Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
Bhartiya kisan union on the Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill (LARR) 2012
Bhartiya Kisan Union
Bhartiya
kisan union on the Land Acquisition, Resettlement
and Rehabilitation Bill (LARR) 2012
We
understand that the LARR bill has gone to a Group of Ministers after diluting
the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing committee and allowing
acquisition of land for private industries. This is not acceptable to us.
Although the MoRD has accepted many suggestions from the people it is still
using the language of transparency and compensation to justify government using
its powers to take people's land in the name of public purpose and then handing
it over to private industries. Already the UPA government has proven itself to
be biased towards corporates as evident in its attempt to bring in FDI in
retail, the various scams benefiting private players such as 2G spectrum and
coal- gate. We cannot trust the government anymore and want to see a strict
land law that will prevent any possibility for profiteering millionaires to
grab peoples scarce resources.
We are
not shocked that the government is setting up a law to permanently establish
itself as the land broker for corporate players. Corporate profit is not public
purpose. Projects that are geared towards elite consumerism – even if PPP or
public are not “public purpose”. Steel plants, formula one race tracks and elite
housing complexes are not public purpose
but highly profitable ventures. Multi lane highways are not benefiting us- why
are no roads being built in the villages instead? We stress that local government – gram sabhas
and basti sabhas should give full consent to decide if a certain project is
public purpose or not- merely consulting them is not enough. Also all other
acts that deal with acquisition- such as mining, railways etc should be brought
under this one act. Hundreds of agricultural lands are tbeing acqiured and
converted under these acts.
As farmers we reiterate our concerns of who will feed the nation. Are we planning to kill our farmers or turn
them into unemployed or laborers and then import food from corporations abroad?
Is it sensible for our country to set up policies that will undercut our own
ability to feed ourselves? Why are we still a nation with the most shameful
hunger and farmer suicide statistics? It makes no rational sense to allow
government acquisition of any kind of agricultural land for industrial
purposes. Why is the government showing such desperation to industrialize and
not the same urgency to feed our people and stop farmer suicides? Agriculture cannot wait and industrialization needs to
wait!
Although
proper compensation is a very important issue for us, so is proper
rehabilitation. Waving money at farmers and then destroying their livelihoods
is not acceptable. Proper rehabilitation which means an alternate sustainable
livelihood and land for land must be provided. This too must be monitored and
implemented by the gram and basti panchayat.
Also those who have already suffered due to previous displacements and
not yet received rehabilitation must
receive it. The new law should apply to them all. We also demand that
all ongoing acquisitions be stopped unless and until the new law that reflects
peoples true development needs comes into being.
We cannot
accept the violent method in which governments have responded to our genuine
protests. Recently in MP the government arrested and jailed hundreds of farmers
that were legitimately trying to protect their livelihoods and lands. Instead
of entering into serious dialogues the government just lathi charged and jailed
us. We are not going to tolerate such an authoritarian attitude and
criminalization of our democratic right to protest.
We would
like to state that we are not against industrialization as many have tried to
portray us as backward and anti development. We are not against a development
or industrialization which will provide sustainable livelihoods to our people,
which will give us education, health and food in our communities or roads in
our villages. But we are definitely against such a development model which
prescribes rampant industrialization without considering the well being of the
masses and in fact causes inequality, dispossession and climate change. We
cannot discuss any land law without discussing its impact on overall
development – they both go hand in hand.
We will
be organizing a meet of many farmers organizations in Bangalore on 9 September
to further analyze this act and discuss our future course of action.
Signed
by:
Rakesh
tikait (Spoksman) Bhartiya kisan union
Monday, August 13, 2012
.bmp)
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Bku setement climate meeting
Press Release India
Mass farmers organizations of South Asia met in Kathmandu on the 3, 4 August to decide their future
course of action on climate change as well as their responses to the official
government policies. The movements present were Bhartiya Kisan Union and
Karnataka Raitha Rajya Sangha from India ,
Bangladesh Krishok Federation and Bangladesh Kishani Sabha from Bangladesh , All Nepal Peasants Federation from Nepal , MONLAR from Sri Lanka among others. All are
members of the global small farmers movement - La Via Campesina.
All farmers of south Asia
are grappling with problems of drought, foods, erratic rainfall and other
climatic occurrences which are leading to serious livelihood insecurity for
farmers; many are being forced to migrate from their villages in search of
alternate jobs. The current agrarian
crisis and farmers suicide epidemic will be greatly exacerbated due to climate
change as well as increased refugees and resource conflicts, poverty and
violence. In agriculture there will be higher pest attacks, reduced yields,
lower quality produce as well as the climatic problems. It is absolutely
important for south Asians as the most vulnerable region to be prepared to deal
with such issues in a democratic and peaceful manner.
Farmers movements were
disappointed with the not just lack of serious policy of the governments
but their open support to false solutions to climate change that are infact
increasing carbon emissions. In agriculture, the government is promoting an
undemocratic model of solutions – laboratory created crops, GM crops which have
a national people's opposition, top down model of extension, no effort to
mitigate emissions from industrial style agriculture which is contributing upto
30 % of emissions. There is no value given to the real solutions – i.e. farmers
traditional knowledge, native seeds which have withstood the test of time in
adaption to stress situations. The government should e working to phase out
green revolution chemical and industrial model of farming and start promoting
ecological modes of farming by providing incentives to ecological farmers and
also training , credit, market and other services. There are many examples of
successful models of ecological farming in India and these need to be scaled
up.
