People's Democracy

MAHARASHTRA

50,000 Peasants March To Oppose Sezs In Raigad District

Jagdish Tandel

ON July 27, 2007, over 50,000 peasants from Raigad district held a massive and militant march in front of the divisional commissioner’s office at Konkan Bhavan in Belapur in New Mumbai to oppose the several Special Economic Zones (SEZs) coming up in this district which adjoins Mumbai city. The most prominent of these is the MahaMumbai SEZ being promoted by Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries. It is to be built over nearly 30,000 acres and will uproot tens of thousands of peasants and agricultural workers in 45 revenue villages in Pen, Uran and Panvel tehsils. This is nothing but promoting a new form of zamindari system in favour of the monopoly capitalists.
Braving torrential rains, and giving resounding slogans, tens of thousands of peasants that included women and youth in very large numbers, marched from the Kharghar railway station to Konkan Bhavan, which is a distance of over 3 kilometers. So huge was the march that while walking, it blocked the Mumbai-Pune national highway for over three hours. The PWP, which has a large base in Raigad district, and the CPI(M) and CPI, had conducted an intensive campaign of village-level meetings for over a week to prepare for this rally.

The demonstration culminated in a massive public meeting which was addressed by Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) leaders N D Patil, Vivek Patil, MLA and Jayant Patil, MLC, CPI(M) state secretary Dr Ashok Dhawale, CPI leader Govind Pansare, former justice of the Mumbai High Court B G Kolse Patil, Admiral Ramdas and others. All the speakers lashed out at the SEZ policy of the central and state government, supported the militant stand of the peasantry not to give up its fertile paddy lands for the rapacious SEZs and demanded that all notices served by the state government under the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 be withdrawn forthwith.

PROTRACTED STRUGGLE

It was on May 18, 2006 that the Congress-NCP state government issued the first land acquisition notice for the MahaMumbai SEZ on peasants from the above 45 villages. The CPI(M) Raigad district committee immediately published thousands of copies of a leaflet giving the shocking details of the Ambani SEZ and calling upon the peasantry to oppose it tooth and nail. The AIKS, DYFI and AIDWA in Raigad district led a campaign of meetings in several villages of Uran and Pen tehsils. The AIKS Maharashtra state council published a booklet opposing the MahaMumbai SEZ and thousands of copies of it were sold amongst the peasantry.

The PWP also led another campaign, both independently and jointly with the CPI(M). Another organisation called the MahaMumbai Shetkari Sangharsh Samiti, led by some lawyers from Uran tehsil, conducted its own campaign on the same issue. Meanwhile, the peasantry, while replying to the notices of the state government, refused point blank to part with their land.

It was in this background that the first huge 40,000-strong peasant demonstration was held at the Konkan Bhavan on September 21, 2006. It was addressed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury. The central government was forced to take note of this huge rally and it was immediately after this that leaders from Sonia Gandhi to Manmohan Singh had to make statements advising caution on the SEZ land acquisition issue.

More than 500 anti-SEZ peasants from Raigad district were part of the 11,000-strong Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha contingent that participated in the All India rally of the AIKS in Delhi on November 20, 2006. They held a separate dharna in Delhi on the issue on November 21, which was addressed by Sitaram Yechury, AIKS general secretary K Varadha Rajan, CPI(M) leader in the Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharya and others.

Despite these and subsequent actions, the state government went ahead with the land acquisition process and in early July, it promulgated the last notice 6(1) announcing that the lands had been acquired. It was this step that led to an outrage amongst the peasantry and it was decided to organise a massive rally to oppose the state government’s moves.
Among those who led a concerted campaign in Raigad district for the success of the July 27 rally were PWP MLA Vivek Patil along with several other PWP leaders and activists, and CPI(M) leaders Ghanashyam Patil, Bhushan Patil, Sanjay Thakur, Ramchandra Mhatre, advocate Vijay Patil, Laxman Patil, Jagdish Tandel, Sandeep Patil and others.
As a result of this rally, the state government has been forced to put the implementation of the land acquisition process on hold. But the Left parties have announced that unless the land acquisition notices are withdrawn, the struggle will continue.