As per their earlier declaration, thousands of farmers gheraoed the Lalkuan tehsil of Nainital district in Uttarakhand on 25 April under the banner of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Mahasabha, in a continuation of the 3 ½ month old agitation against making Bindukhatta a municipality and the indifferent attitude adopted by the State government.
Bindukhatta is settled entirely on forest land and its 60,000 population is dependent on farming and animal husbandry. In the 70s and 80s landless hill people and scheduled tribes settled on 11 thousand acres of forest land. The government attempted several times to displace the settlement but was foiled by the efforts of the CPI (ML) and the people. Finally Bindukhatta started getting all basic civic amenities. All political parties promised to make Bindukhatta a revenue village in accordance with the people’s wishes but now they are determined to make it a municipality to please the land mafia. Disregarding the people’s objections, an ordinance has been issued making Bindukhatta a municipality. The CPI (ML) and Kisan Mahasabha have been leading a series of agitations against this- a 2000 strong farmers’ march at the tehsil HQ on 25 March, a collective hunger strike on 26 March, a mashal juloos by youth on 29 March, gherao of the tehsil by farmers on 1 April and the latest being a huge protest by hundreds of farmers in front of the Vidhan Sabha at Dehradun challenging the making of Bindukhatta municipality in the High Court. The HC has accepted the appeal and asked the State government to reply within 3 weeks. Leaders speaking at the gherao meeting exposed the government –mafia nexus and the role played by local MLA and Labour Minister Harish Durgpal. They also exposed BJP leader and ex-CM Koshiyari’s lie that his government had sent a proposal for making Bindukhatta a revenue village which was rejected by the UPA government at the centre, pointing out that during Koshiyari’s tenure the Vajpayee government was in power at the centre.
Seeing the support for the Kisan Mahasabha’s movement against making Bindukhatta a municipality, other parties like BJP, Shiv Sena and AAP have also opposed this, but their opposition remains symbolic
