Workers of the Jamin Prapti Sangharsh Committee went on hunger strike in jail demanding Dalit rights on 927 acres of land, hundreds arrested, serious allegations against the administration.
Sangrur – The ongoing movement for land rights in Punjab took a new turn when more than 125 workers of the Jamin Prapti Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC), who were arrested during a demonstration in Sangrur on May 20, started an indefinite hunger strike in the jail premises. The protesters demand that 927 acres of land of Jind Riyasat be distributed among landless Dalit families and the proposed ‘Begumpura’ be settled on it.
This demand arose after the death of Satbir Singh, the last ruler of Jind Riyasat, in August 2023. ZPSC says that this land is located in Beed Iswan village of Sangrur district and under the Land Ceiling Act, no person can own more than 17 acres of land. Therefore, this land should come under the government and be given to landless Dalits.
ZPSC president Mukesh Maloud and treasurer Bakkar Singh Hathoa alleged that on May 20, when the activists were peacefully marching towards Beed Iswan village, they were forcibly stopped and arrested. Some people were released late night, but more than 400 protesters are still in custody, of which about 300 have been lodged in various jails.
According to a report published in the Indian Express, Pendu Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU) president Tarsem Peter said that 70 women are lodged in Sangrur jail, 35 in Malerkotla, 66 in Patiala, 85 in Nabha and about 100 in Bathinda jail. The location of many other activists has not been made public by the administration so far. Peter said, “This is a violation of every principle of democracy.”
The ZPSC has alleged that the activists lodged in jail are being treated inhumanly. They are kept in overcrowded barracks, denied clean drinking water, poor food arrangements and even essential items sent by their families are being snatched away.
Several student activists are also involved in the agitation, including Sukhdeep Kaur of the Punjab Students Union. They have reportedly not even been allowed to take their exams in jail. The ZPSC has called it “dictatorship and murder of democracy”.
Following the development, the Pendu Mazdoor Union has launched a statewide campaign against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. “More than 400 Dalit labourers — men and women — have been arrested and many are still missing. This entire action is unjust and undemocratic,” said Avtar Singh Rasoolpur, general secretary of the union.
Kashmir Singh Ghugashor, the press secretary of the union, said, “The government is standing with the landlords and corporate houses and is preventing the settlement of Begumpura, a proposed colony for landless labourers on 927 acres of land. We demand the unconditional release of all the arrested activists.”
On this issue, Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Rishi said, “Out of 927 acres, about 800 acres is forest land, while 125 acres of cultivable land is in the possession of some private individuals who are related to the late ruler of Jind state, Satbir Singh. The ownership of this land has not yet been handed over to the government, and the matter is pending in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court has ordered to maintain status quo, so the government or any organization cannot claim it right now.”
Meanwhile, Satpal Virdhi, former general secretary of Sant Sarvan Das Ji Sachkhand Balan, the largest dera of Ravidasiya community from Jalandhar, has written a letter to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann condemning this action. He wrote, “This arrest is injustice to the Dalits of Punjab. It is against the spirit of the Constitution and an attack on the entire concept of justice.”
Virdhi has demanded a fair investigation of all the arrests, immediate release and transparent dialogue with grassroots organizations. He said, “This demand of the landless people is not alms, it is their constitutional right. The land reform law was implemented in 1972, but till date it is only on paper and in reality there is repression.”
This ongoing struggle for land rights is now giving a new direction to the questions of human rights and social justice in the entire state and the country.
Courtesy : Rajan Chaudhary, Hindi News