The drive of Indian ruling classes to forcibly take away the land of peasants and hand it over to foreign & Indian big companies and building Mafia took another violent turn on August 14, 2008 in the vicinity of the capital Delhi, where the trigger-happy police of UP led by Ms. Mayawati, the new icon for the revisionist left, killed five peasant activists in the brutal firing. Whatever the party of ruling classes in power, the land-grabbing of the peasants under the colonial Land Acquisition 1894, is taking ominous turn through length and breadth of the country. The recent mayhem in Greater Noida has added one more  bloody chapter to the drive of the ruling classes towards ‘development’ on the corpses of peasantry and poor people and added one more chapter to the glorious resistance by the peasantry to this bloody drive. Ghodi Bachheda and other villages of Greater Noida have been added to the likes of Kalinganagar, Nandigram, Singur, Raigarh, Erasama, Bajheda Khurd and a number of others where peasants have challenged the bloody might of the rulers. With the bodies of martyred peasants laid in this battle, the vultures of ruling classes have come out yet again to lead their anger away from their patrons. These servitors of corporates, both foreign and domestic, are coming out to prey upon the dead and dull the living. But the saga of peasant struggles against forcible land acquisition continues to unfold with determination and continuity as a part of the Indian people’s struggle against imperialism and domestic reactionaries.

We are here reproducing a report released by Jan Hastakshep, Campaign Against Fascist Designs, prepared by its team after a visit to the villages and interacting with villagers. 

New Delhi 16^th August 2008.  On 14^th August 2008 a two member Janhastakshep fact finding team of Dr. Ish Mishra, and Sachin Singh visited Ghodi-Bacheda village in Greater NOIDA, to meet with the farmers who had been fired upon by the U.P. police a day earlier on 13^th Aug 2008. The farmers were shot and beaten by the U.P. Police while demanding a higher rate of compensation for their agricultural lands which was being acquired by the U.P. government for “infrastructure projects”, including industries and an international airport, which has now been shelved.

 Villagers from Ghodi-Bacheda and neighboring villages had gathered in a condolence meeting for the 5 farmers who had been killed by the police and also to attend the cremation of Satya Rajpal (48) who had been battered to death allegedly by police rifle butts. Many of the farmers attending the funeral bore signs of injuries from the events of the 13^th. The Janhastakshep team talked with Satya Rajpal’s brother at his funeral who narrated how the body was found lying in the fields by a group of young boys. He expressed deep anguish at the fact that four other farmers who were killed by police firing were summarily cremated by the U.P. police without even handing over their bodies to their kith and kin. 

According to news reports, three protestors died on the spot following the firing, a fourth succumbed to bullet injury at Noida’s Kailash Hospital. The deceased were identified as Manoj Singh (28), Yogesh (32), Jagpal (22), and Rajendra Sharma (42). Two are critically injured and are at AIIMS, Shri Gajender Singh has lost his eye from a rifle butt injury and Shri Krishan Kumar is grievously injured.  Eyewitness said that no warning was given by the police, neither were water cannons used before opening fire on the protestors.

In the condolence meeting Bhopal Singh, a lawyer from the village narrated how the police picked up Subedar Ramesh Rawal, a critically injured farmer, from the hospital and also picked up his son Sandeep Rawal who had gone to see his father. He also showed a list of the 66 people who, according to him, were yet to return home after the tragedy. Surendra Singh, a villager,  also at the condolence meeting talked about how the U.P. police barged into the houses of the farmers on early Thurday morning and picked up Om Prakash, the husband of village council head Omwati, Jagdish and Raj Kumar, and asked them to receive the bodies, and after threatening them. The police also forced them to accept the compensation cheques for the deceased or face death.

