[Onthebarricades] South Asia: mass landless protest, protest vs retail giants and more

[Andy]

*  INDIA:  Protest against retail giants by small shopkeepers and farmers in 
Mumbai
*  INDIA:  Karnataka rally against withdrawal of subsidies
*  PAKISTAN:  Homeless people protest at supreme court
*  INDIA:  Tens of thousands complete massive march for land rights
*  BANGLADESH:  Farmers block roads, assault official over fertiliser 
shortage

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/11/stories/2007101161661500.htm

Protest against retail giants
Staff Reporter


GATHERING FOR A CAUSE: Over 20,000 traders, farmers and shopkeepers staged a 
protest in Azad Maidan, Mumbai, on Wednesday against the entry of private 
retail giants like WalMart into the country, which they say will destroy 
millions of livelihoods. The protest was the biggest in the country yet 
against the ambitions of foreign and local companies to introduce 
Western-style supermarkets.. - PHOTO: VIVEK BENDRE
MUMBAI: Over 20,000 people gathered at Azad Maidan here on Wednesday to 
protest against the entry of corporates and foreign chains such as Wal-Mart 
into retail trade in India.
The protesters, who were also demanding the implementation of labour laws in 
Special Economic Zones, belonged to diverse groups such as retailers, 
wholesale traders, hawkers and Mathadi labourers. They are opposing the 
amendments to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act that allows 
corporates to buy products from farmers and sell them directly to the 
consumers.
"Various groups that have never come together are protesting all over the 
State under the umbrella of "Vyapar Rozgar Suraksha Kriti Samiti," Mohan 
Gurnani, president of the Federation of Association of Maharashtra (FAM) 
said. "Our demands are simple," said Narendra Patil, leader of the Mathadi 
workers' union. "We want the amendment to the APMC Act cancelled. We do not 
want big corporates, Indian or otherwise, to enter the retail industry and 
labour laws should be implemented in SEZs."
Some action would be required if their demands fell on deaf ears, he told 
the gathering. He referred to the closing down of Reliance Fresh outlets in 
Uttar Pradesh and called for a similar action from the Mathadi workers.
Speakers such as Vivek Monterio of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions and 
trade unionist Baba Adhao said it was a myth that farmers and consumers 
would benefit from "farm to fork" strategy. For several years, middlemen 
were blamed for farmers getting poor returns. The big giants would wipe out 
competition and monopolise the business. It would only lead to exploitation 
of farmers and consumers, they said.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/015200710110341.htm


Small traders hold protest against organised retail
Mumbai (PTI): In perhaps the largest protest against organised retail in the 
country, thousands of traders on Wednesday came together to oppose entry of 
corporate giants in the fresh foods business.
Apparently targeting western-style food retail stores of Reliance Fresh, 
Spencer's and the entry of Wal-Mart through a joint venture with Bharti, the 
traders under the banner of Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM) 
asked farmers not to fall for the corporate's bait of remunerative prices 
for their produce.
FAM leaders claimed that once the corporates establish their presence, 
farmers would no longer be able to dictate prices.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/13/stories/2007101354370400.htm

KRRS to hold protest
Special Correspondent
Bangalore: The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) and Hasiru Sene will 
hold a demonstration here on October 15 to protest against the proposed 100 
per cent of withdrawal of agricultural subsidies as part of the World Trade 
agreement.
Speaking to presspersons here on Friday, KRRS president Kodihalli 
Chandrashekhar said that Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath would be signing 
an agreement to this effect later this month and it would spell disaster to 
an already ailing sector.
Disaster had struck Indian farmers after the signing of the General 
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994 and the present agreement 
would be a second blow, Mr. Chandrashekhar said.
Over 1.50 lakh farmers had committed suicide in India after the 
implementation of the GATT agreement, he added.
"The United States gives an annual subsidy of $ 296 billion to farmers. They 
have recently extended the subsidies by another five years. How can they 
expect the Indian Government to withdraw subsides to its poor farmers when 
such is the situation?" Mr.Chandrashekhar sought to know.

http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/24/top18.htm

Homeless protest in front of SC

ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: The poor, deserving and homeless people of the twin 
cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad protested in front of the Supreme Court 
of Pakistan on Tuesday and appealed to Chief Justice of Pakistan to provide 
them ownership rights.

