The Chengara struggle refers to an ongoing controversy about land near the Chengara village in the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India.
Background
Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. is an agricultural business corporation with a history that goes back over 150 years. According to its own slogan it is: "India's most diversified agri-business". It is the largest producer of pineapples in India, the largest producer of tea in South India, and is the largest employer in the region. It is employing around 13’000 people in rural Kerala, more than 100’000 people are - according to the companies own information - dependent on the company for their livelihood.
Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. started its rubber production in the early 1900s. Today it is spread over 10 estates in Kerala. One of these 10 estates is the Kumbazha estate, situated in Chengara near Konni in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, which has been occupied by the Dalits and Adivasis.
Until 1984 the company was wholly foreign-owned by Harrisons & Crosfield (named Elementis plc. after 1998), UK's largest specialty chemicals business. Since 1984 Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. is part of the RPG Enterprises, one of India's largest business groups. It is important to note that in popular perception, however, Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. still remains a 'foreign' company.
Adivasis and Dalits in Kerala
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are official designations given to various groups of historically disadvantaged people. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India's population (according to the 2011 census). The Schedules Castes are known as Dalits (the lowest group in the caste hierarchy; "untouchables") and Scheduled Tribes are known as Adivasi ("original inhabitants", the indigenous communities). Dalits and Adivasis represent respectively 10% and 1.1% of Kerala's population.
Land Reforms Act
Janmi-Kudiyan System
Through a longer stretch of history, Dalits have been the backbone of Kerala's wetland rice cultivation. Initially they were slaves, after the year 1850 they became the attached laborers (following the ban on slave traffic), and finally in the 1940s they became "free" laborers (following the advance of caste-based social movements and communist trade union organization). But although they were integral to agrarian production, they were prevented from owning land in Kerala's traditional caste society.
Until the late 1950s, the centuries-old Janmi-Kudiyan (landlord-tenant) landholding system based on the caste system prevailed in Kerala. In this system the Landlords were Namboothiris (called Brahmins in the rest of India) - the highest in the caste hierarchy. The land was often leased to the Dalits – the lowest caste - for cultivation with a simple taxation system. For a long time, it resembled the feudalism in Europe, except for the differences introduced by the caste system. This means the ownership of land was concentrated in the hands of a few individual landlords.
Innumerable malpractices like untouchability, inapproachability and unseeability were widely practiced by the Namboothiris. Many practices were based on the idea of purity, which gave rise to the widespread practice of theendal (pollution). These practices pushed the Adivasis and the Dalits into servitude, slavery, dispossession and displacement, which then compelled them to pawn their dignity and their human rights at the feet of a caste-based society. By the early 20th century, due to the impact of several social reformations, Kerala managed to get officially rid of untouchability and other malpractices which alienated the Dalits and Adivasis. However, prejudices against them continue, especially in rural areas.
Land Reforms – theory
In 1957, elections for the new Kerala Legislative Assembly were held, and a reformist, communist-led government came to power. It was the first time a communist government (Communist Party of India- CPI) was democratically elected to power anywhere in the world. It initiated pioneering land reforms. One of the key legislations the state had undertaken to ensure land for the landless was "The Kerala Land Reforms Act, 1963". By this Act, the centuries-old Janmi-Kudiyan system was brought to an end.