On September 10 the Delhi Police brutally attacked a protest march of nearly 3000 farmers from Kanzhawala village in North West Delhi and nearby villages towards Delhi Vidhan Sabha, demanding their right to land, adequate compensation and fair rehabilitation. The police used water cannons, tear gas and resorted to firing twice, injuring several people. More than 100 protestors were arrested.

The farmers of Kanzhawala village in North West Delhi and nearby villages had been on an indefinite dharna in front of the District office north- west Delhi, since March 19, 2008, demanding the return of their land that has been acquired by the Delhi government. According to the villagers, their agricultural land has been taken over by the Delhi Government for an industrial project that includes some of those industries which were once banned by the Delhi government, on grounds of pollution.

According to news reports, more than 2000 agricultural labourers currently living in Kanzhawala, who depend solely on agriculture for their livelihood, are yet to receive any compensations or rehabilitation for the lands that have been taken over by the Delhi Government. The agitating farmers are particularly upset because the market rate for the land is at least Rs. 15 crore per hectare and the compensation award announced by the Delhi government is Rs. 75 lakh per hectare, but the Delhi government is offering them only Rs. 25 lakh per hectare. Moreover, these farmers and agricultural labourers are being denied the benefits under the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy, which has been in effect from 31st October 2007.

On September 21, 2008, more than 6000 farmers from 22 villages in the command area of the Hetwane irrigation dam in Raigad, Maharashtra took part in a first-ever referendum held in India, involving farmers, where they categorically expressed their opposition to their land being taken over for the setting up of a multi crore SEZ by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance group.

Of the 10,000 hectares of land required for one of the biggest SEZs in the country, nearly 3,000 hectares of land lie in 22 villages in the Hetwane dam area. The farmers, including some who had earlier sold a part of their land, have now rejected the compensation package offered by the Reliance group and are demanding their land back. They have demanded that the government immediately withdraw notices issued for the forcible seizure of their agricultural land, using the Land Acquisition Act.

The persistent struggle of the farmers of Raigad against the proposed SEZ had forced the Chief Minister of Maharashtra to promise, nearly a month ago, that the state government would consider the farmers' demand to halt the acquisition of land for the proposed SEZ. Following this, the Chief Minister had accepted the proposal to hold a referendum on the issue. Throughout their prolonged struggle as well as through the referendum, the Raigad farmers have made it very clear that they are not willing to yield and they are vehemently opposed to the setting up of the SEZ in the Konkan area. 

These struggles, together with numerous such struggles that are going on in different parts of the country, show that on the one hand, the government is going all out to seize prime agricultural land, depriving tens of thousands of farmers and agricultural labourers of their only source of livelihood, and hand it over to the biggest Indian and foreign monopoly capitalists to build SEZs and rake in fabulous profits. The colonial Land Acquisition Act as well as brute force is being used to do this. On the other hand, the resistance of the affected people is mounting.

People's Voice denounces the attack by the government on the protesting farmers and fully supports the struggle against the forcible acquisition of land, in order to facilitate the super profits of the biggest Indian and foreign monopoly capitalists.