Nearly 1,000 people including women, children and old people under the 
leadership of Head of World Minorities Alliance (WMA) and Pakistan Human 
Rights Party, J Salik observed peaceful protest in front of the Supreme 
Court of Pakistan.

The protestors were holding banners and placards.

Addressing on the occasion, J Salik said that he had pledged with the poor 
to provide them shelter and in this regard, he would file over 6,000 
petitions with the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary. 
These 6,000 petitions are placed in 14 boxes, he said.

He said that the poor and homeless of the twin cities in their applications 
requested the CJP to provide them shelter and that besides the government 
officials and armed forces, plots should be given to the homeless.-Online

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gjiSfkaWqyBYCxlmyF64XFcAILqgD8SJ3U800

Landless Poor Protest in Indian Capital
By GAVIN RABINOWITZ - 6 days ago
NEW DELHI (AP) - Some 27,000 landless people gathered in New Delhi, hoping 
to march to Parliament with a single demand - give us land. But police 
locked them up Monday, chaining the gates to the vast Ramlila fairgrounds 
and barricading the demonstrators inside.
Monday had been planned as the culmination of a monthlong, 185-mile march 
north from the city of Gwalior to the national capital with this message: 
The masses have been largely untouched by India's economic boom.
"Day-by-day the Sensex goes up but the common people get nothing from this," 
said Anil Gupta, a march organizer, referring to the Bombay Stock Exchange's 
benchmark index, which closed at a record high Monday.
"People here are asking only for the basics. There is no greed. They don't 
want clothes or electricity, just land so they can feed themselves," he 
said.
After police barricaded the protesters inside the dusty fairgrounds Monday, 
they settled in, saying they would stay as long as it takes - at least they 
were getting one meal a day from the organizers. At home, they have nothing.
The call for land resonates in a country where some 70 percent of India's 
1.1 billion people are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, many 
eking out an existence as subsistence farmers or itinerant laborers.
Poverty is rife. About 450 million Indians live on less than $1 a day, 
according to the World Bank.
The march brought together India's traditionally landless people - the 
"untouchables" and tribals at the bottom of the country's complex social 
ladder - and the newly landless, forced from their fields by new economic 
projects.
Dherum joined the march in the jungles of India's Madhya Pradesh state, the 
inspiration for Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book." He feeds his five 
children on about 50 cents a day, made by selling firewood foraged from the 
jungles.
"I just want a small piece of land so I can grow some vegetables," said the 
35-year-old, who like many from India's indigenous tribes goes by one name.
"My father died doing this work, I'll die doing this," he said. "Give us 
some land to farm, nothing else."
India is trying to attract foreign investment to spur its economy and help 
develop its largely backward infrastructure. In part, it has chosen to do 
this by setting up Special Economic Zones, where companies get tax breaks to 
open businesses and factories.
But critics say farmers are often forced from their land or cheated of its 
value when it is acquired for these projects.
Priya Bishnu's family has fished eastern India's massive Chilika Lake for 
prawns for centuries. But they left the area recently after large companies 
were granted the right to set up huge prawn farms in the lake.
"When the government gives the multinational companies land, where does it 
come from? That's our land," the 33-year-old said.
"It should be our right to fish the lake and sell the prawns," she said, 
sitting with other marchers under a sign of independence leader Mohandas K. 
Gandhi.
Their protest has been peaceful, in keeping with the passive resistance set 
out by Gandhi, but the fears and frustrations of others have overflowed into 
violence.
The government canceled a plan to acquire 22,000 acres of land in eastern 
India for a petrochemical plant and shipyard after the deaths of 14 farmers 
in clashes with police. Another 15 people have died in sporadic violence.
March organizers demand a national body be created to look into the land 
issue and amend India's vague property laws and endemic corruption that 
allow farmers to be strong-armed off their land by powerful landowners.
In an apparent answer to the protests, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 
office announced late Monday that a National Land Reforms Council - with 
Singh as chairman - would be established. Officials in his office were not 
available to discuss details.
But activists were skeptical.
"They talk about helping the average man, but the policies are anti-poor," 
said Gupta, noting that legislation already enacted to provide land rights 
to the tribes has not been enforced.
"But when a multinational needs land, the government organizes everything 
for them," he said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jub9jCMgTsWK1JTCWxataCJijlWgD8SII2S00

