The Chengara struggle refers to an ongoing controversy about land near the Chengara village in the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India.
Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. is an agricultural business corporation with a history that goes back over 150 years. According to its own slogan it is: "India's most diversified agri-business".[1] It is the largest producer of pineapples in India,[2] the largest producer of tea in South India, and is the largest employer in the region.[3] It is employing around 13’000 people in rural Kerala, more than 100’000 people are - according to the companies own information - dependent on the company for their livelihood.[3] Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. started its rubber production in the early 1900s. Today it is spread over 10 estates in Kerala.[4] One of these 10 estates is the Kumbazha estate, situated in Chengara near Konni in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, which has been occupied by the Dalits and Adivasis.
Until 1984 the company was wholly foreign-owned by Harrisons & Crosfield (named Elementis plc. after 1998), UK's largest specialty chemicals business.[5] Since 1984 Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. is part of the RPG Enterprises,[6] one of India's largest business groups.[7] It is important to note that in popular perception, however, Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. still remains a 'foreign' company.[8]
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are official designations given to various groups of historically disadvantaged people. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India's population (according to the 2011 census). The Schedules Castes are known as Dalits (the lowest group in the caste hierarchy; "untouchables") and Scheduled Tribes are known as Adivasi ("original inhabitants", the indigenous communities). Dalits and Adivasis represent respectively 10% and 1.1% of Kerala's population.[9]
Through a longer stretch of history, Dalits have been the backbone of Kerala's wetland rice cultivation. Initially they were slaves, after the year 1850 they became the attached laborers (following the ban on slave traffic), and finally in the 1940s they became "free" laborers (following the advance of caste-based social movements and communist trade union organization). But although they were integral to agrarian production, they were prevented from owning land in Kerala's traditional caste society. Until the late 1950s, the centuries-old Janmi-Kudiyan (landlord-tenant) landholding system based on the caste system prevailed in Kerala. In this system the Landlords were Namboothiris (called Brahmins in the rest of India) - the highest in the caste hierarchy. The land was often leased to the Dalits – the lowest caste - for cultivation with a simple taxation system.[10] For a long time, it resembled the feudalism in Europe, except for the differences introduced by the caste system.[11] This means the ownership of land was concentrated in the hands of a few individual landlords.
Innumerable malpractices like untouchability, inapproachability and unseeability were widely practiced by the Namboothiris. Many practices were based on the idea of purity, which gave rise to the widespread practice of theendal (pollution). These practices pushed the Adivasis and the Dalits into servitude, slavery, dispossession and displacement, which then compelled them to pawn their dignity and their human rights at the feet of a caste-based society.[12] By the early 20th century, due to the impact of several social reformations, Kerala managed to get officially rid of untouchability and other malpractices which alienated the Dalits and Adivasis.[10] However, prejudices against them continue, especially in rural areas.
In 1957, elections for the new Kerala Legislative Assembly were held, and a reformist, communist-led government came to power. It was the first time a communist government (Communist Party of India- CPI) was democratically elected to power anywhere in the world. It initiated pioneering land reforms. One of the key legislations the state had undertaken to ensure land for the landless was "The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963".[13] By this Act, the centuries-old Janmi-Kudiyan system was brought to an end.[14]
The major objective of the land reform have been the re-ordering of agrarian relations in order to achieve an egalitarian social structure ("Land to the Tiller").[15] With a view to achieve the said objectives the Kerala Land Reform Act, 1963, imposes certain restrictions on ownership and possession of landed properties in the State of Kerala. This is commonly known as "ceiling". Ceiling means that there is a total extent of land that a "person" can own.[15] Land over and above the ceiling limit is called surplus land.[16] If the individual owns more land than the ceiling limit, the surplus land should be taken away by the government (with or without paying compensation to original owner) and it should be distributed (as one example) among small farmers, tenants or landless laborers.[16] The ceiling in Kerala varies with the size of the household and does not exceed 25 standard acres (10 ha), the maximum that the largest family could own.[17] In the case of a company the limit is 10 standard acres subject to a maximum of 15 acres.[15] However, the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, exempted certain kinds of land from the ceiling limit, including plantations and private forests (sec. 81).
