On January 11, CPIML MP Comrade Sudama Prasad visited villages in Mirzapur district affected by Forest Department bulldozer operations and police harassment, including Tendua Khurd and Matwar villages. He met with affected tribal families, heard their grievances, and assured them that he would raise their issues during the upcoming Budget session of Parliament to secure justice. He was accompanied by CPIML State Executive Secretary Ishwari Prasad Kushwaha, AIPWA State Secretary Kusum Verma and other leaders.
After the visit, he also met CPIML leader Jeera Bharti and villagers detained in Mirzapur jail. CPIML UP State Committee member Jeera Bharti, along with UP State Secretary and CPIML Central Committee member Sudhakar Yadav, and other villagers, were arrested on January 3 by the Yogi administration for leading struggles in Mirzapur to restore the forest rights of Adivasis under the Forest Rights Act, prevent displacement, and stop bulldozer actions.
Addressing a press conference on 12 January in Vasliganj, Sudama Prasad condemned the state’s authoritarian actions. He highlighted that in Tendua, Matwar, and Lalganj Haldiya, the Forest Department and local landowners have illegally cleared forest land, destroyed standing crops, and misused bulldozers to loot resources, while taking action against the poor and tribal families. He demanded that cases be registered against forest officials who attacked women, and that illegally seized land be returned. He emphasized that the ongoing destruction of forests and tribal lands is unconstitutional and anti-people, pointing out that bulldozer actions are being used to intimidate villagers while land mafias occupy large areas with impunity.
Speaking at the press conference, Comrade Ishwari Prasad Kushwaha criticized the use of Forest Rights and Power Plant projects to displace villagers and noted that Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a repressive regime that is uprooting the poor and toiling people. He also condemned the pre-emptive arrests of AISA leaders and students at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) ahead of a planned demonstration. The students were preparing to protest against the replacement of the MGNREGA law with the Modi government’s “VBGRAMG” law, which, undermines the rights and welfare of rural workers.
Comrade Kusum Verma demanded that police personnel responsible for attacking Jeera Bharti during arrest be registered and punished.
