Victory for India’s landless
An agreement has been reached
The 11 October was a memorable day in the history of land rights in India. As Jan Satyagraha’s website announced: ‘The agreement reached between Jan Satyagraha and the Indian government is expected to result in a major policy change on land rights and land distribution, benefitting the poorest population segments in this country, adivasis, dalits and many other marginalised groups.’
As the Friend reported (5 October) there had been cautious celebration as Rajagopal P V, president of Ekta Parishad, had met with Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, and Jairam Ramesh, the minister for rural development, prior to the march. Ekta Parishad is a movement of community-based organisations that support nonviolence in the same way as Gandhi. The celebration became real when the Indian government agreed to commit to major land reforms. Jairam Ramesh publicly signed the agreement in front of marchers as they gathered in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. Some 60,000 marchers had begun the 200-mile Jan Satyagraha nonviolent march from Gwalior, in Madhya Pradesh, to Delhi. The march has now been called off. The land reform task force is to meet on 17 October, when they will begin to prepare a roadmap for land reform in India.
Gerald Conyngham, a Quaker Peace & Social Witness staff member who had been on the march, said: ‘This is a great victory for a long campaign of nonviolence to bring about much needed social change and justice for the landless people in India’.
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