Thousands Protest Land Seizure in India
6 days ago
NEW DELHI (AP) - Tens of thousands of impoverished Indians arrived in the 
national capital on Sunday ending a monthlong march to draw attention to the 
plight of those dispossessed of their land by recent economic development.
An estimated 27,000 protesters waved flags and chanted "Give us land, give 
us water," as they marched in long, orderly lines to central New Delhi where 
they plan to hold a massive protest Monday.
The demonstrators, who marched some 185 miles from the central city of 
Gwalior, say they have not only been left behind in the wake of India's 
recent economic boom, but have suffered directly from the growth, with many 
forced from their land to make way for government-backed economic projects.
Police reported Sunday that four people died in eastern India after clashes 
between farmers and government supporters over proposed land seizures to 
create an industrial zone.
"We don't have food, land or water. We are going to Delhi to get this," Rasi 
Ram, one of the marchers in New Delhi, told the CNN-IBN news channel.
India is trying to attract foreign investment to spur its economy and help 
develop its largely backward infrastructure. To that end, it has set up 
Special Economic Zones, where companies get tax breaks to set up business 
and factories.
But critics say farmers are often forced from their land or cheated on its 
value when an area is designated for these projects.
In West Bengal state, three government supporters died in an explosion, a 
day after an activist who opposes the land grabs was shot dead by supporters 
of the governing Communist Party of India (Marxist), said Raj Kanojia, the 
state's inspector general of police.
Farmers in the Nandigram area in West Bengal fiercely resisted efforts by 
authorities to force land sales at cheap rates to build a shipyard and a 
petrochemical plant. The government officially abandoned the plan to acquire 
22,000 acres of land in Nandigram in March, but the violence has continued.
Those who support the farmers say the communists were killed when a bomb 
they were building prematurely exploded, while party officials say they were 
attacked to avenge the death of the activist.
It's not only economic developments that have forced the poor from their 
lands. Some say India's vague property laws and endemic corruption allow 
them to be strong-armed off their land by powerful local landowners.
"When these landowners see that someone strong is coming up to fight for his 
land rights they get them murdered," Vishwas Prasad, a marcher told the NDTV 
news channel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/world/asia/28cnd-india.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Indians Conclude 200-Mile Protest

