6 June, Mirzapur. Uttar Pradesh.
Bulldozers demolished houses of three hundred poor families in Kotwa Pandey village near Mirzapur Sadar Tehsil without any alternative rehabilitation. People protesting with CPIML activists and leaders were arrested from the spot. The party has announced statewide protests against this atrocity on 8 June.
CPIML UP state secretary Sudhakar Yadav said that all evicted people belong to poor dalit, adivasi, and backward communities and this is highly condemnable that their houses were demolished after deploying a huge police force. Many of them were living there for almost seven decades and they had allotment orders for this land which were cancelled or not renewed very recently.
Only a day before this demolition a delegation of CPIML met the district magistrate who agreed verbally to consider not displacing anyone without proper rehabilitation, but the very next day this happened. Now hundreds of people, women and children are literally on the road without any shelter. Their household belongings have also been destroyed.
Sudhakar Yadav informed that many of these families got land pattas from the irrigation department and they were paying land revenue as per rules. Recently these pattas were not renewed by the administration which is a routine process otherwise. The affected families then asked for an alternative site for rehabilitation because they are extremely poor hence unable to buy land or house themselves. But such arguments are not considered under the Yogi regime!
Sudhakar Yadav said that on the one hand Yogi himself gives speeches declaring no poor household will be demolished but in reality his administration selectively bulldozes them. In rural parts of UP many places have witnessed similar demolitions and many more are served eviction notices. In nearby Chandauli district poor peasants were forcibly evicted and in Lakhimpur Kheri district 54 villages are struggling for survival as they have been served notices. They have been living there for many generations.
Mirzapur CPIML district secretary Rampyare Ram, AIARLA leader Jeera Bharti and another activist Rammurti were present at the site of demolition, they were abused, manhandled and detained by the police. The party sent a letter to the Commissioner of Vindhyachal region and the DM demanding immediate release of all arrested persons and rehabilitation of evictees. Protests were held on 8 June in all the districts of UP.
