In Naxalbari, A Battle Again for Land Rights

 Digitisation, time, complicit politicians and an aggressive land mafia are again altering Naxalbari, once the epicentre of political quakes in the 1960s and 70s that spilled over into society, cinema and books.

Left parties 'reclaim' land in the Siliguri district. Photo: By arrangement.

Joydeep Sarkar, The Wire, Naxalbari (Bengal): The Naxalbari area, once known for fiery political struggle that attracted the best minds of Bengal, is now playing host to a quieter but no less significant struggle over land ownership.

The picturesque terrain of the Duars in West Bengal has a history etched in both rebellion and controversy. Since the 1970s, the very mention of Naxalbari has been synonymous with resistance, inspiring generations of young women and men to challenge the status quo. Here, among the verdant hills and rustic landscapes, the seeds of a left-wing revolutionary movement were sown. This movement aimed to address issues of land reform and social equality and ensure the rights of marginalised communities.

Charu Mazumdar.Photo: File

In the shadow of towering leaders like Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, Jangal Santal, Mahadev Mukherjee and Saroj Dutt, Naxalbari became the epicentre of an ideological battle that reshaped the contours of Indian society. The formal break of these leaders with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in 1969 meant that the Communist party split twice in the 1960s. The expectation of young minds confident of a revolution collided with the entrenched interests of landlords, who held benami landholdings, resulting in a wave of resistance that swept the state and whose ripples were felt all over India.

Thousands of young lives were lost, families were torn apart and an entire generation grappled with the consequences of their pursuit of change. Decades later, the debate over the righteousness of the Naxalite movement, as it came to be called, continues to reverberate, with differing perspectives echoing through the nation’s conscience.

The root cause of the Naxalbari uprising in 1967 was the issue of land reform and agrarian rights. The movement aimed to redistribute land to the landless and poor farmers. The then-Left Front government’s decision to launch Operation Barga, a programme to grant land rights to sharecroppers in 1978 was also one that was responding to demands and agitations raised by such movements.

Naxalbari led to a notable shift in political and social dynamics.

The year now is 2023.

Many generational sharecroppers who were once granted land rights in Naxalbari decades ago, complain that their names now no longer feature on the official records. Right to Information activists and local leaders say that while this vested land had been under their name so far, government records are now being surreptitiously changed to pave the way for this land to be sold. All of this is happening without the knowledge of those who are living on the land.

Starting from the 1970s, sharecroppers in the area had been given land parcels. Although this land technically does not belong to the sharecroppers, they are registered as its users on government records. This offers them safety of ownership and ensures future generations also get to use the land. However, now these records are being tampered with or invalidated, many in the area complain.

Locals say that their land is now entered under other names who end up selling them at significantly inflated prices. There is a veritable land mafia operating in the area, say activists. These alleged mafia are looking to make large-scale constructions of gated communities and holiday homes in the area.

Curiously, local real estate managers have also noted a surge in real estate investments from residents of northeastern states in the last six months. Real estate agent Ajit, who works at Naxalbari, said, “Big industrialists and real estate tycoons from Kolkata started buying vast stretches of land here in the late 1990s. Many well-known political leaders also made purchases after 2011 [after there was a change of government in Kolkata and the Trinamool Congress took charge]. Since then, Bagdogra, the airport which is 10 km from Siliguri, has undergone significant transformation.”

For the past few months, numerous people from the northeastern states and from Nepal have been sending advance payments to buy land or ready-to-move-in flats in the area, Ajit says. 

Many in the northeast states view Bengal as a relatively safe area amidst the prevailing political unrest in the region. This correspondent spoke to a businessman from Manipur before violence erupted in the state in early May. 

He said, “Siliguri will become a corridor since the Union government has invested heavily in the chicken neck areas. Here, we have convenient access to private school education and healthcare services, and the airport is well-connected by road. As a result, numerous families are now opting to move near Siliguri to enjoy comparative peace and security.”

The surging demand for land has led to the depletion of common land stock, and property registered in the names of tribal residents, sharecroppers, or recorded as vested and plantation land are now being labelled as ‘vastu’land and sold for residential purposes. Many landowners are completely unaware of these transfers. Locals have raised concerns about police support to such transfer of land rights.

