Skip to main content

Ex-Gujarat farmer uses RTI to seek his land back decades after family migrated to Rajasthan fearing reprisal

By Pankti Jog*
Abdulla Akelbhai has crossed 70. Yet, he decided to travel all the way from a village called Faikaron Ka Nihaan, from the border areas of Barmer district of Rajasthan to our Saturday legal clinic in Ahmedabad. The Mahiti Adhikar Guajrat Pahel (MAGP) had just returned from its campaign, with Right to Information (RTI) On Wheels, in the area from where Abdulla hails.
“I had gone to Jaipur the day your van visited our area”, Abdulla said. “I got your RTI pamphlet that you had left on the tea stalls and dhabas, which were useful. I came to know that I can track my forefathers’ land in Gujarat using RTI.Thus, I have come here”.
On returning from the border areas of Rajasthan, we were somewhat familiar with a dialect of Sindh area. Miyana, Vagher and Sandhi communities of Gujarat, and people in the boarder villages of Barmer, Bikaner, and Jaisalmer, speak this language. It is also spoken in the entire Sindh area, which now lies in Pakistan.
Abdulla told me, “My grandfather Abdulla Maulena used to live in a Mankol village of Sanand State. I got my name after him. Ruler Prabhatsinh Vaghela, known as Darbar, gave him 52 bighas of land for tilling (tenancy). He used to cultivate wheat, which was famous in this area.” He didn’t know the exact year, but said it was certainly about years ago. Maybe 1915..."
He recalled: “My grandfather and Prabhatsinh Vaghela were more like a friend, There were not many Muslim families in my village. Once villagers asked the ruler why he had given this fertile land to a Muslim family. Prabhatisinh was very angry. He pointed his gun towards the villagers. This land-related issue was sought to be turned into a sort of Hindu-Muslim conflict in the aftermath of Partition.”
“It was against this backdrop that my grandfather decided to shift to the border area Rajasthan, a Sindh area”, Abdulla went on. “With time, our families spread out to several villages. A few of them went to Pakistan, while others remained in Rajasthan. Till 1995, the borders were not wire-fenced, and people did not realize the difference of being in two countries. Times have changed. Now we can’t meet our brothers.” Abdulla was in tears.
The 1946 receipt on the basis of which Abdulla is seeking information
“Did you ever try to locate your land after migrating to Rajasthan?” I asked Abdulla. His reply was: “My grandfather died in 1955. In 1954, we remember visiting Gujarat to meet our ruler Prabhatsinh and his son. They welcomed us, and asked us to stay and continue tilling the land. But by then, we had heard very scary stories of relationship between Hindus and Muslims in Sanand State, and were were scared to return.”
“How come you thought of tracking your land now, after almost 60 years?” I questioned. Abdulla replied, “After settling down in Rajasthan, which is a dry area, my grandfather always missed his lovely wheat fields and the area with ample of water. He use to tell us stories. It was his wish that we should once again cultivate that land. I did not inquire about it because we were apprehensive.”
“But now I am old, and my sons, too, have settled down in their life. Hence, I decided to find my own way, return to farm. When I heard of RTI, the first thing came to my mind was to locate documents of my land”, he asserted.
Abdulla has studied up to 4th standard, but has very good understanding about laws and policies. He already has read our small booklet on RTI, and I was surprise to find that he knew exactly which documents he should seek from the government. He had receipts of the rent paid to the then Inamdar – Ambalal Sarabhai – for tilling this land, which was to become the basis of his RTI query.
“In the year 1946, my grandfather paid 8 rupiya and 12 ana towards ‘vighoti’ (rent for tilling). He told us that he paid in silver coins”, Abdulla quipped.
Abdulla’s RTI application was drafted for seeking copies of the documents of the land from 1915 till 1947. Land records of pre-Independent time are in the archives, and can be sought under RTI. It is also possible to know the current status of the land, by getting access to documents VII and XVI from the block revenue officer.
“What you will do, after knowing the status, your land must have been transferred to many people by now”, I queried. He replied, “After independence, during the first survey, the powerful person from the village put his name as the owner, and today his family is cultivating it. But If I get access to documents, I will be able to tell your government that ‘this land belongs to us’.”
He regretted, “I could not come here for tall these years to get my land due to to family responsibilities.” But now he realises that “forgetting your farmland is like forgetting your mother.” Ha adds, “It’s my duty to come back to my land. I will give those documents to the heir of Prabhatsinh – Tikubapu.”
Abdulla may have planned to put up a case against the new owner, but does not have the time to fight a long battle the court. But he is sure that RTI will help him fulfill his grandfather’s dream, of locating the land, and proving their ownership… He has begun the process of locating 100-year-old document of his farm through RTI.
---
*Senior activist, Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, Ahmedabad

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.