Hundreds of vanwasis, van gurjars, and khattawasis participated in a massive rally on 15 November organized by the All India Kisan Mahasabha, Uttarakhand, and submitted a 6-point memorandum to the District Magistrate of Haldwani after a demonstration in front of the district headquarters. The rally was led by AIKMS National Secretary Purushottam Sharma, State Council member Bahadur Singh Jangi, Ganesh Chandra Pathak, Mohammad Yamin, and Ghulam Rasool. CPI(ML) CC member Raja Bahuguna, State Secretary Kailash Pandey, and AICCTU State general secretary KK Bora also participated.
The Forest Department of Nainital district has imposed a one-year ban on sowing of pasture crop by van gurjars and khattawasis in the eastern and central forest sectors, whereas as there is no ban for non-gurjars. The demonstration was organized to protest against this discrimination. Addressing the meeting which followed the demonstration, Com. Purushottam Sharma said that the van gurjars who had played a significant role in voting the Harish Rawat government to power, were now left to suffer on the brink of starvation, deprived of the occupation which was theirs for the past so many generations. This is not only persecution, but also racial discrimination against them. Purushottam Sharma also pointed out that the Forest Department is refusing to issue grazing permits to people who separated years ago in family partitions, resulting in their being deprived of their traditional forest rights. The State government and district administration are procrastinating on the issue of registering the names of goth-khattawasis in the family register, on ensuring their basic civil rights, and their integration and rehabilitation. He warned that if these issues are not addressed, the Kisan Mahasabha would accelerate protests.
Com. Raja Bahuguna said that all governments so far had worked against the interests of farmers and workers, and for mafia forces, resulting in a rising graph of crime in the State. He called for the immediate rehabilitation of khattawasis and disaster victims. Com. Bahadur Jangi spoke on the failure to meet the demand for electricity connections, landline phones and a 3-G BSNL mobile tower in Bindukhatta as well as on demands to give Bindukhatta the status of a revenue village, and to take effective steps to end the pollution spread by the Century Paper Mills in the region. The memorandum of protest submitted to the DM elaborated all the above concerns and demands.