According to the Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963, the government was to distribute surplus and revenue forest land to Kerala's landless poor. Though the land ceiling laws were expected to create large extents of surplus land, most landlords circumvented the legal requirement through bogus transfers, gift deeds, and so on.[18] Until today, the Act has not been fully implemented, resulting in a huge number of landless people in the state.[10]
The Government of Kerala claims that there is no surplus land left to distribute. Generally there is considerable confusion in Kerala as on who possesses what land. And it is not unusual for the forest and revenue departments to claim a particular piece of land to be theirs. However, only an inquiry and survey into land property in Kerala would reveal the actual situation and probable violations of the Land Ceiling Law.[9] Therefore, in 2008/2009 the Kerala government initiated a project called "Bhoomi keralam" (in Malayalam, meaning "Kerala Earth") to implement a resurvey of Kerala lands (originally started in 1966). A specially created body, the Kerala Land Information Mission, was entrusted with the task to measure the lands and to identify 27’000 ha to be distributed to Dalits and Adivasis.[19] However, the project got stuck and only a few surveys have been initiated per this day.[20]
The historic Kerala Land Reforms Act 1963, with its "land to the tiller" policy turned out negative for the Dalits and Adivasis. By the new law, the tenants of the land (settled farmers, mostly upper and middle-caste citizens) became the owners and the laborers (Dalits and Adivasis) were left mostly landless. As of September 2010 only 2% of Dalits and 2.21% of Adivasis and were provided a very limited livelihood.[21] In Kerala 56% of 6.5 million Adivasis and Dalits still have no land. The rest, who are regarded as landowners, might possess as little as 1/100 of an acre while some of the local corporate houses have access to thousands and thousands of acres on lease.[22]
Some of Dalits and Adivasis were given ownership of plots of land under their huts. But these plots were so tiny that now they form over 16’500 ghetto-like quarters housing several generations (one-lakh colonies).[19] This resulted in the total derailment of their life. This legal denial of ownership and access to land meant that they would never evolve as land-owning peasants despite their continued role in agrarian society.[23]
In 2001, the Adivasis in Kerala had led a month-and-a-half-long struggle under the banner of the Adivasi Gotra Mahasabha led by tribeswoman C.K. Janu and had attracted global attention. The demand then was that 45,000 landless Adivasi families be provided five acres each of cultivable land. The government of Kerala then had said that land would be identified and a recommendation would be made to the Union government that Adivasi lands be included in the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution so that the land could be alienated at a later date. The promise of land assignment has been met partially.[24]
On 27 September 2006, the Chief Minister of Kerala, V.S. Achuthanandan, had given a written assurance that the government would allot land to a sizeable number of landless families by 31 December 2006.[25] However, this promises were not met.
In January 2007, as reaction of the broken promise, the United Struggle Front of the poor for Liberation (Sadhujana Vimochana Samyuktha Vedi, SJVSV) started the first attempt to reclaim land.[26] They chose an estate of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. The struggle was led by the Dalit activist Laha Gopalan, a former government employee and a self-proclaimed Communist Party of India worker.[18] This struggle was called off due to the assurance by the Kerala Government that it would look into their demands and do the needful.
Months passed, but there was no sign of any positive move from the state government. Therefore, as response to these broken promises, on 4 August 2007, the SJVSV led 300 landless families to another estate of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd, the Chengara estate, to claim and occupy land. This was the start of what we now know as the Chengara Struggle.[27] It's important to note, that the struggle does not take place in the village Chengara, but in Harrisons Malayalam's Kumbazha estate more than three km distant.[28] This estate is popularly known as Chengara estate, so the struggle got named "Chengara Struggle" or "Chengara Samaram" in the local language Malayalam.
