25,000 Dalits, tribals march to Delhi for dignity

Rupashree Nanda , CNN-IBN
Posted on Oct 22, 2007 at 10:44

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New Delhi: It is the caravan of the dispossessed, the other India de-linked from the nine per cent growth rate that the country boasts of. Nearly 25,000 Dalits and adivasis who can carry all they possess on their heads are streaming towards Delhi, demanding rights to land, livelihood and dignity.

Says Rasi Ram, who lives in Madhya Pradesh, "We don't have food or land or even water and we are going to Delhi to get all of these."

Adds another resident of Madhya Pradesh, Musku Ram, "We don't have pattas for our land. We want land."

There are those who have been displaced by big dams and have got nothing in return and there are tribals who are fighting for land rights in forests.

They say it is their land and they are marching towards Delhi to claim what is rightfully theirs.

These people have been often called Satyagrahis and if they needed any test, it came soon enough. On October 19, a drunk driver jumped his lane and ran over the peaceful marchers, killing three on the spot.

Policemen who should have kept vigil were simply absent. What followed was not slogan shouting, truck burning,or lynching — instead they held a subdued prayer session.

The peaceful, non-violent march has come face to face with its first serious tragedy. The three people who died were Sahariya tribals, marching from Gawlior on their way to Delhi in quest for a better life. Their journey was cut short.

One of the dead was on the journey simply because he was assured one meal a day.

Says an activist of Ekta Parishad, which has organised this march, P V Rajgopal, "We want a land policy for these people."

This stream will flood Delhi on October 28 and by then, they would have travelled more than 300 kilometers. But how far is the promised land, no one really knows. Till then, the roads are where these people will stay — their home!

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