M A I N   N E W S

BKU to hold maha panchayat today
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

Udham Singh Nagar, January 8
The controversy regarding the eviction of Sikh and Punjabi farmers from 1200 acres here took a new turn today when only nine families came forward to accept the cash compensation offered by the Uttaranchal Government in lieu of demolition of their houses. The Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) will, meanwhile, organise a maha panchayat tomorrow, where more than 20,000 persons are expected to turn up.

After yesterday’s rally by Akali leaders from Punjab and the BJP, the focus will now shift to the BKU’s “Maha Panchayat”. Villagers from Uttaranchal and adjoining Uttar Pradesh will be participating in it. BKU chief Mahendra Singh Tikait will be arriving with full force at Aliganj in the adjoining district of Moradabad tomorrow. His agenda: Farmers should get justice.

Announcements are being made in villages with Mr Tikait’s message for holding the “Maha Panchayat”. MLAs of Kashipur and Bajpur, Mr H.S. Cheema and Mr Arvind Pandey, respectively, are busy mobilising maximum support for the “Maha Panchayat”. They are taking pains to explain to their supporters that this is not just an issue of Sikh farmers but of the entire region that is popularly called the “plains area” of Uttaranchal.

The decision to host the rally in Uttar Pradesh has been taken, as Mr Tikait and his supporters were detained by the Uttaranchal Police on January 3 at Haldwani when he along with his supporters was arriving to protest against the eviction of the farmers. The police had then feared that the BKU protest could result in a law and order problem and imposed Section 144 of the Cr PC. Mr Tikait was let off but he promised to return.

The site of the “Maha Panchayat” is located just 10 km from Kashipur, where the evictions have taken place. The message from the congregation would be heard loud and clear not only in Udham Singh Nagar, but also in the state capital of Dehra Dun, 220 km away.

Meanwhile, the nine families which received the compensation also include labourers, who had constructed mud houses, and not the land-owning farmers. The Uttaranchal Government had announced a cash compensation of Rs 61 lakh for the 39 families whose houses were demolished. In total, 251 families, who owned farm lands have been affected by the move, which has clearly become a pre-poll issue here.

In case of award of 3.5 acres to each of the 103 farming families, which owned less than 5 acres, no documents have been handed over to these families even though revenue officials have orally told the beneficiaries where their lands are located.

It may be mentioned that election to the Uttaranchal state Assembly is scheduled alongside elections in Punjab in February 2007.