In the initial phase, the Dalits and Adivasis occupied about 125 acres of land. After the Onam festival (a festival in Kerala) they spread on to a larger area covering four hills - each family occupying one acre of land. Afterwards they reclaimed the whole estate (about 6,000 acres), which is spread out on 7 hills. Their number swelled by the day and at one time, there were as many as 7’500 families, involving 29’000 people from different parts of Kerala.[27]
They pitched tents on the occupied land and started tapping the rubber trees in the estate, eking out a living in due course. They demand land and labor to live.[29] These are the people left out in the once launched land reforms of Kerala. Unlike struggles opposing forcible displacement, the Chengara struggle is a direct claim on land by the landless.[30] One woman told: "I spent my whole life on four cents (approx. 1/25 of an acre) of land. Even when I die, my family has to bury me on that piece of land. That's why we struggle for Chengara. It's struggle for life!"[31]
The Dalits and Adivasis are demanding that the Kerala Government distribute the land among them which has been part of a long-standing promise of Kerala government.[32] They initially demanded permanent ownership of five acres of land for farming and INR 50’000 in cash towards initial farming expenses to each landless family. The demand was later reduced to one acre of land.
The Dalits and Adivasis argue that the government promised to collect the land illegally possessed by plantation owners like Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. and pass it on to them.
Why do they claim the land holding of the Chengara estate of Harissons Malayalam Ltd. illegal? They mention three reasons:
The Dalits and Adivasis are claiming that the Harissons Malayalam Ltd.'s land lease has long expired. The Chengara estate was leased to Harissons Malayalam Ltd. for 99 years by the Vanchipuzha Madhom family, which in its turn leased the land from the feudal ruler of Travancore.[33] Travancore was one of the kingdoms who later merged into Kerala State. According to the statement of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. in the High Court of Kerala, they have acquired these properties in the year 1800 and early 1990s and they claim that these are freehold land or leasehold land.[34]
The lease period ended depending on the source in the year 1985[19] or 1996[35] or 2006.[36] Once the lease was over, the land should have been automatically transferred back to the ‘original owner’ – in the absence of the feudal ruler, the Government of Kerala. The government of Kerala could afterward distribute the land to the Dalits and Adivasis.
Unfortunately authentic information on the lease period is not available, and the government itself seems to be groping in the dark. "Documents are not available even under Right to Information Act", says Tony Thomas of one Earth One Life, a civil society organization working for environmental protection. "The reply he gets from the authorities is that old records of lease are not available. Most of the plantations have political backing. That could be the reason for not getting the documents", says Tony.[19]
The Dalits and Adivasi also argue that the rent for the lease was not paid depending on the source since 1996[37] or 1985-86.[8] According to the Dalis and Adivasis this should have a due of an accumulated rent of more than INR 5’000’000’000 to the state government.[36] As for the lease period authentic information is unfortunately not available.
The Dalits and Adivasis allege that Harissons Malayalam Ltd. is in possession of much more land than the actual extent under the government's lease.[10] Until now, the land by Harissons Malayalam Ltd. has not been measured.[19] The SJVSV alleged that Harissons Malayalam Ltd. has encroached almost 5’000 acres in excess of what they were lawfully eligible to hold. SJVSV argues: "We are only occupying land that belongs to us, which was encroached upon by the company," he adds. "Let the government measure the land and show the company their limits."[8]
Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. stated that after the 1964 Land Reforms Act of Kerala, rights to the land were vested with the tenants and there was no issue regarding lease expiration.[24] Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. went to the Kerala High Court demanding that the encroachers be evicted.[8] The Kerala High Court hold that the trespass is illegal and that the SJVSV has no right over the Chengara estate land and therefore ordered an eviction. The court had directed the government to evict the encroachers within three months without bloodshed and loss of life.[38]
Although the High Court ordered the eviction of the Dalits and Adivasis the official machinery could do little in this regard as the encroachers had declared their struggle as a "do-or die battle for land".[39] One of their sole weapons was the threat of committing collective suicide.[9] When police was getting ready to take action, men climbed on trees, attached a rope to a branch, passed it around their neck, and were ready to jump and hang themselves.[9] One man said: „We don't have any weapons to fight you, but we have strong minds. The Government and Harissons has to step on our dead bodies to enter this land." The women were the most vocal in declaring: "We have five liters of Kerosin Oil and the moment the authorities turn us out we will burn ourselves. No question of retreating without getting land".[40] In Chengara, a smooth eviction was impossible as Dalits and Adivasis were very determined, ready to die rather than renounce their legitimate claims. Only an agreement with the Government could lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.[9] The estate trade-unions also decided to participate in the conflict. They claimed that their work was hindered due to the encroachment and therefore were opposed to the landless people's movement. However Laha Gopalan, the leader of the struggle, rejected this allegation and said that the land they encroached upon was not exploited as it was intended to be replanted.
