Fight against land grab: Partial success for protesters

Bengaluru: The 35-day protest near Townhall against land grabbing seems to have yielded partial results, but the stir will continue till the official notification is issued, said A.T. Ramaswamy, former chairman of the Joint House Committee on encroachment of government land.

“We learnt that the President of India has signed the Karnataka Land Grabbing Prohibition Act 2007. However, this has not been officially communicated to us. This act will allow for the imprisonment of land grabbers. Protesters are still waiting for the official notification,” he said.

The protesters have been demanding the implementation of the Land Grabbing Act and setting up of special courts to try such cases. It is difficult for activists and officials to bring such grabbers to book. The government must differential between encroachers and land grabbers, he said.

Invariably, grabbers fabricate documents to stake claim for a piece of land. If a special court is set up to try these cases with a timeframe, the grabbers can be brought to book, he said.

Freedom fighter H S Doreswamy said the Satyagraha will continue until the official notification is passed and an indication is given on action to be taken. Over the last few days, Mr Doreswamy has written specific letters to officials of various departments demanding information on government land belonging to various department that has been grabbed, action taken (if any) against land grabbers in each of those cases and reasons if action had not been taken.