Ekta Parishad: The History of a People’s Movement

There is long history of struggle for access to land in India, and it has always been the most vulnerable communities that find themselves left out of the political dialogue for change.  Control over resources and land lies in the hands of the State and the vague and ineffectual campaigns of the past have done nothing for the development of a true village-level democracy that can bring the needs of the landless to the forefront of the political agenda.  For years Ekta Parishad has worked along side these communities to help create the changes necessary to bring an end to land seizures, to ensure equitable land distribution, and to protect access to livelihood resources.

The spirit of Ekta Parishad was born in the early 1970s with the rehabilitation of dacoits (outlaw communities) in Chambal (1970-76), the release of bonded laborers in the south from 1985-92, and  ten years of work with tribal communities of Madhya Pradesh and the dalit communities of Bihar (1980-88.)  Five institutions in different regions of central and eastern India were established to provide training for youth and people began organizing themselves under the common struggle for land reform in India. The vision of a powerful and united force of poor people from across the country was the beginning of what is now known as Ekta Parishad.  This loose network was the base for what is now a massive social organization spanning more than eight states.

(1991-1998)

Ekta Parishad was formally established in 1991. One of first large scale events organized by Ekta Parishad was the Jai Jagat Jeep Yatra which traveled through Madhya Pradesh over a one month period. Creating awareness by mobilizing people in a yatra, or collective traveling, was a common tool of advocacy used by Vinoba Bhave and to Jay Prakash Narayan, both of whom had, two decades earlier, called upon youth to oppose the misuse of political power. Following the traditions of past peace makers, PV Rajagopal used the yatra to galvanize the people.  He would come to be known for this type of action over the next 14 years.

In this initial period of mobilizing the landless people of India, PV Rajagopal began his work in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa. He started by working with villagers to ensure that they understood the complex issues of land ownership and natural resource management.  His message was that the people should have control over livelihood resources like forest, water and land. The initial emphasis of the movement was on access to forest resources because of the large population of tribal communities he was working with.  Other areas of focus included displacement, eviction, indebtedness, alcohol trade, and nistar rights. Slowly, Ekta Parishad developed its capacity to mobilize communities to speak on their own behalf and strengthened its base for the larger struggles for land and livelihoods rights that would be the future of its work.
 
(1999-2002)

This period saw Ekta Parishad grow from a localized grassroots movement into a force that spanned all of Madhya Pradesh. A six month yatra beginning in December 1999 in Sheopurkalan and ending in June 2000 in Raigarh, mobilized more than 10,000 villages and 300,000 people. Despite the challenges posed by marching in remote areas, the spirit of the people carried them through five regions of Madhya Pradesh where they submitted 24,000 grievances to the state government and dealt with hundreds of issues raised by the public.

After the yatra the state government announced the formation of a two tiered task force; the state level task force was responsible for land redistribution policies and the district level task force dealt with the land redistribution process.  For the next four years Ekta Parishad worked to establish task forces in each district of the state, and saw the distribution of about 350,000 land entitlements. 558,000 charges for forest-violations were dropped by the Forest Department against tribal people, significantly impacting the focus of the state’s pro-poor agenda.

Developing task forces became a priority in three other states to monitor the work of district collectors and revenue officers. Ekta Parishad activists held a number of seats in each task force, helping to counter the highly lethargic and corrupt Revenue Department officials and to promote land re-distribution and the redress of disputes between the Forest and Revenue Departments by levying pressure at the state level.

Conflicts over whether land should be classified as Forest or Revenue land was a major stumbling block that is still an issue today. These disputed lands, or “orange lands,” became an issue for the courts when Ekta Parishad took the problem to the Supreme Court (PV Rajagopal vs. the State of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, 2003-04). Ekta Parishad argued that the Forest Department had a huge quantity of “orange” land without actual tree cover that they had not de-notified to allow for redistribution as Revenue Land.

A padyatra (foot march) in Madhya Pradesh in 1999-2000 helped to increase the pressure from village to district to state levels, with task forces acting as a monitoring mechanism. The padyatra forced the state government to work with Ekta Parishad in 30 districts of Madhya Pradesh and the success brought the strength of Ekta Parishad to states across the country, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.

 

(2002-2004)
Ekta Mahila Manch (Ekta Parishad’s women’s wing) was formed in an effort to increase the number of women participating in the decision making process from the village activist level to the leadership levels of Ekta Parishad. Women divided themselves into mobilization teams responsible for local leadership development, advocacy teams to pressure the government, the media and the public to take up the struggle for land, and economic programming teams to provide knowledge and training at the village levels.

By 2004 Ekta Parishad began to build its national campaign.  Long padyatras were carried out in Bihar (September 2001), Chambal (April 2002), Chhattisgarh (February 2003 and 2005), Bundelkhand-Baghelkhand (September 2003), Orissa (February 2004 and 2005), and Kerala (2005).

