Whose land is it anyway?

After decades of condemnation, tribals in western Orissa have liberated their land. Interestingly, in this Maoist stronghold, this unique movement is non-violent

Bibhuti Pati Narayanpatna, Koraput (Orissa)

The undivided Koraput district in western Orissa has acquired notoriety because of the Maoists literally taking over the dense hilly and forest areas, inhabited by tribal communities, still trapped in the vicious trap of infinite poverty, injustice and underdevelopment. The Maoists' presence stretch across the landscape and beyond to Ganjam, Malkangiri, Rayagada, and across the tense border zones of Jharkhand, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

Strangely, even as the national media focuses on Maoists, it has ignored a unique, militant and non-violent mass movement of the tribals which is as big a story as the land struggle in Nandigram, or the people's resistance in Lalgarh. Indeed, there have been isolated incidents of violence, but largely, the movement has been peaceful. And the truth is, it has been a big success.

The tribals here have forcibly "recovered" thousands of hectares of agricultural land from the landlords and redistributed them among the tribal community. They have categorically claimed that this indigenous land belonged to the indigenous people who have inhabited this primordial land and forests since centuries, and mostly outsiders, with the help of police, bureaucracy and politicians, have captured their land. Under the Chasi Mulia Adivasi Sangha (CMAS), under the leadership of veteran CPI-ML leader Ganantha Patra, this movement has no links with Maoists. It is led and controlled by tribals and has a support base running into thousands.

No wonder the police could not move even as thousands blocked their way with bows, arrows and sickles, albeit peacefully, even while others actually started tilling the 'recovered' land. The movement has spread and acquired huge support base in the Koraput region, where scattered tribal communities share a strong chord of unity and angst with the tribals of Narayanpatna. The tribals, after years of condemnation, have refused to accept the logic of injustice anymore.

Tacitly, the Maoists have extended their support, but the movement remains autonomous. Said Gananatha Patra, "The ideology of the Maoists and our politics is completely different. They believe in violence to defeat. But in this way they will never bring about any qualitative change among the citizens and this revolution cannot last for long. We want open, daylight revolution, build up politics of resistance in the daily life of people, participate openly in the democratic process to seek justice and our fundamental rights. This is our concept of revolution. So how are we the same as the Maoists? However, we don't support the ban on the Maoists. It's like the British banning the communists during the freedom struggle."

The recovered land, now under cultivation, with tribal groups with bows and arrows protecting the liberated land, is being equally distributed even while the resources are going to be shared collectively. Says Patra, "We will distribute land equitably among poor tribals, according to their family's involvement in cultivation, and not by hired labour or sharecroppers. There are plenty of earlier examples about the equitable distribution of recovered land after and during a land struggle and we will see to it that there is no dissatisfaction and misunderstanding."