Bengaluru: Members of the Anti Land-Grabbing Action Committee intensified their protest and launched an indefinite fast from Monday. Nearly a month after the protest started, activists Ambrose D. Mellow, Ramakumar, Ravi Krishna Reddy, Ramesh Reddy, P.G.N. Basappa and James Jnana Sundara Raj started the indefinite strike.
From Tuesday, the protesters will visit Revenue Department offices and question the officials on specific cases based on A.T. Ramaswamy report on land grabbing. The protesters have demanded setting up of a special court to deal with cases concerning land-grabbing and to invoke Goonda Act against officials who have joined hands with the land mafia.
Former legislator A.T. Ramaswamy said, “Why is the government not taking any action against even a single case of land-grabbing though the land grabbers have falsified government records. The cases listed in the Ramaswamy Joint Legislature Committee on Encroachments in Bangalore Urban District, 2007, are only a tip of an iceberg. It is the government’s responsibility to unearth thousands of other cases. Why is the government not taking action based on Form 50 and 53 against illegal allocation of lands?”
He said, “The government has failed to set up special courts for speedy disposal of cases and has also not taken action against Special District Commissioners who facilitated land-grabbing. The government should book criminals under the Goonda Act in cases where prima facie evidence exists of influential people colluding with corrupt officials and corrupt politicians to falsify records and grab government lands.”
Several organisations extended support to the protest and have formed the ‘A.T. Ramaswamy Varadi Anushtana Okkuta Vedike’ with B.H. Suresh as president. Mr Suresh said, “If the government continues to neglect land-grabbing cases, we will meet the governor and request him to direct the chief minister to take action. Further, we will seek permission from the governor to file criminal cases against the government.”