As the eviction even with force didn't work along with the trade unions created a blockade which has culminated in the deliberate cutting off of food and other essential supplies to the protesters. According to Laha Gopalan the blockade of the camp organized by the unions was organized by the company itself: Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. had paid some of their workers to block the roads and manifest that they had lost jobs due to the occupation.[9] As the result of this campaign, countless families with new-born babies and over 85-year-old men and women were denied not only of food and medicine but even drinking water. Medical professionals, media personnel, and human rights activists are prevented from meeting them. On 14 August 2008, the trade unions lifted the blockade for a period of ten days and issued an ultimatum to the encroaching families to leave the plantation site in these days which fuelled the hostile situation. In subsequent days, unlawful detention of people and violent intimidation by goons of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. became frequent. Men trying to go out of the plantation to seek work were attacked and beaten up. Women were threatened with sexual violence in overt and covert ways. Human rights activists were violently prevented from entering the area in full view of the police and government officials. People starved, some fell ill, a few had to be hospitalized[40] - but the majority refused to leave the site.[41] In August 2008, an incident of torture and rape of four women was reported in Chengara. The accused were workers in the trade unions affiliated to political parties and hired henchmen. The women testified that the attacks had taken place in the presence of police who remained onlookers. There was no response from the state machinery to redress the situation.[42] After several rounds of talks between the SJVSV and the government, the two-year-old blockade was lifted, providing a breathing space for those in the struggle.[36] During the protest, lack of food, scarcity of water, absence of medical facilities and hostile weather conditions led to the death of 13 people.[43]
The struggle did not have the backing of any mainstream political parties.[44] The mainstream society of Kerala either ignores this struggle or pretends that nothing seriously happen except for a bit of law and order problem. Some even perceive this as a violent and militant struggle, thereby indirectly even indicating that they are supported by "Naxals", the communist guerilla. However, great personalities from different fields visited the place during the struggle. Prominent socio-political leaders, including Medha Patkar, Arundhati Roy, Govindacharaya, and V.M. Sudheeran, were among those who had visited Chengara extending solidarity with the families. "Somehow, the ruling class seems to be reluctant to consider indigenous people as citizens of this country," complained Sukumaran, a Dalit agitating in Chengara. "In 2009, the then LDF Government had offered land to some of us but what they were given were rocky waste lands. Still, there is no word about the rest of us," he said.[45] The Left Democratic Front (LDF), led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM), sees the agitation as illegal, but emphasized that the government is going ahead with its program to allot land to the landless in the state. LDF convener Vaikom Viswan said, "The struggle in the Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. estate is to be seen as an encroachment and the talks with the agitators will help expose them. The government will do all it can to evict the people from the estate, though it will do all it can to allot land to the landless."[33] Communist Party of India-Marxist actually found itself in an awkward position, as it claimed to be the spokesperson of both social groups. On one side were the Dalits and Adivasis on the other side the plantation workers and trade-unions.[9]
After 790 days, on 5 October 2009, the agitation was "settled" during a discussion between the leadership of the struggle and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.[43] According to the agreement, 1’432 families out of 1’738 families who had started living on the rubber plantation of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. will get land elsewhere in the state and financial assistance to build houses, as part of the settlement and the land was to be made available to the beneficiaries within three months. The plots of land will be in different parts of Kerala.[9] The remaining approximately 300 families apparently already own some land and are therefore not eligible. It is important to note that according to the SJVSV as many as 7,000 families that occupied the estate against 1,738 identified by the government.
