Rumours of a “non-existent” move to evict Tamil settlers from their lands in the tribal areas of Attappadi in Kerala’s Palakkad district in the name of restoration of usurped lands to Adivasis have sown disquiet in the tribal region which had witnessed the death of dozens of children including newborn babies due to malnutrition in the past one year.
With the spread of the rumours, political organisations from Tamil Nadu have started pro-settler campaigns in Eastern Attappadi causing anxiety for the Kerala Government and generating fears of the possibility of confrontations between people of the two states as had happened in the case of the Mullaperiyar dam issue two years ago.
The anxieties over the development have been complicated with the appearance of Naxalite pamphlets in the area just when the Kerala Police is on an unprecedented hunt for communist extremists in the forests of Wayanad, Kannur and Malappuram districts following reports of sighting of Maoists. The campaign that has sowed disquiet among the hills of Attappadi relates to the Government’s move to restore lands usurped before January 24, 1986 to the Adivasis as per the Restrictions on Transfer by and Restoration of land to Scheduled Tribes Act but the Government has clarified that this is not intended at eviction of Tamil settlers.
“It is the duty of the Government to restore land to Adivasis as per the law. These steps had been intensified in the recent times in the context of the frequent death of children in the tribal areas. There is no move to selectively evict Tamil settlers from here. Any malicious campaign being made in this connection is unfortunate,” said District Collector K Ramachandran.
However, some groups seem unprepared to accept this official assurance. Bowing to the pressures from these groups, political parties in Tamil Nadu, including the DMK, interfered in the issue with representations being sent to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa requesting het to take up the matter with the Kerala Government.
Members from several political parties had held a demonstration in Coimbatore, the Tamil Nadu city nearest to Attappadi, on December 15 to protest against the alleged move of the Kerala Government to relocate Tamil settlers from the tribal area and a meeting was held at Attappadi on December 18 to discuss the matter.
Following these developments and the appearance of Naxalite pamphlets, the Kerala Police has decided to step up its watch in the limits of the Agali and Sholayoor police stations lying adjacent to the Tamil settler areas. The Intelligence wing of the police has already intensified its monitoring activities in these areas.
Several rights groups, including those from Tamil Nadu, have already rejected the allegation about the Kerala move to relocate Tamil settlers, but reports from the ground indicate that they have failed in convincing the Tamils. local people say that campaigns are still going on among the Tamils in Attappadi.