Farmers’ March in Jharkhand

ON 17 October, poor farmers and agricultural workers held a march to the block office annexe of Barwadih range in Latehar, Jharkhand. They held red flags and raised slogans protesting the eviction of dalit and adivasi farmers by the BJP Governments of Jharkhand and the Centre through fraudulent land surveys. Calling their march the ‘Halla Bol Kisan March’, the protesters marched from the old Block grounds to the block office annexe, through the main lanes and public squares of the town. At the block office, they held a public meeting which was conducted by the CPIML block secretary Rajendra Singh.

Addressing the meeting, CPIML State Secretary Janardan Prasad said that the Modi and Raghubar Das governments are serving corporations, destroying the economy and livelihood, plundering land – and spreading communal hatred and violence to divide the affected people.

District secretary Birju Ram said that the people of the Manika Assembly constituency had suffered hunger, unemployment and distress-migration for decades. The Modi and Raghubar Government policies had only made life far worse for them.

CPIML leader Kanhai Singh said that the “Land Bank” policy of the Raghubar Das Government is intended to grab forest land from adivasis and hand it over to corporations.

Comrades Hames Herenz, Jitendra Singh, Kamlesh Singh, Francis Gudiya, Ganesh Singh, Manju Devi, Vachan Singh, Sudarshan Ram and other leaders also addressed the protest, and declared their determination to strengthen CPIML in every village, so that the struggles against corporate plunder can be won.