PATHANAMTHITTA: “Gopalan chettan taught us not to bow our heads in front of others. He wanted us to fight without rest till our demands are met by the authorities,” said PS Uthaman, a tribal rights activist from the Rajampara tribal settlement at Laha. Uthaman is part of a team of awakened rights activists who had been mentored by Laha Gopalan during the iconic land struggle at Chengara. They know well that the best tribute to Gopalan will be carrying forward his mission.
After completing seventh standard, he came to Laha with his mother’s sister and her husband, who had reached Laha for teaching tribals. “After getting a job in KSEB, he began to read books and studied the issues of tribal people and other deprived sections of society. Soon, he started to teach us about our rights,” recalls Uthaman.
Though many remember Gopalan as the leader of Chengara struggle that began in 2007, the fiery leader in him was first identified by locals in 1988. Tribals were not allowed to work in the state farming corporation estates at Nilakkal. Kerala Tribal General Workers Union formed by Gopalan launched a protest demanding right to work for tribal people.
The peaceful protest went on till the authorities agreed to their demand. The planning for the Chengara land struggle was done so meticulously and discreetly by Gopalan that the district administration and police were kept in the dark about the movement till 300 families under the banner of Sadhu Jana Vimochana Samyukta Vedi had encroached nearly 145 ha of rubber plantation under the possession of Harrisons Malayalam Ltd at Chengara near Konni on August 4, 2007. The determination of the protesters and their endurance foiled several attempts by the police and trade unions to evict them.
In 2009, there was a settlement mediated by the then CM V S Achuthanandan and 1,495 eligible landless people at Chengara were allotted 831.03 acres of land across 10 districts. But, only 78 families got habitable land and others returned to Chengara alleging that the land was too rocky to start farming. Even now, 587 families live in Chengara estate.
In the final years of his life, Gopalan was not in good terms with the Chengara protesters. “We had tried to meet him several times and settle the issue. But, he didn’t grant us a meeting. He is our guiding light and his death is a big loss,” said T R Sasi, the president of Ambedkar Smaraka Mathruka Grama Vikasana Society, which manages the settlement in Chengara.