2011 land acquisition protests in Uttar Pradesh

2011 land acquisition protests in Uttar Pradesh

The government of Uttar Pradesh, India, has faced protests against its proposed enforced land acquisition in 2011. These protests have been centred on the village of , Greater Noida and have resulted in sporadic incidents of violence since January of that year. In August 2010 there had been protests against the state government in Delhi and these had resulted in three deaths.

The issue is controversial because around 65% of the Indian population is economically dependent on agriculture but the government has the power to requisition any private land which it thinks is needed for a "public purpose". Past examples of this included several acquisitions by regional authorities across India for the purpose of developing Special Economic Zones to boost the economy and create jobs. In this instance, the state government of Uttar Pradesh has requisitioned the land for the building of the Yamuna Expressway, a road linking Agra to Delhi.

Land acquisition controversies

There have been past controversies elsewhere in India regarding land acquisition proposals, including those of 2008 regarding the Singur Tata Nano controversy at Singur in West Bengal, and protests in 2009 at Chandigarh.

In addition, there have been allegations of arrangements between politicians, the police, bureaucracy and the land mafia, including in the states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The allegations claim that the nexus has used the existing land acquisition law, which dates from 1894, for commercial or corporate gain.

Protest timeline

The cause of the May 2011 protests in Uttar Pradesh are disputed: the protestors claim that they are a direct consequence of the land acquisition has been challenged by the state government, which has stated that the acquisitions had been completed by July 2010 and that the 2011 protests were due to "anti-social" elements encouraging the violence. The farmers believe that the compensation paid by the state government for their land was inadequate, whereas the government believes it to be generous.

6 May

Three officials from the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, a public transport body, were kidnapped by inhabitants of Bhatta Parsaul village while in the area to conduct a survey.

7 - 9 May 2011

Violence erupted on 7 May as police moved in to rescue the abducted men, This included a three hour gun battle between the villagers and police force, which led to the death of two policemen and two civilians, as well as several injured casualties. A number of local farmers were arrested, entry to the village was effectively shut off and Section 144 (a measure to limit unlawful assembly) was imposed in an attempt to quell the troubles.

The violence continued on 8 May and the state government deployed 2,000 policemen on 9 May.

11 May 2011

Rahul Gandhi, the president of the Indian youth congress reached the village after eluding the police. He conducted a dharna and was subsequently briefly taken into "preventative custody".

16 - 19 May 2011

Gandhi claimed that he had seen evidence that many farmers had been murdered and some women raped during the state reaction to the protests. He had seen a heap of ash in the village "with dead bodies inside". There were claims that the situation was now being exploited for political ends by the Congress Party, of which Gandhi and his extended family are prominent members, with elections being due to take place in the state. However, an investigation by the BBC could find nothing to support the allegations, although there was anger regarding the violent beatings and similar actions which had occurred. It was suggested that the numerous farmers who were missing had simply fled the village and not yet returned. Gandhi subsequently attempted to backtrack on his remarks, claiming that he had been misrepresented and then that he had based his comments on conversations with the villagers, but the BBC reporter maintained that he had in fact made the allegations as originally reported. The governing Bahujan Samaj Party subsequently announced that Gandhi's allegations were baseless.

Proposed new Land Acquisition Act

Manmohan Singh, Prime minister of India, has promised to amend the old land acquisition bill and to introduce a new Land Acquisition Act in the Monsoon parliamentary seesion of 2011. JD-U leader Sharad Yadav has demanded that the government stops land acquisition until parliament has enacted a new law, although it is unclear whether he was referring to the state government or that of India as a whole.

See also

References

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