Alarming situation in rural Bengal, large scale eviction of peasants by Trinamool land-grabbers.

Poor villagers possessing land right (patta) granted by the Left Front government now facing mass eviction by Trinamool land-grabbers in rural Bengal. Photograph from Indpur in Bankura.  Photo :  Madhusudan Chatterjee.

An alarming situation has engulfed rural Bengal within one and a half month of Trinamool rule following a large scale eviction of peasants from their land by Trinamool land- grabbers with the help of the police.

The evicted peasants are mostly sharecroppers or bargadars who were given hereditary right to cultivate land of landowners under the Land Reforms policy of the Left Front government. Shortly after the formation of the government in 1977 the Left Front implemented its Land Reforms policy bringing about the end of immense exploitation of peasants by landholders. Under the new policy “patta” of government vested land was also  distributed among poor peasants. Within one and a half month of Trinamool rule the land-grabbers across the State have been regrouping  to forcibly occupy the ‘patta’ land distributed to landless poor peasants by the Left Front government. 

Aided by the police Trinamool land-grabbers has already in organized armed operations evicted more than 20,000 poor peasants, mostly bargadars and patta-holders in different districts of West Bengal. While in Haroa at Barasat in north 24-parganas  alone recorded an eviction figure of more than 10,000,in West Midnapore and Birbhum the number of sharecroppers and patta-holders evicted are more than 3000 each. The reports of eviction are also available from Bankura and Hooghly.The Trinamool activists have been in many places engaged by Jotedars and Zamindars whose lands are used be cultivated by bargadars. Now with the help of Trinamool goons they are trying to evict the bargadars or sharecroppers.