GUWAHATI, Aug 8 � The All Assam Shramik Krishak Kalyan Parishad today alleged that a vested interest lobby of land mafia and dalals (middlemen) was working overtime to grab land of poor peasants and labourers with tacit support from a section of government officials and police.
Addressing a press conference, Pradip Kalita, general secretary of the Parishad said that the land mafia had been active for the last several years and managed to illegally occupy land belonging to poor farmers and workers in different parts of the city. �The poor landowners have undergone a great deal of hardship in the process with many of them rendered street beggars. Regrettably, the land mafia has been assisted in their murky dealings by a section of government officials and the police,� Kalita said.
The Parishad asserted that it would continue to fight the land mafia in the greater interest of the poor farmers and workers as it had been doing in the past. �We will launch a more vigourous mass movement demanding action on the land mafia.
We have already been successful in exposing several members of the land mafia with the result that they are trying all means to destroy our organization. However, they will not succeed in their sinister efforts and we are all the more determined to carry forward our struggle,� Kalita said.
The Parishad�s allegations assume significance in view of the fact that the State Government recently passed the Anti-Land Grabbing (Prevention) Bill in the last session of the Assembly. State Revenue Minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman had gone on record saying in the House that land grabbing was turning into alarming proportions with a section of influential people actively engaged in the nefarious business.