Uttar Pradesh, three die in clashes between farmers and police over expropriation of land
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Three people died in clashes between police and farmers in the region of Greater Noda, due to the expropriation of land by the government to build a new highway. Farmers have been protesting since January, demanding greater compensation for their lands. They are also asking that only half of their land to pass to the State and the other half be returned after construction works are completed.
They further claim that farmers are guaranteed 25 percent in all programs related to the Expressway in Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna. Also, they are asking authorities to ensure the plots of 120 square meters of land to farmers, and a fee of five hundred thousand rupees for each acre of land expropriated.
In an interview with AsiaNews, Dr. Lenin Raghuvanshi, director of the People’s Supervisory Committee for Human Rights said: "The corruption of politicians and business has allowed this problem become so serious, and steadily worsen. Farmers who have manifested a very real reason for complaint, protesting in a peaceful way against 'inadequate compensation' for their agricultural land acquired to build a new thermal power station. "
Dr. Raghuvanshi is a known human rights activist. For this he received the Gwangiu prize for Human Rights in 2007. He adds: "Apart from the question of compensation, there is also the question of how the land is used. The government wants to give the fertile land of farmers to companies for commercial buildings. For peasants the land is the only source of survival, as well as being a source of food security for India itself. Furthermore, farmers in Uttar Pradesh are bieing denied the right to express themselves. For this reason they have been for some time protesting in a nonviolent way. But the authorities have used the force of the police to quell the demonstration, giving rise to the violence. "
But there is a more general problem, which concerns the entire country. "Moreover, the law, the Land Acquisition Act of 1984, which allows the State to expropriate land, with the intent to serve a public need, has become outdated. The expropriation of land from farmers is a big problem for India, there is a wave of acquisitions for development, especially in Special Economic Zones, or for highways and other operations. "
Asked if he sees no paradox in the fact that Uttar Pradesh is headed by a Prime Minister who is a Dalit woman, and yet the voice and needs of farmers is met with violence and a refusal to answer, Lenin Raghuvanshi says, "This is the contradiction in our society, and unless a change takes place at the grassroots level, accompanied by appropriate legislation, there can be no change in society. "
.png)
