Whether you live in this country or not, you’d still be aware of the fact of how we treat our farmers. In fact, things have gone so bad for them that they believe that ‘death is the only option’ for them. And no, I’m not exaggerating – these are their words and not mine. Yep, a group of tribal women with sarees tied to branches of trees as makeshift nooses around their necks said that death was the only option they were left with because their land was forcefully being taken away to make way for a granite mining company. This eerie sight was seen at a cashew garden in Andhra Pradesh.
The tribal women from Uravakonda town, Andhra Pradesh, alleged that the land on which they cultivate is forcibly taken away from them and the space was being given to a granite mining company. As a form of protest, these women went to the cashew garden and tied their sarees to tree branches as makeshift nooses around their necks.
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When speaking to these tribal women about the land, they said, “Death is the only option left if you don’t listen to our pleas… If you do away with cashew gardens here, we have no option but to embrace death, because our livelihood depends on them.”
The tribal women then went on to explain that they did not take any money from the granite mining company and that some people had illegally sold off their lands in exchange for money. They further added that the government had first allowed them to cultivate on this land but now they are the ones bringing JCBs to flatten their crop.
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As per reports, the tribal women stated, “The Mudugula Mandal revenue officer is making false allegations against us and filing cases against us if we obstruct the mining company that is trying to build roads through our garden. We want the joint collector to conduct an inquiry.”
And trust me when I say that they are not going to give up so easily as they shouldn’t. These women are intending to hold a protest at the Joint Collector of Visakhapatnam’s office on Monday, April 11.
Featured Image Credits: NDTV