By SAHER MAHMOOD and SOMINI SENGUPTA
Published: October 29, 2007
NEW DELHI, Oct. 28 - From a village in Madhya Pradesh State, in the heart of 
India, Gudiya Bai came here walking because, she said, she lost her land to 
a limestone mine. From eastern Orissa, Johny Bilyung came because most of 
his tiny plot was taken over for the construction of a dam. And from 
neighboring Jharkhand, Budhua Tanabhagat came because he has yet to get 
water from a dam that cost him half of his fields.
For 26 days, thousands of peasants like these have marched more than 200 
miles to the capital with the hope of telling their government how they had 
been cast aside by this country's roaring economic growth. They reached here 
this morning in an orderly, peaceful three mile-long procession. Most of 
them wore plastic flip-flops, and some said they were already on their third 
pair.
A spokesman for Ekta Parishad, or Unity Council, which organized the march, 
estimated a turnout of 25,000, which could not be independently verified.
Their principal grievance was over land, and their presence in the capital 
was a stark reminder of one of the biggest challenges facing India, as it 
seeks to balance the needs of a vulnerable countryside and the demands of 
economic expansion.
More than half of the population makes its living off agriculture, and most 
Indian peasants subsist on tiny plots fed by fickle rains. While industrial 
and public works projects in past decades had displaced people from their 
land, the pace of industrialization has accelerated significantly in recent 
years, sharpening competition over land, one of the country's most coveted 
resources.
Peasants' protests, some of them violent, have held up several proposed 
projects - from steel mills to power plants to Chinese-style Special 
Economic Zones - postponing several billion dollars in investments over the 
last two years. The government has been compelled to revisit its Special 
Economic Zone policy, which gives generous tax incentives to developers. It 
is also crafting a new policy to compensate those whose lands and 
livelihoods are lost.
The peasant procession, which began in Gwalior, a once-royal city in the 
middle of the country, brought some of the most destitute Indians here to 
the richest city in the land. They carried sacks over their shoulders, 
containing a few clothes, a steel plate and cup, and thin quilts to keep 
themselves warm at night. Some carried umbrellas to shield themselves from 
the still-hot midday sun. Last week, three marchers were killed by a 
speeding truck along the road, in neighboring Uttar Pradesh state.
Many among the marchers were indigenous people known here as tribals and 
among the most vulnerable to displacement by industrial projects slated for 
the heavily forested, resource-rich swath across central India.
They were joined by a fair number of foreigners. The cost of the procession, 
about $1.25 per person per day, according to the organizers, was defrayed by 
some foreign-aid agencies.
The marchers' demands included enforceable property deeds and fast-track 
courts to settle land disputes, which can stretch on for several years. 
"Land. Water. Forest" read a banner strung on a jeep that led the 
procession.
Gudiya Bai, from a village called Jhiraha, said her extended family first 
lost half of its 10 acres to a limestone mine. What was left became 
infertile. She blames the mine for making water scarce, a claim impossible 
to verify. As their household income dwindled, one by one, family members 
went to work in the mine. Today, it employs six of her eight children, all 
but one of whom is under the age of 14, the legal working age in India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/20000_people_seeking_land_rights_arrive_in_Delhi_for_protest_at_Parliament/articleshow/2496843.cms

20,000 people seeking land rights arrive in Delhi for protest at Parliament
28 Oct 2007, 1346 hrs IST,PTI
NEW DELHI: A massive rally of over 20,000 people from 15 states on Sunday 
reached the national Capital after marching 340 kms from Gwalior, demanding 
their rights to land and livelihood.

The "Janadesh March", organised by Ekta Parishad, was flagged off at 
Guwalior on October 2 and have already marched for 24 days.

The activists plan to sit on a protest near the Parliament on Monday.

Their demands included setting up of a National Land Authority, fast-track 
courts and a single window system to deal with land and livelihood disputes.

Around 200 foreigners from 30 countries are also taking part in the rally 
lending support to the cause of the Tribals, Adivasis and landless workers.

"These villagers are not ready to go empty handed. This is an initiative to 
bring land reforms to centrestage in rural development policies," said Ekta 
Parishad founder P V Rajgopal, who is leading the rally.

Rajgopal said there was a need for a "single window system" at district 
level to deal with land and livelihood issues.

He said the government should set up a National Land Authority to look into 
the matters related to land reforms and other related issues.

Seven persons have died during the rally till date. Four due to illness and 
three were killed in accidents.

50 trucks are carrying food items and medicines for the protesters.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5glF_xvNayz8p8KkbboJJ7o3_239A

