Rural and agricultural workers under the banner of Akhil Bharatiya Khet Gramin Mazdoor Sabha (AIARLA) held a protest on 22 November 2016 in front of the Motihari District headquarters in Eastern Champaran to demand homestead land and employment from the government. They took out a march to the Collectorate led by AIARLA District Secretary Jeetlal Sahni and comrades Bhola Sah, Tarachand Bhagat, Atiullah Miyan, Kishun Mukhiya, and Virendra Gupta.
The meeting started with a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of the Kanpur rail accident. Addressing the meeting CPI(ML) District Secretary Prabhudev Yadav said that the Modi government and Nitish government are both running away from their responsibility to implement the recommendations of the Land Reform Commission and provide work for MNREGA workers and unemployed youth. Instead, they are aiding land thieves and dominant feudal forces.
The Bandopadhyay Commission had found, through surveys in different districts of Bihar, that 21 lakh acres are with land-thief landlords and said that these lands should be distributed among the poor. The Modi-Nitish governments are not bothered in any way about the livelihood of the poor. Modi is trying to divert the people’s attention from his failed promises through diversionary and divisive politics but we will not allow this ploy to succeed.
CPI(ML) leader Bhaiyyalal Singh said that Nitish’s declarations for the development of the poor are limited to papers and office files. Expressing deep condolences for those who lost their lives and sympathy with the injured in the recent Kanpur rail tragedy, he demanded that the families of the dead should be paid 10 lakhs as compensation. A 17-point charter of demands was submitted to the district officials.