The agreement made different categories of families. Depending on that the families would get land and a financial offer. The Chengara Package in a nutshell is shown below:[46]
| Category | Nb. of families | Land offer (in acre) | Total land (in acre) | Financial offer (in INR) | Total amount (in INR) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled tribes | 27 | 1 | 27 | 125'000 | 3'375'000 | |
| Scheduled castes | 832 | 0.5 | 208 | 100'000 | 83'200'000 | |
| Others (Ezhava, Christians and Nair) | 48 | 0.25 | 12 | 75'000 | 3'600'000 | |
| Rest, who own land up to 0.05 acres[47] | 525 | 0.25 | 131.25 | 75'000 | 39'375'000 | |
| Total | 1'432 | - | 378.25 | - | 129'550'000 |
Apart from the omnipresent poverty and sufferings of the days of struggle might have persuaded the leadership of the struggle to accept the package. So when the agreement was reached, SJVSV leader Laha Gopalan admitted that he had been forced to make this compromise.[10] Gopalan told the magazine Frontline that he was being forced to stop the agitation "temporarily" and accept an unsatisfactory resolution package "drawn out jointly by the government and the opposition against the interests of Dalits" and "under threat of violent reprisals from CPI(M) cadre" if he did otherwise.[18] He did this under the pressure of fear of another Nandigram, where a violent intervention of 4’000 policemen in March 2007 in West Bengal left 14 dead and 70 injured amongst the local population who were demonstrating against their expropriation for a special economic zone.[48]
At a joint press conference following the announcement of the package in the presence of opposition leader Oommen Chandy (who played a key role in formulating the settlement), the Chief Minister of Kerala said it was difficult to find the necessary land in Kerala even to implement the package that was being offered and there was no way the government could fulfil the SJVSV's demand for more.[18]
A few of the occupants welcomed the agreement and accepted the offer. But many refused to move out of the site because they were skeptical of the agreement being implemented in full once the struggle was called off.[49]
According to the current Chief Minister of Kerala the previous ruling "LDF government failed to fulfill the sprit of the settlement entered into with the agitators".[50]
To name a few problems of the agreement:
Many families who left after the agreement in 2009 with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government have tried to return to the site. Some were stopped or arrested. Of the many who were offered title deeds (pattas) for land by the government, more than half did not receive them. Those who were willing to leave after getting the deeds were sent to disparate and distant places such as Periya, Keezhanthur, Nilambur, and Attappadi.[49]
According to Laha Gopalan, except a few families who were given land in Malappuram, Ernakulam and Kollam districts, the rest were cheated by the government and were forced to return to Chengara. According to him, those who returned expressed deep regret for having trusted the government. A countable few stayed wherever they got new land and were hesitant to return because others at the site of the struggle had already warned them of this fate.[49]
However, the mere fact of an agreement can be considered as a victory for Adivasis and Dalits who fought against injustice, alone and in their own name. The mere fact that they were promised land for cultivation adds legitimacy to their struggle. As their demands were only partially fulfilled, others feel the struggle was a failure, perhaps setting a future precedent that will make it even more difficult for marginalized social groups struggling for the recognition of their rights.[9]
Among the many attempts to reach a compromise, a new agreement was proposed in August 2011 by the present United Democratic Front (UDF) government. The UDF has promised to look into the complaints on the distribution of uninhabitable land and promised to distribute 0.25 acres each to 1’000 more families living at the site of the struggle.[49] However, nothing happened and a new agreement was not reached.
