation, many years ago and their lands / houses were illegally submerged without being provided alternative cultivable land. In the presence of full media, the Rehabilitation Officer of the Narmada Valley Development Authority accepted that the applications of hundreds of oustees demanding land for land and for return of compensation, as per the Supreme Court’s orders in 2011 have not been attended to for more than one and a half year.

A day before, the oustees also marched to the office of the Superintendent of Police, Mr. Akhilesh Jha and questioned the arbitrary manner of arrests.  He was convinced that the contentious issue is lack of rehabilitation and that the police has no role to play. The oustees also submitted a complaint under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 demanding legal action against all the concerned officers for arresting the adivasis, evicting them for the land, causing destruction of the standing crop at the Satyagraha and submergence of their lands and homes, without lawful rehabilitation. The protestors issued an ultimatum to Government of Madhya Pradesh, through the Collector, Alirajpur to unconditionally release all the jailed oustees and begin the process of land-based rehabilitation, within 3 days, otherwise an intense struggle would follow.

Please do call the Collector and SP, Alirajpur to immediately release all the oustees unconditionally and begin the process of rehabilitation.

Mr. N.P. Dehariya -Collector, Alirajpur – Ph - 09425188061

Mr. Akhilesh Jha, Superintendent of Police – Ph - 9753936277

Idibai            Surbhan Bhilala            Kamla Yadav                 Meera (09179148973)