PROBE INTO ATTACK ON TRIBALS

The Hindu, Tuesday February 2, 1999

The Bhadrachalam ITDA Project Officer, Mr. Praveen Prakash will enquire into the Kotturu came under attack in police action. This was announced by the District Collector. Mr. A. Giridhar at the Khammam District Development Review Committee DDRC were dominated by the tribal issue as committee members including MPs and MLAs voiced concern over the proving the action of the police, destructive methods adopted by them, the members wanted the administration to speed up the process for finding an amicable solution.

The CPI(M) MLAs - Mr. Kunja Bojji, Mr. Sandra Venkata Veeraiah and Mr. Katta Venkata Narasaiah demanded a through probe into the attack on the Tribals in Kotturu village by an IAS officer besides immediate release of the 31 tribal activists arrested from the village. They said that the houses of Tribals were ransacked. Women were beaten and two of them in serious condition were admitted to hospital by the police.

They wanted the administration to constitute an all party panel to discuss the issue. They preferred a solution to the scheduled area land issue by impartial implementation of the Regulation 1/70 and take over of the Government land in the possession of non-tribals. They said that they were in no way justifying the raids of the tribals on the farms and the non-Tribals and the destruction of the standing crops.

The CPI leaders - Mr. Sode Ramaiah, M.P., Mr. Puvvada Nageswara Rao and Mr. Veku Abbaiah, both MLAs - took strong exception to the attempts being made by certain forces to disturb the life of non-Tribals in the scheduled areas. They wanted protection for the farmers raising crops in their patta lands. The attacks on either side would only disturb peace in the area. All sections should be involved in restoring normally besides ensuring justice to the landless tribals.

Mr. Nadendla Bhaskar Rao M.P., and former Chief Minister, the Congress (I) MLA, Mr. Ram Reddy Venkat Reddy said that the Government should initiate measures to extend benefits of various Government programmes to the weaker sections of all castes along with the tribals. They said that the issue needed better management until a policy decision was taken at the Government level on the scheduled area regulations. They wanted neither the Tribals nor the non-Tribals to be put to loss.

Mr. Koneru Nageswara Rao TDP MLA pointed out that the Tribals were resorting to violence only at the instigation of some anarchic forces. Mr. Kunja Biksham MLA said the administration should create an atmosphere where both the Tribals and non-tribes could live in peace and harmony in the Scheduled Area villages.

The District Collector said that the Government remained considerate towards the Tribals in the land issue. A massive exercise had been taken up for survey and distribution of Government land to the tribes in Dammapet and Aswaraopet mandals since July last year.

Concerted efforts made by the Revenue and Police departments helped in assignment of 3,337 acres of land to the tribes while keeping the agencies trouble-free.

The incidents of violence reported last week in Dammapet mandal were the handiwork of some vested interests. About 300 acres of land was ready for further distribution. In case of Kotturu village all the families were assigned land ranging from three to five acres each.

It had recently come to the notice of the administration that all the pattas of the tribal beneficiaries were in the possession of the leader who had been trying to use the villagers against farmers.

He said that the administration had a video cassette of the tribal-police scuffle in the village. If at all any officer at the local level involved in excesses on the tribes, the administration would take action. The ITDA Project Officer of Bhadrachalam would go into the issue and give a report to the administration. Medical help was arranged for the women who were injured in the incident.

The Minister for Major Irrigation Mr. Tummala Nageswara Rao squarely blamed the Sakti organization for the recent events that disturbed the Tribals villages in Dammapet. If the agitation was genuinely for land the Government was been on considering the demands. The land survey was taken up in Mulkalapalli and Chandrugonda mandals also.

SPECIAL OFFICER TO DEAL WITH DAMMAPET LAND ISSUE

By Our Staff Reporter

The Hindu February 5, 1999

The Government has appointed an officer on special duty to deal with the land related issues in the scheduled area village of Dammapet mandal. The District Collector Mr. A. Giridhar said here on Friday that three deputy tahsildars and 12 surveyours were deputed to the mandal with the aim of speeding up the process of land survey. The Joint Collector Mr. Mohd. Ali Rafat would oversee the entire exercise.

