Non-tribal Killed : Land Dispute

Deccan Chronicle, July 1, 1997.

Eluru, June 30: A non-tribal was killed and 10 others seriously injured in a scuffle at P. Rajavaram village of Jeelugumilli mandal on Monday.

According to information, the non-tribals obstructed the tribals from trespassing into their lands. In the scuffle that ensued one Simhadri Gopala Rao, son of Gangaraaju Kamma, was killed with arrows. Ten tribals and non-tribals injured in the incident were shifted to hospital.

The Joint Collector, Mr. M. Subrahmanyam and the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr. G. Alfred, left for the spot.

Meanwhile, tension again built up in the agency mandals of Jeelugumilli, Buttaigudem and Polavaram and the neighbouring non-tribal mandals of Jangareddigudem as cultivation of disputed lands was obstructed by tribals and there was possibility of all these lands being left barred. The tribals, hitherto said to be trespassing into the land under the enjoyment of non-tribals and snatching grain and fruits from them, have now changed their modus operandi and were attacking the non-tribals during transplantation.

They were said to be not allowing the non-tribals to enter the disputed lands which were being cultivated and enjoyed by non-tribals. The tribals reportedly declared that the disputed lands at Sanjeevapuram, Butchampeta, Nandigudem, Regulagunta and Karamvarigudem villages belong to them and none else should cultivate the lands.

They fixed the boundaries by planting red-flags in more than 600 acres of cultivable land which was said to be earlier under the occupation of non-tribals.

The tribals, in groups of 50s20s, 100s armed with bows and arrows spears and sticks, were threatening the non-tribals.

The Rythanga Samakhya president Mr. Maganti Seetharamaswamy alleged that the Revenue and Police officials were shielding the tribals and not initiating any kind of action against them for trespassing taking away grain, abductions and exploiting the situation.

The District Collector, Ms. Vasundha Misra, declared at Nidadavole on Sunday that all were equal before law and nobody will be spared for violating it. She said in regard to non-agency tracts, all disputes should be resolved in court of law only as they do not attract LTR Act of 1/70.

ELURU, July 2.

The police cracked down on tribals today and arrested them indiscriminately. At the latest count, about 40 tribals, including many old women, had already been rounded up, and the combing operation was still continuing in the wee hours of Thursday.

The tribals of jeelugumilli, Buttayyagudem and Polavaram mandals in the West Godavari district were demanding immediate implementation of Regulation One of 1970.

The agitation had taken a new turn with the killing of non-tribals farmer Simhadri Gopala Rao in a clash at Patacharla village in Jeelugumilli mandal on Monday.

The situations tense in various tribal villages as five battalions of policemen have reached Jeelugumilli. The tribals' woman who were arrested were shifted to an unknown destination. Many of them were seen half-naked.

DIG Alfred, SP Rabi Gupta, ASP Laxmi Reddy and DSP Brahma Reddy are carrying out the arrests.

Tribals are determined to force the government to implement the Land Transformation Regulatory Act (1of 70) and evacuate non-tribals from their land.

Non-tribals are bringing enormous pressure on the government to provide adequate security and allow them to carry on agricultural work in the present kharif season.

Until the surveys are conducted and ownership of lands is established, they should be allowed to carry on agricultural work, non-tribals argue.

Earlier, the government was in a fix as both sections made their stands clear. Now, with the killing, the government prefers to view it as a law and order problem.

The situation may turn grim as tribals have almost come to conclusion that they would not be able to achieve anything by full means.

Sources said that the administration was planning to impose a ban on the carrying of conventional arms by the tribals. This may further infuriate them as their identify and customs would be in dangers.

West godavari district collector Vasudha Mishra told Andhra Pradesh Times that the killing cannot be justified on any count, "It is a clear murder. One cannot justify it saying that it was basically a land dispute and culmination of social problems," she said.

