The Struggle for Land and Livelihood: A Tale of Sandeshkhali's Farmers

Farmers Arjun Mondal, 68, of Sandeshkhali, North 24-Parganas, tilled his family's 1.5-bigha multi-crop property till four years ago. He has a tea stand now close to the Sandeshkhali Ferry Ghat.

Agriculture provided enough income to support the family of five and fulfill their basic requirements, but he was never solvent. The former farmer who is now a tea vendor said he finds it difficult to support his family after being compelled to change careers. "I have two boys who are migratory laborers. My kid who has physical disabilities and I reside here. It's very tough to make ends meet with a tea stall's profits, Mondal said our reporter.


Acquisition of Land

The transformation of Mondal's livelihood from self-sufficient farmer to proprietor of a tea shop encapsulates the gritty side of Sandeshkhali, an isolated island situated in the Sunderbans.

I've been a farmer for the last 40 years and come from a marginalized background. Although the land is still technically mine—it was acquired by Shibu, the Trinamul leader Shib Prasad Hazra—it is no longer mine, according to Mondal.

"With the kodaleyr bnaat (wooden spade handle), with which he and his cronies ran their writ in our area, I was not ready to hand over my small land parcel, but I was not able to bear the pain of being beaten black and blue," Mondal said.

Over the last two weeks, there have been public reports of land grabs in response to demonstrations against some Trinamul officials in the area who were accused of terrorizing the community by stealing land parcels and abusing women.

The state's political dispute began in Sandeshkhali when Enforcement Directorate officers were attacked during a search at the house of Trinamul leader Sheikh Shahjahan in relation to a PDS "scam."

Despite the Hindu majority in Sandeshkhali, where there are 24.55% Scheduled Tribes and 36.45% Scheduled Castes, many of the island's few Muslims essentially followed in the footsteps of their Hindu counterparts.

Amirul Ansari, a mason from Domkal, Murshidabad, who has lived in Sandeshkhali for more than 30 years, said that the torture extended beyond making victims sign leasing agreements under duress.

Despite not owning property here, I have seen what has transpired over the last three to five years. Saline water was injected into the plots of those who refused to give up their property in the face of coercion. Although I don't want to get involved in this political game, the accusations are true, Ansari said.

The land grab "scam," which was discovered during ED searches conducted in the region to look into the PDS "scam," might embarrass chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who rode a wave of protest against land acquisition to power in 2011.

As Bheris rises

A farmer on Satjelia, another island in the Sunderbans, claimed a farmer with a 1.5-bigha plot could make around Rs 90,000 a year, growing food grain and vegetables, despite the fact that Mondal, a school dropout, was unable to accurately assess his real revenue from farming.

"I lost the farms, and that was devastating for me. My necessities for food were met when I produced rice. At least Rs 35,000 would be earned by the excess each year. Put the money out of your mind. Their fathers before them, as well as my father and grandpa, had tilled the land. Instead, why would I sell tea?" he questioned.

"I work in my tea stall from before the crack of dawn to make ends meet, and Shibu and his cronies earn lakhs by turning my land into an artificial waterbody for pisciculture," he said.

In spite of a guarantee that he would earn Rs 5,000 per month for the lease, Mondal said he is not paid for more than four months out of the year. He remarked that neither he nor anybody else like him could get the fortitude to demand payment.

At least twelve persons similar to Mondal were interviewed by this publication; many of them were afraid of what would happen if they revealed their identify. Mondal was repeated by them all.

To give this publication an idea of the nature of bigha after bigha of land had been turned to bheris (ponds for pisciculture), a group of young guys took a break from their casual afternoon conversation beside a culvert of No. 8 Majher Para. Large areas of rich, multi-crop land that could easily produce two harvests a year—vegetables and paddy—have turned into bheris, a young person stated. 

In North 24-Parganas, a bheri in Sandeshkhali.
Bishwarup Dutta took this image.
More than 100 complaints

More than a hundred landgrab complaints, according to a North 24-Parganas official, have been filed. The total amount of land seized is estimated to be at least 750 bighas.

After traveling about 80 km over the Basanti Highway and crossing the Kalindi or two other rivers that divide the about 22,000 residents from the mainland, one may arrive in Sandeshkhali, one of 102 islands (of which 54 are inhabited) on the Indian side of the Sunderbans. There are sixteen voting booths in the Sandeshkhali gram panchayat, which is 97% Hindu.

"We will verify the claims made in the complaints we have been getting. All of the farmers who have protested to us will undoubtedly have their land back. The official said, "We have organized ten teams that will be calling on the complainants' doorsteps.

Social transformation

Primary school teacher Samrat Sardar, 38, said that although the tendency of annexing land began under the Left rule, it had reached its zenith in the previous five to six years due to the ascent of a few leaders who the villages, particularly the women, now accuse of crimes.

