Throughout the country, the big bourgeoisie is using its control over the state apparatus to grab the land of the peasants under various guises, including the “general interest of society”, to push through various projects as part of the plan to emerge as a world class imperialist power. The land being grabbed is slated for use for diverse reasons – infrastructure development, real estate, tourism, mining, etc. However whatever be the stated reason, it has become obvious to the masses of Indian people that what is going on is a massive land grab operation aimed at fattening the pockets of the Indian and foreign business houses at the cost of the farmers. This heightened consciousness has smashed through the propaganda of the bourgeoisie and government that the “development” that is going on is for the benefit of the masses of the people, of the country. It is no wonder that every part of our vast land is awash with powerful struggles of the peasantry over the question of land acquisition.

Below we highlight a few of these struggles.

Orissa

The mineral belt of Orissa has been an arena of intense struggles. A vigorous struggle continues against the forcible acquisition of land by the state government for the Korean Steel multinational POSCO.

The POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti has called for a massive protest action at Dhinkia Charidesh on April 1, 2008, against the laying of foundation stone of the mega steel plant project. The date has been chosen to coincide with Orissa Dibas, the day that Orissa was declared a separate state, with its own language and identity in 1936.

In its call, the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti has pointed out that the aspiration of the people of Orissa for ‘a prosperous State based on equity and equality’ is being ruthlessly crushed as the government continues its policy of handing over rich and fertile agricultural land to big monopolies like POSCO. This is resulting in large scale displacement and loss of livelihood, as well as causing grave threat to environment. While the state government continues to facilitate the land acquisition and the exploitation of the natural resources of the people of Orissa by big monopoly companies, the people continue to struggle for their right to life and livelihood. Through this protest action the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti wants to highlight the plight of the poor displaced and dispossessed people of Orissa and also wants to inspire workers, peasants, youth and all the exploited and oppressed to rise up in struggle against the anti-people SEZ policy of the government and the forcible land acquisition that is going on in various parts of the country.

Himachal Pradesh

In Himachal Pradesh, the proposal to acquire farmland for construction of an international airport and a Special Economic Zone at Una has been met with fierce opposition by the local farmers. The SEZ is reportedly being developed by Skill Infrastructure, a Mumbai-based firm which plans to acquire 8,000 acres in Gagret area, bordering Punjab and on the banks of Swan river .

The land that is sought to be acquired for the SEZ is fertile, well irrigated land which gives a good yield of cash crops for the farmers. Simultaneously, price of land in the area has suddenly shot up due to the proposed industrial activity. The farmers of half-a-dozen villages, whose land will be acquired, are naturally enraged. On March 16 they held a dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner's office and raised slogans against the Prem Kumar Dhumal Government. They also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, conveying that no agricultural land should be diverted for construction of the airport.

Karnataka

Powerful protests have rocked Mangalore District, the arena of another controversial SEZ called Mangalore Special Economic Zone ( MSEZ). Already 1800 acres has been acquired for this project. The struggle is over both the inadequate compensation for this land already acquired, as well as against the move to acquire more land.

On March 10, farmers held a meeting at Thenka Yekkaru near Mangalore condemning the pro-MSEZ statements of MP Janardhan Poojary of the Congress Party and the former MLA Vijaykumar Shetty. The meeting was presided over by Samiti President Madhukar Amin.

The Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samiti (KBSS), which is spearheading the protest, challenged these politicians to speak in favour of the project before the villagers, if they have guts.Shetty had met the Deputy Commissioner on March 8 along with 12 villagers, claiming that 80 per cent of villagers were ready to sell their land if they were provided with better price and packages.
The meeting charged that Shetty was a commission agent of MSEZ Limited. By leading a team of only 12 villagers assuring land for MSEZ, Shetty was confusing the DC, said Madhukar Amin adding that the majority of the residents at Thenka Yekkaru, Delanthabettu, Permude and Kuthethooru were not ready to sell their land for MSEZ. He said that only a few land owners with vested interests had met the DC and assured land for the project. Majority of the people were still opposing the project and fighting against the land acquisition, he clarified. Amin also said that neither Shetty nor Poojary would be allowed to enter villages if they did not change their stand on MSEZ. The meet also resolved to push their demand for denotification of the second phase of MSEZ.Another front of struggle in Mangalore has been that names of many farmers, whose land were seized in the first round, were missing in the rehabilitation package.

