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Journalism of Courage
Armed with a High Court order to flush out encroachers from Munnar hill station,Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan is finding the going as tough as he did during an earlier such eviction drive in 2007.
The entire spectrum of political parties and community organisations has threatened to resist the eviction move,with CPM Idukki district chief M M Mani warning that the party would deal with anyone who tried to evict encroachers,and that he had the support of farmers and traders.
In 2007,the Chief Minister had first tried to evict illegal encroachers in Munnar with the help of trusted bureaucrats but was thwarted,with own party and other Left constituents ranged against him. He ordered the latest eviction drive following a High Court order last week asking the government to flush out encroachers and pulling up officials supporting the real estate mafia.
Although the CPI that holds the forest and revenue departments in the state has extended in-principle support for eviction,Revenue Minister K P Rajendran who belongs to the party hasnt yet initiated any action against officials in the area who are accused of allowing the encroachments. CPI state secretary Veliyam Bhargavan had earlier said that
the government should act tough disregarding protests from local leaders.
The Chief Ministers task has become even harder by vested interests managing to stoke fears of small-scale farmers and early settlers in Munnar that the eviction drive was targeted against them. As a result,the Catholic Church and other communities have also got into the fray.
At a meeting held under the banner of Peoples Protection Committee on Sunday,two Bishops from the region pledged support against evictions. One of them was Mar Mathew Arackal,a friend of controversial businessman Pharis Aboobacker,whom Achuthanandan once lashed out against publicly on account of his links with rivals in the party.
Interestingly,the Peoples Protection Committee brings together the Church and the CPM,known adversaries in the state,along with the Congress. The committee has called for a dawn-to-dusk bandh in Munnar on Wednesday against the drive.
Denying the allegation that farmers would be targeted,officials note that not a single one has been deprived of a holding during the current drive. We have not issued an eviction notice to any small farmer. None of them has complained about the drive. Only big shots have moved the court against the evictions, said a VS confidant who had been part of the last eviction drive.