India sets up panel on land reforms after huge protest
6 days ago
NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Indian government said Monday it would set up a 
special panel on land reforms after thousands of poor and landless people 
converged on the capital to press for land rights.
An estimated 25,000 people from across India gathered in New Delhi after 
marching 600 kilometres (370 miles) from the central city of Gwalior to 
demand land reforms.
The panel would look into "all land related issues, including land reforms", 
the government said in a statement.
The expert committee would make recommendations on land policies, judicial 
reforms and speedier disposal of court cases related to land disputes, and 
submit them to another council headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Organisers of the protest march, who were prevented by police from moving to 
the federal parliament building earlier in the day, welcomed the 
announcement.
"Our demands have been met. We are fully satisfied, now that the rural 
development minister came here and made the announcement," said Bharat 
Bhushan Thakur, a member of protest organising group Ekta Parishad, or Unity 
Forum.
"These measures will clear the hurdles in giving land to poor people. We are 
now ready to go back," Thakur said, after thousands of people waving green 
and white flags spent a day at a dusty ground with no shade from the sun.
Seven people died of fatigue or illness during the trek, which began on 
October 2 -- the day India celebrates Gandhi's birthday.
The protestors had demanded that the government introduce iron-clad 
legislation on holdings, deeds and tenancy rights -- replacing the current 
system where ownership can easily be taken by the rich and powerful.
The march has been the biggest show of anger yet over the problem of land 
grabbing in India, where poor farmers are being pushed off their land by 
both government and private developers.
"Many people here have been displaced many times over -- first because of 
mining, then because of dams. They have nowhere to go," march organiser 
Puthan Vithal Rajgopal said.
A government plan to set up tax-friendly special economic zones across 
thousands of acres of farmland in a bid to lure overseas corporations has 
led to sometimes violent protests over displacement in at least two states.
"It is nothing but land grabbing," Rajgopal said.
The Indian economy is expanding at around nine percent a year, with services 
and manufacturing clocking double digit growth.
But the farm sector is being left far behind and activists are increasingly 
pointing at a widening gap between the rich few and the hundreds of millions 
of poor.
"Our fight is for land, forests and water. Our slogan is 'give us land, or 
give us jail,'" said participant Sanjay Kumar.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=10905

Fertiliser Shortage
Farmers block highway, assault UNO
Our Correspondent, Manikganj

Farmers failing to get fertiliser blocked Dhaka-Aricha Road for an hour and 
a half yesterday at Uthuli bus stand in Shibalaya upazila in Manikganj and 
assaulted the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) twice.

They also confined the UNO and a fertiliser dealer to shops at the bus 
stand.

Sources said the farmers went to the shop of fertiliser dealer Ashraful 
Islam Raja to buy urea in the morning but the dealer refused to sell as the 
upazila administration, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and the 
union parishad (UP) chairman and members failed to distribute slips to 
farmers on the basis of which the dealer should sell fertiliser.

Farmers usually receive slips from the authorities mentioning their 
fertiliser requirements and the urea is sold to them according to the amount 
mentioned on the slip.

At this, around 500 farmers went to the highway and blocked it at 11:50am 
disrupting road communications between Dhaka and south-western districts. It 
also created a traffic jam as hundreds of vehicles made long queues on both 
sides of the highway.

UNO Soleman Khan and a DAE official went to the spot but the angry farmers 
assaulted the UNO. The DAE official managed to flee. The farmers then 
confined the UNO and the dealer to two separate shops.

A district administration team comprising Assistant Deputy Commissioner 
Salauddin Ahmed and Deputy Director of DAE Mokbul Hossain Talukder went to 
the spot around 1:20pm and brought the situation under control with the help 
of police and by assuring them of giving fertiliser. They also rescued the 
UNO from the shop.

Superintendent of Police of Manikganj Imtiaz Ahmed supervised the resumption 
of vehicular movement.

The district administration officials tried to sit with the farmers to 
discuss the matter but the farmers refused to talk. A farmer alleged that 
they have been trying to get fertiliser for seven days.

They said the UP chairmen and members were making delays in distributing the 
slips and alleged they were selling fertiliser at night at higher price.

Later, Lt Col Fakhrul Ahsan, Major Shafi and Captain Arif of the joint 
forces went to the spot and rescued the fertiliser dealer. Lt Col Fakhrul 
Ahsan assured the farmers of giving fertiliser. He also asked for the 
distribution of 200 sacks of urea to each of the nine wards in Uthuli Union.

However, farmers at Nayabari in the upazila again assaulted the UNO in the 
evening when he went there to distribute fertiliser.