The Indian government is especially trying o hide behind is
poor in the name of development for the poor but it is not carrying out
development for the poor – the development model of India is based on elite
consumerism, industrialization, conversion of agricultural lands and
dispossession of the poor. Resource conflicts over water, lands are already
ongoing all over the country.
the south Asian farmers movements demanded in their
declaration for all developed countries to agree to binding emissions cuts, a
payment of their ecological debt to developing countries, a promotion of
ecological farming for growing food to end hunger, land for landless and women
and an end to land grabbing for elite interests as well as for keeping the
World Bank and Asian Development Bank out of climate finance which is an
institution that has promoted a development model of consumerism which is the
problem in the first place.
La Via Campesina
South Asia
Climate Change
Declaration in Kathmandu
August 4, 2012
Small Farmers Feed
the World and Cool the Planet!
We
peasants organizations of Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka are gathered
here to demand the transformation of the entire neo-liberal market system in
favor of the common people. The fight against climate change is a fight against
corporate led capitalism which is aggravating landlessness, dispossession,
hunger and poverty. We are here to declare that direct action by the people is
the only remaining weapon of the common people of our region to end all forms
of oppression.
Governments
are wasting time discussing false market solutions to the climate crisis. We
can see that the future of Mother Earth and of humanity is in peril as those
responsible for nature’s destruction are attempting to escape their historic
responsibility to make real emission cuts and push for more false and market
based solutions to the climate crisis which, in last two decades, has failed to
produce any results.
We are
gathered here in Kathmandu at a time when the climate discussions after 17
years of negotiations have become watered down to market mechanisms and a
voluntary pledge system. Rio+20 has further launched the so called green
economy which is actually a greed economy attempting to commodify all of nature
instead of stopping its profit induced exploitation. In the climate agreements,
polluters are moving away from the mandated program of working towards legally
binding commitments to cut emissions. Developed countries are working hard to
escape their historical responsibility of paying their climate debt and are
pushing for a green climate fund controlled by private capital and the World
Bank. Finally, there is a push to include agriculture in the negotiations,
treating agriculture as a carbon sink rather than a source of food and
livelihood. For La Via Campesina, with this trend of negotiations, it is better
to have no deal than a bad deal that condemns humanity and our planet to a future
of climate catastrophe.
We are now
at the worst moment for agriculture, small and marginal farmers and for nature.
The impacts of climate change are steadily worsening, leading to harvest
failures, destruction of habitats and homes, hunger and famine and loss of
lives. Corporate capitalism is misusing this situation to push their false
solutions for profit. The future of humanity and the planet, hence, is in
critical danger and if these false solutions push through, it will be a
catastrophe for nature, future generations and the whole planet.
We,
therefore, demand from the SAARC countries and especially India which has to
take a greater responsibility in our region for:
1.
A legally
binding agreement to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions signed by
all governments responsible for
those emissions. Developed countries should commit to at least 50% domestic
emission reductions based on 1990 levels, without conditions and excluding
carbon markets or other offset mechanisms. High growth countries like India and
China must also take responsibility and make binding mitigation commitments.
They hide behind the poor using their development as an excuse to pollute and
then carry out a predatory development that dispossesses the same poor of their
lands and resources to benefits elite consumerism and private profit.
2.
Comprehensive
genuine land reform including land and land titles for the landless. Land
grabbing by elite interests and
private corporations is growing rapidly and violently and needs to be stopped.
Occupations initiated by the landless themselves to grow food and for a
livelihood deserve the fullest support from governments as a solution to
climate change. Womens access to land must be a prioritized by targeted
redistribution.
3.
Governments
must support small family farmer agriculture and agro-ecology. Small
farmers feed the world and cool the planet – they need fair prices for their
produce, interest free credit, subsidies, guaranteed markets, insurance against
disasters, support to practice self reliant ecological agricultural methods and
traditional farming methods. Small farmer agriculture needs support for food
sovereignty of our nations. Stop the industrial farming green revolution model
that promotes pollution and climate change.
4.
Constitutional recognition of food sovereignty and rights for peasants, landless
farmers, farm laborers and support to indigenous farming.
5.
Recognition
of the rights of dalits, women, youth peasants.
6.
Reparation
rather than loans paid to the governments of the Global South as part of
the climate debt owed by industrialized countries of the Global North.
7. Keep the World Bank out of climate finance.
All funds for climate finance must be public and be free from the control
of the World Bank and private corporations. World bank, other IFIs such as
Asian Development and private corporations are recognized as the main drivers
of the current unsustainable economic and development model which is causing
climate change. They are part of the problem and cannot be construed as the
solution.
8.
All adaptation measures to climate change to
include full participation and
consultation
with
local communities.
9.
Our
carbon is not for sale. We demand an end to the proposed inclusion of
agriculture as a carbon sink in the negotiations and all proposals of market
mechanisms surrounding agriculture. Agriculture is not for sale for carbon
credits – it is for feeding humanity.
We as La
Via Campesina and the people of the world have the real solutions to the
climate crisis and we call on all governments to heed them before it is too
late. We call for building alliances between social movements and popular
struggles. The world’s people will overcome the nexus between governments and
multinational corporations that is strangling our planet.
Food Sovereignty is
the solution!
Peasant agriculture
is not for sale!
Globalize the
struggle, Globalize hope!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
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