Bihar 2001
The Bihar yatra brought Ekta Parishad to remote areas where government facilities like schools, health clinics, roads and bridges simply did not exist. Villagers welcomed activists and the opportunity to voice their concerns. Some of the post-yatra actions have been;

• Campaign to divert the waters of the Mohna Nidhi Dam so that local farmers could benefit from irrigation. 10 different small campaigns (Morchas) were taken up in various parts of 6 districts.
• Set-up of two camps Bhudan land distribution camps in the Gaya district.
• Support to enhance the capacity of Ekta Mahila Manch in Bihar.
• Increased pressure on the government to institute a task force (this came to fruition in 2006 with the formation of a Land Committee, however efforts are still being made to ensure full implementation of land distribution reforms.)
• Strengthening of the “Rebuilding Bihar” campaign.

 
Chattisgarh (2003)

The accomplishments in Chhattisgarh have been quite significant with the government distributing land to 6100 families and dismissing a District Forest Officer for the murder of Birju Baigas, a tribal who defended his ancestral rights to the forest. Efforts are focused on the following areas;

• Industrialization and the rights of tribal communities
• Strengthening the non-violent action campaigns (this is particularly important given the expansion of violent groups in the state and the migration of more than one lakh people from Bastar due to violence in the area.

Orissa (2004)

The padyatra and the resulting follow up in Orissa focused on strengthening non-violent actions as a way to respond to the acceleration of industrial development that has left large numbers of communities without land and livelihood.  Ekta Parishad continues to work with communities to unite and mobilize to demand changes that are implemented at the village level.

2005-2007

Today Ekta Parishad has become a national mass movement for land rights. A large-scale national campaign to provide the space for the people to be heard was developed and Janadesh 2007 brought 25,000 people together to bring their voice to the national capital.

Ekta Mahila Manch held a review meeting in 2006 to ensure that the process kept the needs of women and their rights to land ownership in the forefront of the campaign agenda. At the same time Ekta Parishad began to build its alliances at the national and global level.  The Land First International (LFI) was a way to bring international solidarity networks to a common platform to increase the pressure for land rights in all developing countries. The LFI was initiated at the Indian World Social Forum in Mumbai in 2004 and continued to evolve at subsequent World Social Forums (Brazil, Pakistan, Mali, Nairobi), the Global Land Consultation (Thailand 2006) and through and anti-World Trade Organization campaigns. These initiatives were designed to pressure international institutions that had the power to develop pro-poor policies at a global level.

Efforts to strengthen South-South Solidarity with network partners from Asia, Africa and Latin America were also a priority and today Ekta Parishad has a wide network of support from organizations like MST (Brazil), La Via Campesina (France), Ekta Europe (Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France and UK), Quakers  International (England), Africa Land Alliance (South Africa), Kenya Land Alliance (Kenya), Assembly of the Poor (Thailand), ANGOK (Philippines), SAMATA (Bangladesh), and PILER (Pakistan).

Efforts to lobby politicians were made throughout 2004-05 and on December 24th, 2005 a meeting between the Prime Minister and representatives of Ekta Parishad was held to present a new vision for land reform.  While certain achievements were made, such as the constitution of the Sub-Committee on Land Reforms (by the Planning Commission of India) whose 2006 report called for changes in Ceiling, Tenancy, Land Acquisition and Resettlement policies and laws, it became clear that the government was not taking the issues seriously. 

By July 2006 a report was submitted to the Ministry of Rural Development and the Planning Commission with recommendations for actions concerning the welfare of the landless communities.  No official acknowledgement came and on October 2nd 2006, five hundred tribal and dalit leaders began the long walk from Gwalior to Delhi to bring their demands to parliament.  The padyatra was a demonstration of the resolve of the landless to gain access to their right to control over the land and resources they depend on for their livelihoods.  It was a warning and a reminder to the government that twenty-five thousand people would be mobilized to walk the same route and voice the same concerns.  Despite this display of determination, there was still no formal response.

On October 2nd, 2007, twenty-five thousand people representing communities from all over India gathered in Gwalior to begin what proved to be the largest non-violent movement for land reform in the country’s history.  Its commencement marked the United Nations’ International Day of Non-Violence and the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi.  To witness communities united in a display of non-violent civil disobedience evoked memories of the satygrahas of Mahatma Gandhi that inspired civil rights movements throughout the world.  Support came from all over, with 250 satyagrahis from international organizations showing their solidarity with each step that they took.  More than 100 members of parliament supported Janadesh, including the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh who announced the establishment of a Land Commission and his plan to redistribute land to the landless communities in the region.  The constant media coverage brought the voice of the satyagrahis to people all over the country and social activists pledged their solidarity with the satyagrahis of Janadesh.

On October 29th, 2007 the government of India announced that it was ready to establish a National Land Reforms Committee with 50% of the new committee's members coming from social and civil society organizations involved in the land rights movement. The success of this historical display of non-violent action gives us all a reason to celebrate, but we must remember that the struggle is not over. The promises made on October 29th must be followed through and we all must be prepared to continue in this struggle for justice for the people.