Mishra alleged that SAKTI (an NGO) director Dr P.Sivarama krishna and his wife Sarada were misleading innocent tribals and provoking them to revolt against the government.

Dr Sivarama Krishna, in a telegram to various newspapers, has condemned the killing of the non-tribal farmer. He requested the government to constitute peace committees and urged both tribals and non-tribals to maintain peace in the larger interests of both sections.

Govt inaction, terror led to tribal fury

A. P. Times July, 5 1997

By N Sriranganath

Hyderabad July 4: The inevitable has happened. The death of a non-tribal farmer in the clash between the tribal and non-tribal peasants in P Rajavaram village of Jeelugumilli mandal in West Godavari district seemed to have a provided enough excuse to the government to unleash a reign of terror on the tribals.

When the vexed problem of determining the ownership of thousands of hectares of land in the possession of non-tribals in the scheduled area was crying for a solution, the government allowed the situation to deteriorate by its total inaction or half-hearted action.

When eviction of non-tribals from 1,900 hectares of land in Suvarnavarigudem was ordered, the government took no action even for three years to enable the non-tribals to get a stay order from the high court, which they got in 1993.

The settlement court at Kovvur could dispose of till February 1997, only 42 of about 170 cases involving 1,565 hectares. Of the 42 cases 27 went in favour of non-tribals, 11 in favour of the government while four cases were dropped. But not a single case went in favour of tribals. "SAKTI", a non-governmental organisa5tion working for the protection of tribals' rights, alleged that neither the tribals nor the petitioner was given notices before disposal of these cases.

In the three notified mandals of West Godavari , all the 29 villages in Jeelugumilli mandal, all the 53 villages in Buttayagudem mandal and 19 of the 23 villages in Polavaram mandal are notified villages. Tribals were granted 7,756 pattas covering 9,391 hectares of land, while non-tribals were granted 43 pattas covering 743 hectares. But the fact is that 28,367 hectares of land- assessed waste, poramboke and tribal- is under the occupation of non-tribals.

The very presence of non-tribals owning land in the scheduled area itself is proof of the systematic violation of the regulations made from time to time governing land transfer in the tribal areas. Yet the government ordered an extensive survey of the disputed lands.

The make-believe survey and the scrutiny of records of the claimants was done amidst prohibitory orders under section 144 with the ulterior motive of discouraging the tribals from asserting their rights. Some time in March the tribals were tricked by the mandal revenue officer of Jeelugumilli into appearing before him for verification of records and when the tribals gathered at one place the police entered the scene and arrested 30 tribals for violating the "prohibitory" orders. The MRO had vanished from the scene minutes before the police entered.

This is just one example of how the revenue officials made a mockery of the decisions taken at higher level of the administration. It also shows to what length the officials could go in the service of the powerful non-tribal landlord lobby.

Earlier, when the non-tribals burnt down the Jeelugumilli MRO's office along with the land records and damaged Jangareddigudem MRO's office, tribals were booked under non-bailable sections, the non-tribals were let out on bail.

While allowing the problem to simmer, the authorities should have known that if would flare up during the kharif transplantation in July. The non-tribal lobby, patronized by powerful caster leaders of the ruling party, seemed to be preparing for a showdown, when they had successfully blocked T Krishna Prasad, known for his service to tribals of Visakhapatnam district, from taking over charge as Superintendent of police, West Godavari.

While the police are turning the agency area upside down, the non-tribal lobby is thirsting for a revenge, according to informed sources. The district collector has imposed a ban on carrying of bows and arrows, which even Rutherford (the British collector during Sitarama Raju's revolt) did not as they were the means of food-gathering by the tribals.

The police swarming the tribal villages have been behaving like an occupation force, caring for none and sparing nothing. The way the news team of Andhra Pradesh Times was threatened by the police when they were collecting information and taking photographs in Jeelugumilli, at a time Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was promising legislation on "right to information," confirms that the police are a law unto themselves.