Another unnamed high school teacher said that the landgrab had encouraged a shift in the social structure. In his view, the tight-knit, homogenous village culture, where there was little economic disparity between families, gave way to an uneven system with two separate segments: a small number of haves (who had political power) and a large number of have-nots.

A few Trinamul officials allegedly become wealthy from the pisciculture revenue. These individuals and those who supported them started acting like kings or feudal lords. Due to the isolation of the place and the powerlessness of poverty, none of the ladies who were forced to come to the governing party headquarters at midnight dared to resist, he added, setting off a new trend.

Like the instructor, Surajit C. Mukhopadhyay, dean of social sciences at Sister Nivedita University in Calcutta, said that crimes against women are often a manifestation of violence that follows the seizure of property or land.

"If you study military history, you will see that the winning side often attacked women and confiscated property. It is similar to what occurred in Sandeshkhali, when claims of snatching land and abusing women surfaced almost at the same time, the man said.

Mukhopadhyay said, "They targeted women—a typical form of misogyny—after first altering the nature of the land and upsetting the preexisting social balance. 

a handwritten poster that the people of Sandeshkhali, North 24-Parganas, put up.
Bishwarup Dutta took this image.
Attacks and calls at midnight

A 26-year-old island resident, who has filed a police complaint, claims that she and many other women endured years of psychological and sexual abuse at the hands of detained Trinamul officials Hazra and Uttam Sardar.

"We used to get calls from a handful of them around midnight or later in the evening. What did they stand to gain by meeting ladies at midnight? Our husbands would be called and beaten with their preferred weapon, the kodaleyr bnaat, if any of us refused to go there, she threatened.

The mother of three, whose spouse is a migrant worker in a state in south India, said that they were compelled to prepare meals for them and entertain them as per their requests.

The main harassers of women, according to the lady, are Sardar and Hazra.

Hazra, a former Trinamul block president, and Sardar, a member of the zilla parishad, were detained after the outburst on suspicion of gang raping a lady.

Police's role

Following the victim's confession, concerns were raised over the involvement of the Sandeshkhali police station, located only 700 meters from the party headquarters where the accused Trinamul officials were reportedly gathering the women.

"The law enforcement officials? The police would advise anybody bringing a complaint to the station to seek recourse at Shibu Hazra. Would you pursue justice against the offending party? inquired with a female.

According to a middle-aged lady, their life was calm until some politically powerful individuals in their community grew wealthy over a period of four and a half years ago.

"Women in our community used to never leave their houses after nightfall... At midnight, however, these leaders started phoning them. "My daughter and daughter-in-law had to deal with this situation; I was never in their shoes," the lady in her late 50s said.

Even though more women are now coming forward to voice their grievances, concerns have been raised about why they were forced to keep quiet for so long.

The region had a political vacuum when Shahjahan went into hiding on January 5, and a source stated that the BJP was responsible for the abrupt increase in complaints.

"We called a conference of all the ladies in our neighborhood when Shahjahan ran away, and we resolved to take on Trinamul and the police with a large-scale demonstration on our island. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have had the guts to speak out against those horrible leaders," a lady who is today BJP supportive said.

Historical politics

The majority of individuals, particularly women, who have been criticizing the leaders of the governing party assert that they were formerly Trinamul followers.

Sandeshkhali was a stronghold of the CPM, and even in 2011, when Mamata came to power after 34 years of Left government, the CPM's Nirapada Sardar (who was also detained in relation to recent events) had won the election. Nonetheless, Trinamul was victorious in both of the most recent Assembly elections (2021 and 2016). In light of the two leaders' arrests, sitting MLA Sukumar Mahata is presently managing the organization.

"Previously, Sheikh Shahjahan worked for the CPM, as did several of his assistants, including Hazra. According to a villager, once Trinamul came to power, they changed sides in order to continue leading the governing party, and as a result, the level of torturing escalated.

He said that due of the actions of local officials, a large number of Trinamul followers started to distance themselves from the party. 2019 saw the BJP start to gain ground and take leads in many gram panchayats, including Manipur, Sandeshkhali, and Korakati, despite Trinamul candidate Nusrat Jahan winning from Basirhat in the Lok Sabha elections. This signaled the growing dissatisfaction with the incumbent party.

Conflict of words

Senior BJP leader in Sandeshkhali, Anup Kumar Das, said that Trinamul's real nature has come to light.

"People now know the true nature of Trinamul." The majority of people are coming with us to strengthen the demonstrations against Trinamul's crimes, he said.

The BJP-RSS, according to Trinamul officials, is making inflated claims in an attempt to corner the state administration.

"Our administration and party are working together to address any complaints that may have been made. However, the information that the BJP has been putting out to you (the media) is false. We are clear about where we stand. The police have already responded to the women's accusations, and everyone who has been deprived will receive their land back, according to MLA Mahata.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Press Time staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.