Barely 50 km from India’s capital, villagers narrated horrific stories of police bestiality to the Janhastakshep team; several farmers recounting the events alleged that the Greater NOIDA, CO, Kuldeep Singh,  allegedly shot dead Manoj a young farmer with his service revolver in the temple at close range, brazenly in front of the agitating farmers. The unprovoked police firing also caused grievous injuries to several farmers among others who have been arrested by the police. They were taken to the Greater NOIDA Kailash Hospital and thereafter the hospital was completely sealed by the UP police and even close family members were not allowed to enter. At around 2030 on the 13^th itself, the injured were put off their life support systems and forcibly taken out of the hospital and taken to an unknown destination. Till now, according to a statement issued by the UP Chief Secretary, the administration has only agreed to having 15 persons in their custody but, according to the villagers head count, at least 60 people were still missing.

An eyewitness Mr. Radhey Shyam narrated how the police brutally attacked and fired upon the farmers and also set afire several tractors and motorcycles. The police did not spare ordinary industrial workers going to work or innocent passer-bys. Others recounted their tales of horror on how, those who were not shot at, were trashed with lathis.

The administration issued statements alleging that the police firing was in self defence since the farmers had opened fire, but villagers said they never fired at the policemen, a fact substantiated by Anil Tomar, deputy medical superintendent, Sharda Hospital, “We treated injured farmers who suffered gunshot wounds but no policeman received gunshot injuries”. (Indian Express News Report). The official statement was retracted by the IG Police (Meerut) claiming that their statement was issued based on incorrect facts. This clearly goes to show that the police had deliberately spread this misinformation to justify their excessive use of force and to put the protestors on the back foot and spread fear among them.

Shri Vinod of the Kisan Sangharsh Manch said that the U.P. police and the administration had unleashed a reign of terror and now the larger issue was how to further their cause since several of the leaders were either in police custody, unaccounted or dead. Shri Vinod scoffed at the crocodile tears being shed by the leaders of the ruling parties who had come to the condolence meeting. Shri Vinod and other villagers were convinced that all these politicians only came for their self interest and for gathering votes in the elections.

Many villagers were shocked, fearful and angry at this excessive use of force and the cremations done by the police, they felt that this use of brute force is only a strong message being sent by the Mayawati government and the administration that it will brook no dissent and is not interested in any dialogue. Several farmers felt trapped since they did not know of any other way to approach the government and plead their case, if this is the response of the government to their just demands. The fact that those killed in the firing or grievously injured all bear wounds above the waist, bear testimony to the barbarity of the police, which was not firing to disperse the crowd, but to kill.

The Janhastakshep also tried to contact the Greater NOIDA administration; the DM Shri. SK Sharma the SSP, Shri. R.K.Chaturvedi  and the CO, Kuldeep Singh but none were available for comments.

The root cause of the farmers protest  of eight villages including Ghodi-Bacheda is their extremely fertile land acquired by the Greater NOIDA Authority  in 2003 at a rate of Rs.322 per sq. meter but now being sold by it at a rate of Rs.10,500 per sq meter. Janhastakshep strongly opposes this loot by the government where in the name of development it forcibly acquires the lands of the farmers at very low prices and sells them at high premiums. Land prices are artificially boosted by announcing public projects or granting huge subsidies to set up industries on this acquired land. Large sums of money is made by the politicians, bureaucrats and private builders through these land sales. The projects like Ganga and Taj express highways are other glaring examples of this loot in Uttar Pradesh.

JANHASTAKSHEP offers its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the farmers whose members have been killed or got injured in the police firing in Greater Noida.

JNAHASTAKSHEP also found clear evidence of barbaric use of force and complete violation of all laws and human rights by the police and administration.

JANHASTAKSHEP supports all farmer movements against forcible acquisitions of their land. 

JANHASTAKSHEP demands:

• All cases filled against the farmers be withdrawn & arrested/detained farmers be immediately released.
• Immediate and adequate compensation must be paid to the families of those who members were killed and to those injured by the police.
• No lands of the farmers should be acquired against their wishes.
• Murder cases must be registered against CO Kuldeep Singh and other personnel guilty of killing the farmers in the police firing. (ends)
• The DM and SSP of Dist. Gautambudh Nagar be immediately suspended for ordering firing on the farmers.