Violent eviction

In Nagapattinam district, Dalit agricultural workers demanding house sites face the police's ire.

"When the caste Hindu landlords are threatened by alternative political mobilisation of oppressed classes/castes, the state not only supports its law and order bureaucracy but nudges it to crush such mobilisation through use of excessive force and even by suppressing democratic rights... The inability therefore to fashion bureaucracy against caste and class biased actions and to restrain them from acting beyond the authority conferred by law can only be interpreted as indifference and apathy of the political leadership towards the problems of Scheduled Castes."

- Report on prevention of atrocities against Scheduled Castes 2004, National Human Rights Commission.

THE Tamil Nadu Police's violent intervention in an issue that arose out of the demand of Dalit agricultural workers for house sites at Apparasapuram Puthur (A. Puthur), a small village in the coastal Nagapattinam district, on June 28 has only reaffirmed the truth in the report prepared for the NHRC by K.B. Saxena, a retired civil servant.

The police action apparently had no official sanction and came without any warning and under the pretext of removing encroachments on a piece of private land. The resistance put up by Dalits left over 50 persons injured, some of them seriously. Worse still was the attack on children. Even cattle were not spared. Ten policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, were among the injured. Some 40 Dalit victims were admitted to hospital and also taken into custody. The arrested included old men, women and students, besides a local political activist who backed the Dalits' demand. After dismantling about 25 thatched sheds put up by Dalits on a piece of land they had allegedly encroached upon, and resorting to the use of lathis and teargas on the protesters, the police allegedly ransacked their huts. Almost all their belongings, including utensils, cupboards and two-wheelers, were damaged. Dalits complained that gold ornaments purchased for a family wedding were found missing after the incident. Many students complained that they had lost their certificates.

District Collector Tenkasi S. Jawahar, who was away on a visit to Nainital in Uttarakhand on the day of the incident, ordered an inquiry by the Personal Assistant to the Collector (General). The State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Viduthalai Siruthaigal Katchi have condemned the police atrocities. The CPI(M) has demanded a judicial inquiry, action against the erring policemen, release of the arrested persons and payment of compensation to the victims.

It was at the instance of the Collector that the district administration had initiated steps to find a negotiated settlement between the cultivating tenant and the Dalit agricultural workers to identify suitable house sites for distribution. The talks were inconclusive and the process of locating "suitable" house sites was not completed. What was then the urgency for the police to step in?

Terming the incident as "very unfortunate", the Collector told Frontline on July 10 that he suspected "some foul play". He said: "I learnt on my return a few days after the incident that the District Revenue Officer, who normally heads the administration in the Collector's absence, had not been kept abreast of the developments by the officials." He said no eviction order had been issued by the administration. "Because it was private land, only the court can order eviction and, to my knowledge, there was no such court order as well," he said. He said that generally the Collector was expected to order only a probe by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) but he could not do so in this case because the RDO himself faced some charges. He said when the issue was brought to him two months ago he had told the officials that "we should call all the people concerned, discuss the issue and help evolve a solution that will hurt no one. There had been talks and there were also broad agreements." He said he was awaiting the inquiry report to find out how and where the process met with a snag.

It is obvious that a section of bureaucrats are resisting attempts to look at the problem from a different perspective to find an amicable solution.

Dalit agricultural workers of A. Puthur, numbering about 250, have been living in about 50 houses built by the State government under its Group Housing Scheme in the mid-1970s. Over the decades the families occupying these houses have expanded with the result that more than one family has to live in a house, a structure measuring not more than 200 sq ft. Given the subsistence wages they receive, they cannot think of anyone owning houses with their own money. So they applied for sites to build about 50 more houses.

These applications had been pending with the revenue officials for more than a couple of years. Last year, they sent in fresh applications under the scheme announced by the State government to fulfil its electoral promise of issuing house site pattas. Finding no response from the government to their long-pending demand, they became agitated. Adding to their apprehensions was the threat that about 20 of their houses might be affected by the construction of the East Coast Road.

Further, the State government's announcement in April that the house site patta scheme would be in operation only up to June (the scheme has since been extended) drove them to desperate moves. The Dalit workers put up thatched sheds on a piece of land adjacent to their present dwelling place. (The land is part of a trust property belonging to Sri Dakshinapureeswarar Devasthanam. R. Mahalingam is the hereditary trustee of the Devasthanam, which is under the overall control of the Hindu Religious and Endowment Commission of the State.)

G. Rajangam, who cultivates the trust land along with two others, was irked by the Dalits' action of putting up sheds on the land he claims he has been cultivating. He lodged a complaint with the Tahsildar alleging that the Dalits had encroached on the land. He said he did not go to the police because he feared it might trigger caste clashes. (Rajangam belongs to the caste-Hindu Vanniar community.) On May 19, the Vanniar community called for a road roko as there was no response from the officials.

The government called both parties for talks on May 18. During the talks it was found that none of the parties saw the issue as a complaint against encroachment and, as such, as a mere law and order problem. The talks could not bypass the Dalits' demand for pattas, which was why they put up thatched sheds on the land. A handout issued by the district administration at the end of the talks said that "all sides" agreed that Dalits who did not possess houses had to be provided with house sites.

It was resolved that the revenue officials, with the help of the representatives of Dalits, would prepare a list of eligible beneficiaries. Rajangam agreed to provide a suitable piece of land, other than the one where the sheds had come up, and entrust the same with the RDO, Tharangampadi, for allotment.

It was also agreed that Rajangam should identify the land before July 21 and that the Dalits should remove the sheds by that time. The government would take legal action against Dalits if, even after Rajangam identified the land, they refused to clear their encroachments.

It is no small achievement to make the complainant part with a part of the land in his possession. Of course, there could be hiccups in implementing the agreement. Dalits could not accept, but not unreasonably, the two sites identified by Rajangam. The land acceptable to Dalits could not be identified within the stipulated time. One of the sites, they said, was close to a water body and the other was in an elevated place. Moreover, the beneficiaries selected numbered only 17, as against over 50 applicants. The second site identified was rejected only a day before the police action. Some retired officials who welcomed the exercise said there was still scope for an agreed solution.

The A. Puthur incident has once again brought centre stage the issue of land, more so because of skyrocketing prices. On the one side the land mafia is working overtime and complaints of fraudulent land transfers are on the increase. At the other end are lakhs of poor and deprived people who have been waiting for their turn to get house sites. Understandably, Dalits will form a large portion of house site seekers. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has announced that during the past six months poor people numbering 50,878 had received pattas for free house sites. He said the scheme was extended by another six months. Expressing dissatisfaction over its implementation, several Opposition leaders have blamed cumbersome procedures, impractical conditions and unrealistic guidelines for this slow pace.

The Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam and the Tamil Nadu Vivasaya Thozhilalar Sangam have organised a month-long mass movement demanding early issue of pattas to the 12 lakh applicants.

The campaign will culminate with the families of the applicants entering the premises of revenue offices for a stay-in on August 6.