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Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph has alleged that Kerala, under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) rule, has witnessed a rise in farmer suicides, calling the government “anti-farmer”.
On the recent death of a farmer in Vaikom, he claimed it was linked to political harassment and lack of redress, despite appeals to the authorities. In a statement, he accused the government of failing to address farmers’ grievances and said that the “anger of the farming community” would be reflected in the upcoming polls.
Mr. Joseph also alleged that the LDF manifesto amounted to a death warrant for farmers, saying that it contained provisions to evict hill farmers and take over their land. Mr. Joseph claimed that the controversial parts of the manifesto were withdrawn only after public outrage, terming it as an attempt to “deceive farmers”.
He said the original document included recommendations that would severely impact farmers living along forest fringes, exposing what he described as the “real intent” of the LDF. He alleged that the LDF was attempting to impose fresh restrictions under the guise of ecological sensitive slopes (ESS), despite earlier opposition from hill communities to reports such as those by Madhav Gadgil and K. Kasturirangan. According to him, such measures would grant excessive powers to the Forest department.
Mr. Joseph said the proposal to extend core and buffer zone norms, currently applicable only to tiger reserves, to all forest areas in the State would make life difficult for farmers and tribal communities living near forest boundaries.
He also asked whether the move was aimed at converting agricultural land into forest areas to access carbon funds from international agencies, alleging that such policies would come at the cost of farmers’ livelihoods. The Congress, he said, would strongly resist any attempt to curtail the rights of those dependent on agriculture.
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