Kochi: The Co-ordination Committee for Western Ghats Protection has supported the landless Adivasi people in Wayanad who have occupied a land belonging to a plantation company. "It is a lie that the Adivasis have encroached into the forest land. They have occupied the land belonging to Harrisons", said a statement issued by the Committee.
The indigenous people in Wayanad and other parts of the state have been deprived of their land on various pretexts by the government and private entities and individuals leaving them destitutes in their own land. "Protection of environment is not possible without the Adivasis. The land issue of Thovarimala should be resolved by protecting the interests of the Adivasis", the committee opined.
It may be recalled nearly 150-200 Adivasis entered the land owned by the plantation company at Thovarimala and occupied it 10 days ago as they are waiting for the land for nearly 50 years.
The government has forcibly evicted all these persons immediately after the polling on April 23. These people are now holding a sit-in protest in front of the Collectorate in Wayanad. The Co-ordination Committee came in support of the Adivasis even as some other environmental groups have opposed the struggle of the landless on the ground that they have encroached upon the forest land.
A poster brought out by the committee stated that the "indigenous people in Wayanad, Kerala, are struggling to escape genocide. With them: Coordination Committee for Western Ghats Protection". The landlessness of the indigenous communities and Dalits in Kerala has emerged as a major social issue even as the authorities concerned not taking any proactive measures to find a sustainable solution to the problem.
