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“Build Your SIPCOT Over Our Dead Bodies”: Woman Says TN Police Threatened Them To Sign A Form Enabling Arrest Of Protesting Farmers Under Goondas Act

The Commune

Recently The Commune reported that  the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government in Tamil Nadu was taking steps to invoke the Goondas Act against seven farmers who participated in a sit-in protest against the acquisition of their land for the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT).

The information of this development came to light during a bail plea hearing at the Tiruvannamalai district court on Wednesday, 15 November 2023. The hearing, where counsel for the farmers sought bail for 20 individuals, was adjourned to 20 November 2023. The public prosecutor cited the ongoing initiation of Goondas Act proceedings by the Tamil Nadu government against key farmers central to the SIPCOT land acquisition protest as the reason for the delay in the bail process.

The detained farmers are facing charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 147, 341, 143, 294(b), 353, and 506(1), as well as the Public Property Act. These individuals had peacefully staged a sit-in protest on their patta land for over 125 days, opposing the state government’s plan to acquire 3,200 acres of agricultural wetland for leasing to private industries. Their arrest on November 4 was based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed in August.

A concerning incident at the Tiruvannamalai collectorate further adds to the controversy. Officials allegedly tricked a farmer’s wife into signing a bail document, only for her to later discover it was a notice under the Goondas Act for her husband. When seeking clarification, she faced verbal abuse and threats. She says, “The protest started on 2nd July in Cheyyar. On the 70th day, we went to give a petition to Cheyyar. The police arrested all the men on the way. On the 125th day, police removed the protest tents as well. They also arrested other men at 2AM in the morning. They arrested 22 men altogether. We thought they would release them within 15 days, but nothing happened. Now 7 of them have been booked under Goondas Act. They brought us a form. It had no information on the farmer protest. Instead, there was mention of illicit liquor, sand smuggling, rape, sexual harassment, theft. They got the wife to sign as the witness. They threatened us that they would seal our shops and arrest us along with our children if we do not sign the form. We farmers are protesting for our lands. We are not behind government property. We are fighting for our property. If it was government property, they surely can take action. Why are they doing this when we are fighting to protect our own property? These are lands which yield crops all through the year. They are subjecting us to such atrocities. How can they book them under Goondas Act? They should withdraw the Goondas Act or else, all of us will end our lives. After we die, let them build companies on our lands. Let them build SIPCOT after we die. Let them bury us all there and then build SIPCOT over our bodies.”

The New Indian Express reported that attempts to reach out to Murugesan and SP K Karthikeyan for their comments on invoking the Goondas Act yielded no response. Their personal assistant stated that the officials were busy with arrangements for ‘Karthikeya Deepam,’ scheduled for November 26.

Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai posted on his official X handle in this regard. He wrote, “It is becoming increasingly evident from the family of the arrested farmers that the DMK govt has wilfully meted out this atrocity of imposing the Goondas act on the hard-working farmers of our State for protesting against the government’s decision to acquire their agricultural lands.”

The situation raises concerns about the methods employed by authorities and the impact on the rights of individuals involved in peaceful protests against land acquisition. The bail plea hearing, now postponed to 20 November 2023, continues to attract attention as the legal proceedings unfold.

The BJP has meanwhile announced protests against the DMK government calling for the revocation of the Goondas Act on farmers.

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