Police repression at Naxalbari. Photo: cpiml.org

Lathru Santal from the Hatighisha area was once involved in the Naxal movement. In 1978, the government accorded him 7 bighas of land. Although Lathru is no longer alive, his progeny remain, and the land’s value has now reached Rs 70 lakh. However, the title of the land has recently been changed. And Lathru’s family discovered that it had been sold under a new plot number. According to the West Bengal government’s land record, the mentioned lands in South Bagdogra are classified as government vested lands under JL No. 99, Plot No. 295, and also under JL No. 94, Mauza Dubirvedi, Plot No. 603, Khatian No. 443, Deed No. 752/2018.

A teacher in Naxalbari, who requested anonymity, said that bureaucracy, right from the second half of the Left’s rule in Bengal, is to blame. “Now, they are openly looting the land. I have lived in this area for 54 years, and I fear that the mafia may resort to violence with help from the police,” he said.

Activists say that around 50 agriculturist families from the north Bengal region have discovered that their land has been sold without their consent. A movement against eventual eviction began under Haripad Singh of Bara Maniram village in Naxalbari and Veena Singh of Kamli Munda Kedugapur in Hatighisha. The two leaders tell this correspondent that they have cause for worry because due to changes in the Mechi river’s course, land along the riverbanks, previously lost to floods, has become more fertile for farming. 

The office of Biplab Haldar, who is in charge of overseeing the land records on the state’s online land portal, banglarbhumi, responded to the mounting complaints. The office told The Wire that the entire land map is “now digitised and accessible online.”

They admitted to hearing about discrepancies in land ownership, where names, land markers, and Khatian numbers have been changed without the knowledge of the rightful landowners. However, they asserted that such actions would have been carried out at the district land office, not at the block land offices. Access to the necessary passwords lies solely with the district land office, preventing the block land offices from making such alterations, the office said.

It is as yet unclear if the government has launched enquiries into the illegal transfers.

Darjeeling district Trinamool Congress leader and Siliguri mayor Gautam Dev said, “I have heard of such incidents, and it is not right to occupy government land. The people of the area have been urged to protect the land and treat it as their own.”

Gautam Ghosh, leader of Chia Kaman Mazdoor Union, an organisation of tea workers in Darjeeling district, said, “Through the Right to Information Act, we are discovering alarming instances of the use of fake documents. Land rights for the landless and sharecroppers were implemented during the Left era, which provided them with legal papers. However, we are now witnessing that those who have been granted land plots have suddenly become encroachers. This requires a high-level impartial inquiry.”

He cited the example of Phansidewa Mauza JL No. 87, where vested land ownership has been manipulated, and thus all the plot numbers have been changed to 278/279/280. The current market value of this land is over Rs 30 crore.

Ashok Bhattacharya, a senior CPI(M) leader from Siliguri, said, “The Trinamool Congress is involved in looting land through the land mafia, and the BJP is also a party to it. Many government officials must be involved for the recorded land ownership numbers to change.”

News from Naxalbari reveals families fighting desperately to protect their land, expressing emotions akin to losing their loved ones.

Left parties ‘reclaim’ land in the Siliguri district. Photo: By arrangement.

Trinamool and BJP flags now fly in Naxalbari, with the latter’s influence growing. The struggle for control over the ploughed land has become a contest of money and muscle power.

A couple of weeks ago, the old Tebhaga Movement slogan – “land belongs to those who till it” was heard after many years as farmers hoisted red flags while taking possession of about 99 bighas of land near the Indo-Nepal border in the Siliguri district. The Tebhaga Movement in 1946-47 had been one to ensure that landlords make only one-third of the reap and the rest go to sharecroppers.

Nearly 1,500 Left supporters took part in reclaiming the land which was then handed over to the Bara Moniram Jot-Barga Opposition Committee. As a symbolic gesture, the sharecroppers have begun dal cultivation on the land.

Abhijit Majumder, the son of the iconic Naxal leader Charu Majumder, said that those in the Maoist movement are adamant that tribal land cannot be sold to others, and the cycle of violence must end. “The large-scale theft of thousands of acres of land by numerous people is unacceptable,” he said.

Kamli Munda, a tribal woman from Naxalbari who was part of the recent ‘takeover,’ observed, “It is the administration which has become a pigsty of corruption and exploitation.”

Translated from the Bengali original by Aparna Bhattacharya.