Tana Bhagats, followers of Mahatma Gandhi, are living in a land where they are promised of everything yet they get nothing. Despite assurances by Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, back in September 2012, Tana Bhagats finally ran out of patience as nothing happened on the assurances.
The Tana Bhagats claim that the land they lost during freedom struggle and which was subsequently auctioned by the Britishers is still in illegal occupation. They accuse the Government of turning a blind eye to their concerns and castigated the Government in general and the Congress party in particular for failing to ensure return of their land.
According to Birsa Tana Bhagat, Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary, in 2012, had assured that their demand will be addressed. “Nothing has happened till date,” said Birsa adding “we never contacted any other Congress leader since we felt cheated by them.”
Interestingly, Congress leader Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu, who was state president in 2012, confided that he was also present in the meeting however he admitted Rahul Gandhi had not promised anything in the meeting. “He had said that the Government should look into the matter,” said Balmuchu.
Referring to the issue of land, Balmuchu acknowledged that the case could have been pursued after Rahul Gandhi’s assurance however in the absence of any corroborating land documents it is not possible to proceed on the case.
“There need to be few cases to examine all claims. Unless they present few genuine cases with regard to land titles the claims are not worth examining,” added Balmuchu.
Earlier, the Tana Bhagats called off their indefinite strike after they were called by Governor Syed Ahmed for a meeting on their demands. Governor assured them of all possible actions on their demands. “Governor said that he will see that our demands are addressed,” added Birsa. As many as five representatives of Tana Bhagats went to meet the Governor.