'Landmark victory'
Conflicts over land in India have increased as one of the world's fastest growing major economies expands, and land is sought for industrial use and development projects. While several laws have been introduced in the past decade to protect the rights of farmers and indigenous people, some laws have been diluted in their implementation and not always helped the vulnerable, activists say. Between 1950 and 2005, about 65m people were displaced in India by dams, highways, mines and airports, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Less than a fifth have been resettled. Mamata Banerjee, who led protests against the Singur deal, won state elections in 2011 to become chief minister and made the return of land to farmers a central plank of her campaign. "The Supreme Court verdict is a landmark victory for us," Banerjee said at a press briefing in Kolkata on Wednesday. [youtube id="e_qOjU-MHHc"] "It is a historic verdict which acknowledges the right of the farmers over forcible acquisition of land," she said.The protests in Singur came to reflect the wider standoff between industry in India and villagers unwilling to part with land in a country where two thirds of the population still depends on agriculture for a living. Earlier this week, two people were killed in Jharkhand state when villagers protesting the loss of their homes to a power plant clashed with police.The historic verdict victory of Maa-Mati-Manush, a landslide victory of the people. এই জয় গণদেবতার জয়। #Singur pic.twitter.com/2ObH6NJ33g
— ❤️ Mamata Banerjee (@MATI_KI_MAMATA) August 31, 2016
The #Singur verdict is a victory of farmers.But it does not mean that land was not forcibly acquired in Modi's Gujarat for the Nano plant! — Soumya Speaks (@soumodiptoroyy) August 31, 2016