On February 29, farmers of Bala, Permude, Bajpe and Thokur villages staged a protest in front of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) office at Bykampad. The agitators were the owners of 1,800 acres of land which has been acquired for the MSEZ project.In a memorandum submitted to the Special Land Acquisition Officer of the KIADB, the agitators complained that their names had been omitted from the list prepared for rehabilitation and resettlement packages.Many houses in these villages, including the house of the vice president of Kalavaru gram panchayat, have been valued 'zero'. The people from displaced families, who were given professional training by MSEZ Ltd, had not been given job assurance. The agitators expressed concern over the land selected for rehabilitation in Kana Kulai.They feared that the rehabilitation colony was close to some hazardous industries. Joining forces with the agitators were residents of an eight-acre hamlet, Shanti Gudde, in Bajpe village. Representatives from Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemical Ltd's rehabilitation colony in Chelaru also joined the agitation.

The Nagarika Hitarakshana Samiti has questioned the safety of the rehabilitation colony coming up in Kana Kulai village. The colony is being built for the people who have been displaced by the MSEZ project. The samiti has been opposing the acquisition of land for the rehabilitation colony.The samiti has said that the rehabilitation colony is located in a sensitive area, which is bounded by three 'hazardous industries', BASF India Ltd, Mangalore Refineries and Petrochemicals Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Company Ltd.The samiti has pointed out that Member Secretary of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board ( KSPCB) had in May 2007, advised the Environment Department against approving the colony. He had warned that the residential colony would be exposed to grave risk in case
of any accident in one of the industries. The Member Secretary of KSPCB has stated that after the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Government had laid down restrictions on creating residential colonies in the vicinity of potentially hazardous industrial units.

Maharashtra

A Visthapan Virodhi Jatha will go around in the urban and rural districts around Pune between March 25 and March 28 to organize and make people conscious against the land grab policy of the government and multinationals.

The 'Visthapan Virodhi Sangharsh Samiti' (Anti- Displacement Committee) is organizing the Jatha. The Samiti has been campaigning against both urban displacement as well as rural displacement. It has pointed out that right in Maharashtra alone, millions have been displaced in the years since independence as a result of various projects. The same policy continues today, except the scale is more intense. In the urban areas, while working class is denied right to shelter, land is handed over to corporate for mega projects. In the rural areas, the land of the peasants is forcibly seized and handed over to SEZ's and other mega projects.

The Samiti is campaigning against the two bills tabled in parliament on land acquisition and relief and rehabilitation. It is campaigning with the slogans “Scrap British Period's unjust Land Acquisition Act, 1894”, “Stop farmers land acquisition for companies”, “Avoid Displacement and bring equitable Development policy”, 'SEZ Fatwa Dash Dacha' and 'Vices Chaise - Vanish Nazi!'  

Meanwhile, on March 2, over 1000 people, including fishermen, farmers and social activists marched to the gates of Subhash Chandra owned Essel World at Goral to protest against the SEZ coming up in the area. Goral is in Mumbai.

The protestors warned they would not tolerate any attempt to take away their land to make way for an entertainment zone, which would leave thousands of fishermen and farmers without their traditional occupations. The blockade of Essel World continued till 2 pm.

Leaders of the Dharma Bet Bache Samiti, comprising local fishermen and farmers of the area, were supported by National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), Hart Vassal, Mumbai Catholic Saba, catholic Secular Forum and Mumbai East Indian Association.

The government plans to establish an SEZ for entertainment and has initiated plans to acquire over 5000 acres of land to be handed over to Pan India Private Limited for development.