He explained that the survey would be taken up by them immediately in four revenue villages Dammapet, Nagupalli, Pedagollagudem and Akinepalli. The identification of the Government and tribal land in the occupation of non-Tribals would be done before plotting of the land and listing of the beneficiaries with 'Zero holding'.

The land assignment would be done in coordination with the village level committees. He said the mandal level committee constituted with representatives of all parties would meet on Saturday to discuss the land issue. He said the same methods would be adopted in Aswaraopet mandal also.

POLICE DEPLOYED IN IRRIGATION MINISTER'S VILLAGE

By Our Staff Reporter

The Hindu. April 16, 1999

DAMMAPET (Khammam dist). April 15.

Police look over the protection of non-tribal properties and crops at Gandugulapalli - the home village of the Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation, Mr. Tummala Nageswara Rao. Farmers in the vicinity are on high alert as the village too experienced the hear of the land struggle.

The bone of contention was the Government land in the illegal occupation of non-tribes. As the Tribals sought to reap cashew crop in a piece of land being enjoyed by a non-tribal farmer on April 11, police swung into action and lathgicharged them. Some are the Tribals, which trigged a fresh wave of Protests in area.

A triabl activist, Mr. Soyam Channdrasekhar, was arrested along with a few others allegedly involved in the incident. The police, however, denied to have resorted to any harsh action against the Tribals and claimed to have arrested only those who led the Tribals in trespassing into the patta lands of non-tribals.

An old woman, Mrs. Kunja Gangamma, who got her hand fractured in the lathicharge, admitted that about 30 of them entered the cashew garden and went on picking the cashew nuts until the police forces arrived on the scene and started beating them up. The youths managed to escape while women and the old bore the brunt of the attack. The police also snatched away about a quintal of cashew nuts they collected from the garden.

Another woman, Mrs. Chapa Mangamma, accused the Dammapet Sub-Inspector of abusing women while chasing them away from the garden. Badly beaten up by them was, Mrs. Jare Venkatamma who was vociferous in demanding the distribution of land in the occupation of the non-Tribals.

She said the police removed her to the Sathupalli hospital as her condition was serious. Some constables let loose a reign of terror in the village. They did not spare even the relatives at their houses after the Incident. A tribal youth, Mr. Tathi Veeraswamy, alleged that he was detained in the gram panchayat office building of Gandugulapalli village and beaten up brutally by the police.

He said policemen have been patrolling the area round the clock. Some of them in plain clothes have been keeping a tab on the movement of the Tribals. He said that about 32 acres of Government land was in the hands of six-acre land was alienated from them and assigned to Tribals from the neighbouring village. No landless tribal from within the village could get the land allotment so far.

Mr. Madakam Mutyalu, district joint convenor of the Tudum Debba, a tribal Organisation, on Thursday condemned the incident and appealed to the Government to take immediate steps to release the tribal activists who were arrested in connection with the incident and fix the responsibility on the police officials concerned for the lathicharge.

A delegation of the CPI (M) comprising its central committee member Mr. TAmmineni Veerabhadram, the district Secretary, Mr. P. Somaiah, and the Palair MLA, Mr. Snadra venkata Veeraiah, visited the village to take stock of the situation Addressing a meeting in the village, Mr. veerabhadram said police action on the Tribals would be counter-productive for the Government.

He wanted the district Minister to act as a role model and ensure the surrender of the Government land, if any, in the possession of his family members f=so and help solve the land problem. About seven acres of Government land found to be in the enjoyment of a close relative of the Minister and it was yet be handed over to the revenue authorities for distribution to he Tribals.

He urged the tribal protesters to spare the non-tribal farmers with small landholdings and concentrate more on those enjoying hundreds of acres in violation of the Scheduled Area Regulations. He said over 6,000 acres of Government and tribal land was in the possession of non-tribals in Dammapet mandal.

About 3, 000 acres of land in the illegal occupation had been located so far in the land surveys conducted during the past one year. The district administration had been claiming to have already assigned the land to the landless. But the ground realities were otherwise. Many of the Tribals were give pattas without giving possession of the land, he said.