Some isolated incidents reported from various districts, which came to the notice of revenue authorities since 2004, led to an operation to verify the legitimacy of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. landholdings.[53] In 2006 the Kerala government conducted a detailed report about the land holdings of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. The two volume report spanning over a 1’000 pages concluded that the land held by the company is illegal. "The company's case was not excess land ceiling case. It was actually a case of illegal holding of thousands of acres of land by using forged documents," land revenue commissioner Nivedita P Haran said.[53] According to the Government of Kerala, Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. has got as much as 59, 363 acres (or 2’402 ha) of illegal land in the state of Kerala.[54]
Several governments initiated probes but followed them up with little action until 2013. The government had constituted the special team headed by Mr. Rajamanikyam following a Kerala High Court on 28 February to take over all the unauthorised landholdings, if any, of HML in the State.[55] In October, 2013, M. G. Rajamanickam with power vested by Kerala high court and Kerala Land Conservancy Act - inspected the land in four districts, one of them the Kumbazha near Chengara.[55] He heard the company's contentions and finally decided that the land belonged to the government and the company was an illegal occupant.
On 5 November 2013 a meeting of the representatives of agitators of Chengara land struggle, officials and Chief Minister of Kerala, Oommen Chandy was held in the chamber of the Chief Minister.[56]
A final decision on issuing eviction notice was taken by revenue minister Adoor Prakash in consultation with chief minister Oommen Chandy.[57] On 28 November 2014[58] the government served eviction notice to Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. to vacate 29,185 acres of land spread over districts, including Chengara estate in Pathanamthitta district. Harrison had usurped a total of 62,500 acres of land. The remaining land in Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Wayanad districts will be taken over in the second stage. It was noticed that they had usurped land after forging documents.[59] After the above-mentioned order to take over 29,000 acres of land from HML, government had in 2015 shifted its focus to those estates that are in the custody of various private groups, most of which were sold by HML.[60]
Today, seven years after the beginning of the struggle, the hundreds of families who remain are experiencing a reasonably "peaceful" time. Though the overall number of occupants has declined to around 1’500 families, those who remain continue to carry on the struggle.[49] In recent times, the most important and striking change at the struggle site has been growing agricultural activity. Today, more than 90% of the people at the site are engaged in agricultural activities and instead of aged rubber trees there are now a variety of crops. However, it will still take time for yields from the existing crops to contribute enough for survival. So, people continue to rely on wage work outside the site.[61] Nonetheless, life in the Chengara estate is miserable: no sufficient food, no water, no healthcare facilities, and no power. "Since we are outsiders, it's difficult to get wage labor here. If we go back to our own places, there we are denied of jobs as we left the place and taking part in the struggle", says Babu from Kollam district. "We are labelled as Maoists, and police hook us on false charges of theft and illegal rubber-tapping."[38] Most of the children have to travel for 15 km to get to a school.[62]
The State revenue minister stated in December 2014 that the government would examine the possibility of distributing the recovered land to landless people in the state as part of its goal of 'Zero Landless' citizens by 2015 under the program of the same name launched in 2013.[63] Through this program the government intends to transform Kerala into a zero landless zone by giving pattayams (secure land titles) to the landless to help them secure a safe dwelling place.[64]
In the end of the year 2014 the government of Kerala served an eviction notice to Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. to vacate 29,185 acres of land spread over districts, including Chengara estate in Pathanamthitta district.[65] [66]
However, as per June 2015, the eviction is still in progress and the Adivasi and Dalits are still waiting for a piece of land. However, despite the eviction notice, the latest news available in English state that the high court has asked the special officer to maintain the status quo till 20 January 2015 on the basis of the petition submitted by Harissons Malayalam Ltd.[67] There are no further developments (as of June 2015).
According to Geevarghese Mar Coorilos, Metropolitan of the Niranom diocese of the Jacobite Syrian Church, the chengara struggle is " a historic struggle for land by the landless poor".[68] Renowned writer and environmentalist Arundhati Roy termed Kerala's Chengara land agitation in which almost 30’000 adults and children have forcefully occupied a sprawling plantation property, as "the most revolutionary struggle that is going on in India."[69]
The Chengara movement is symbolic for two main reasons.