After a lull, JAAG warns: Remove Maruti-Suzuki project or maldharis will flood Gandhinagar with cattle

By A Representative
In a unique move, as a mark of their protest, in October third week the maldhari cattle breeders of North Gujarat will be flooding Gandhinagar with their cattle after traversing 80 kilomtres starting at Hansalpur, the spot where the Maruti-Suzuki has proposed to set up its second and a more modern plant of the country. In a statement issued on behalf of the maldharis, Jameen Adhikar Andolan Gujarat (JAAG) leaders Laljibhai Desai and Sagar Rabari have said, the maldharis’ rally – accompanied by their cattle – will start on October 23 morning at Hansalpur and will reach Gandhinagar on October 25.
JAAG has been in forefront of the protests that rocked the state in from June to August 2013 against the Bhechraji-Mandal special investment region (SIR), with fear raging wide among farmers that their lands across tens of villages will be taken away for industrial use. After the Gujarat government declared in mid-August that it has decided to withdraw SIR from 36 of the 42 villages where the SIR was to be implemented, there was a certain lull in JAAG’s movement.
While JAAG leaders said their demand for ousting Maruti-Suzuki from the region had not been met, hence their movement would continue, little seemed to be happening on the ground. Another of JAAG’s demand was that the SIR Act – which allows complete powers of land acquisition to a notified authority – was also not met. However, with maldharis finding that their grazing land might shrink, JAAG has again become active. Maruti-Suzuki plant remains part of the SIR region of the eight villages.
The JAAG statement said, “The Maruti Suzuki company has been given land in village Hansalpur, which falls in the proposed Mandal-bechraji special investment region (SIR). Part of that land was the village grazing land. The village has a cattle population of at least 600, which provide livelihood of people living in the region, including farmers, maldharis and others.”
Pointing towards indiscriminate manner in which grazing land was handed over to Maruti-Suzuki, the statement said, “When there is not enough grazing land / pastoral land for the existing cattle, allowing Maruti-Suzuki to set up its manufacturing plant will displace and throw out of employ thousands of maldharis.”
In September 2012, the Gujarat government allotted 647 acres of grazing land in Hansalpur to Maruti-Suzuki for their plant. Another 200 acres, near Vithalapur, 25 km from Hansalpur, was allotted to the company to house its employees. Following this, the view has gone strong among farmers and maldharis that the land has been given for a song, especially because Maruti-Suzuki will merely need to pay in installments over eight years.
Saying that handing over of such huge tracts of land to the company has created problems for the maldharis, the statement said, the issue was brought to the notice of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi with JAAG representatives on July 10, 2013. “The chief minister had assured them that state revenue minister Anandiben Patel would be looking at the issue, and if an amicable solution is not found he would intervene”, it added.
Regretting that till date the chief minister has not returned back and the issue has remains unresolved, JAAG said, this has prompted the maldharis to decide to bring their cattle rally to Gandhinagar for handing them over to the government’s care. “They will traverse a distance of 80 km. The route they will take is village Hansalpur, village Vithlapur, village Dekavada, Kadi town, Budasan town, village Chhatral, Kalol town, Shertha village, and Gandhinagar. They will start on October 23 morning and reach Gandhinagar on October 25 afternoon.”

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

World Bank arm accused of hiding crucial report on Gujarat’s Tata Mundra power project

By A Representative The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has accused the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the accountability arm of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), of concealing crucial evidence related to the Tata Mundra coal power project in Gujarat during the period when the case was being heard in U.S. courts. In a press statement released on October 10, 2025, CFA said that the CAO’s final monitoring report, which was completed in 2019 but released only in September 2025, revealed that IFC had failed to take remedial action for years, even as environmental and livelihood harms to local communities worsened.

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

When communities lead: The story of Puttenahalli lake restoration in Bengaluru

By Alejandra Amor, Mansee Bal Bhargava The tropical Indian ecology pushed communities to develop the art and science of rainwater collection since antiquity. Traditionally, harvesting rainwater through ponds, lakes, and wetlands formed an integral part of a holistic water system that included rivers, canals, wells, aquifers, and springs. These decentralized systems sustained irrigation, livestock, and domestic needs in rural areas, supported by generations of community water management practices embedded in both utilitarian and ritualistic values.

Search This Blog