CPI-M's 'revert to paddy' stir kicks up storm

It seemed a good idea in Kerala 20 years ago, filling up paddy fields and planting lucrative coconut and banana groves. But now it doesn't seem so hot, considering the state has been facing increasing food shortages and a high unemployment rate among agricultural workers.

In a belated move, activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist's farm workers's wing, the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union decided to use muscle to reverse the trend. They destroyed standing crops at farm holdings in Alappuzha and Patanamthita districts, where paddy field reclamation is rampant. The action was symbolic, meant to draw government attention, but it caused more trouble than it was meant to resolve.

As the union activists went on the rampage, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, the ruling Left Democratic Front was asked how it could allow law and order to be thus flouted. The government could not blame an agitation meant to bring food back to the land, nor could it justify the destruction of crops. So Chief Ministers E K Nayanar played it smart: he justified the end, but condemned the means.

But by the time the agitation waned last week, the two districts were a graveyard of destroyed vegetation. Coconut, rubber and mango trees had been uprooted and coffee, banana and other crops razed. The worst affected areas were Kuttanad, Allappuzha, Shertala, Haripad and Chengannur.

The Opposition United Democratic Front leaders took out a mammoth protest rally in Chenganur and planted seedlings in the vandalised fields. Leader of the Opposition and senior Congressman A K Antony accused the CPI-M of double standards.

"The CPI-M has constructed party offices across the state after filling up paddy fields. Now they are causing trouble over this issue," he said.

Those lands were converted almost a decade ago, argued V S Achutanandan, leader of the current protests and CPI-M politburo member, at a convention in Mancompu. "We are talking about the government fields converted in the recent past," he explained.

The agitation has its critics within the CPI-M leadership, among them state secretary Chadayan Govindan.

"We cannot hurt the interests of the farmers. They are as much a source of strength for the CPI-M as the agricultural workers," Govindan said, advocating strong action against the vandals. These views are mirrored by coalition partners like the Communist Party of India and the Republican Socialist Party.

But the agitators are unrepentant. Union secretary A Kanaran spoke a patois that reeked of years of Maoist influence: "The bourgeoisie media and vested interests are trying to tarnish the agitation. The law-breakers are not the agricultural workers but the farmers who convert their paddy fields into rubber estates and shopping complexes."

Kanaran insists the agitation would help prevent further depletion of the areas under paddy cultivation.

The efforts to stem the tide came after the land under paddy cultivation in the state shrunk from 800,00 hectares to 500,000 hectares, with rice production correspondingly dwindling from 1.375 million tonnes to 1.03 million tonnes. A bad statistic, considering Kerala's average requirement of rice is 4 million tonnes.

The state government relies on a toothless legislation, the Kerala Land Utilisation Act, to stop conversion of paddy fields. Agricultural experts also prefer to allow farmers to decide what crop to grow.

Paddy cultivation is not economical due to scarcity of labour, high production costs, low profits and unpredictable weather. Cash crops such as rubber, coconut and banana are hardier and more lucrative.

For the CPI-M, the political importance of the agricultural worker far outweighs the economics of paddy cultivation. But it could have done without the anger generated by the destruction of crops by its cadres.