33 mahadalit families have been for years settled on Bihar government land in Chainpur Baghel village of Sahdeyi Bujurg block. The government had arranged for 1.5 decimal housing land for each of them, in which houses had been built under the Indira Awas Yojana. Now the number of families has increased to 150 who manage by living in thatched houses made of dried grass. These 150 families are mainly sharecroppers who also do construction work in their spare time. As they refused to work in a neighbouring landlord’s land, a case of encroachment of Bihar government land was put against them in the High Court and a fake impostor was produced in court who gave it in writing that they had encroached upon government land meant for roads. The HC had issued directions in 2011 for removal of the encroachments. These poor mahadalits had no knowledge of any of these events. They came to know about it when on 1st March the authorities came with JCBs to raze down their settlement. People protested in hundreds and the administration had to turn back.
Under the banner of the Kisan Mahasabha it was decided to hold protests and agitations and file a petition in the HC for review of the verdict. Poor from the neighbouring villages also extended support and solidarity to these families. A case for review of the decision was registered in the HC on 11 March and on 12 March hundreds of farmers staged a dharna in front of the DM demanding– suspension of the old verdict until fresh directions from the HC; 5 decimal housing land for each family; and fixation of sharecropping rates by the government.
Presently the district administration has stayed the proceedings to implement the HC decision of removing the settlement. The dharna was led and addressed by Kisan Mahasabha leaders comrades Vishveshwar Prasad Yadav, Arvind Kumar Choudhury, Pramod Kumar, Harinarayan Singh, and CPI(ML) District Secretary Com. Yogendra Rai.