Nandigram II? Kerala govt landlocked in controversy

SHARE OF THE LAND PIE: Most land deals are apparently signed without the knowledge of the CM.

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Keywords: cpi-m, farmers

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI-M in Kerala is perhaps not very far from its cousins in West Bengal when it comes to dealing with land.

A party that once prided itself on being the party of the landless, is now fast assuming the image of a big money spinning machine, all pointing to an unholy alliance with the land mafia.

Till about a year ago Adivasis were resisting the ruling CPM cadre's efforts to evict them from their farms in Kerala's Arlam.

Adivasi Ramu Moopan had said, “I will not leave this place. This is my land. I was born here. Generations together we have lived here. If you want to take this land away from me you have to first kill me.”

But that was a year ago. The defiance and the adivasis farms have both become history.

The dreaded red flag - a symbol of CPM's “land-grab” policy - is not just fluttering on forest fringes but even in the suburbs of Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Activists say Kerala is set to repeat a Nandigram.

“The communists who were once the champions of the land reforms used to take land from the landlords and give to the landless. But now what’s happening in Kerala and West Bengal where they are ruling, they are taking land from the landless and handing them to the multi-million corporates,” says social activist CR Neelakandan.

So what happened to the champions of land reforms? What happened to the CPI-M which once stood up for landless labourer?

Perhaps the CPM's state secretary and his faction holds the key to the answer. The three-year-old government has been rocked by at least 25 land deals.

The Achuthananthan government’s report card reads as follows:

• HMT land deal, Cochin: Of the 878 acres, unused land was sold to a Mumbai-based realtor against all norms for IT parks. But the CM who holds the IT portfolio had no idea of this.
• ISRO- Merchisten deal: Government sold 707 acres in Ponmudi to a private party only to realise later that it was once notified as an eco-fragile land. The matter now in court.
• Munnar demolitions: Called off after the CPI and Pinnarayi faction put pressure on the CM.

Perumbavoor, Kozhikode, Kannur; the list is endless. All these point to one grim reality: decisions are no longer taken in the government but by the party secretariat where a huge land mafia has managed to creep in.

Says President, Kerala Congress (Secular), PC George, “All this is done with the knowledge of the CPI-M state leadership and his followers. Across Kerala, there is a huge mafia at work which is closely related to certain top people in the party. Achuthananthan is a silent spectator here. Poor labourers are losing their land as the Maxists sell it off to the huge corporates.”

Many in the party feel the Achuthanandan’s hands are tied by the bigger faction. As a result, most deals are signed without the knowledge of the CM.

The state government might have brought out a new land draft policy that promises land to all.

But not many will believe in its intentions if the nexus between the party and the land mafia is not broken.