Thousands of Indian farmers start a long march to press for land rights

The farmers-led Communist Party of India (Marxist) has accused the ultra-right wing government in both the state and at the center of failure to implement existing laws protecting their rights.

All images via the CPI(M) on Facebook

By Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch

Thousands of farmers began a long march to the district headquarters in Palghar in India’s Western province of Maharashtra on Monday, January 19, demanding fulfillment of long-pending demands, including the right to land.

Carrying banners and red flags, the marchers walked from Charoti to Manore on the first day, and from Manore to Palghar on the second day, covering a total distance of almost 50 kilometers on foot. Led by Vinod Nikole, an elected member of the Maharashtra state legislature, marchers shouted slogans and sang songs while walking through the highways.

The march is being led by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and AIKS National President @DrAshokDhawale, Polit Bureau member and AIDWA National General Secretary Mariam Dhawale, Maharashtra State Secretary and AIKS National Joint Secretary Ajit Nawale, Central Committee member and two-term MLA from Dahanu Vinod Nikole, and other senior leaders. Polit Bureau member and AIKS National General Secretary @VijooKrishnan will join the march tomorrow.— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak), January 19, 2026

Farmers, organized under the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), are demanding full implementation of the country’s Forest Rights Act (FRA) and PESA (Panchayat Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act. They are also seeking ownership of land they have been tilling for generations. Other major demands include the withdrawal of the revocation of the rural employment guarantee act (MGNREGA), the new electricity bill and the new labor codes introduced by the extreme right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Protection of rights 

The Forest Right Act (FRA) 2006 is a landmark law and the result of a decades-long struggle waged by the left, civil society organizations, and people in the tribal regions in the country. The act provides land and other rights to tribal communities officially known as Scheduled Tribes, living in India’s forests. The marchers claimed governments at both levels have failed to implement the FRA, enabling local landlords and big corporations to deny tribal communities their legal and fundamental rights, and to loot resources.

Successive governments have also failed to implement the 1996 PESA, marchers claim. This act mandates consent of the tribal communities and villages for implementation of a project on their lands. It enables the people to refuse projects which they consider harmful to them or to the local ecology.  According to the marchers, the full implementation of these two laws would have provided protection to the economic rights of tribal communities and peasants, shielding them from the greed of corporations.

A large number of peasants in the region are still struggling to get ownership on the land they or their family have been cultivating for generations. Ownership rights have been one of the oldest demands CPI (M) and other left movements have raised in the region, with limited success.

Similar marches in the past 

The marchers were joined by farmers, workers, student and women organizations such as the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the Center for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), the All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA), the Student Federation of India (SFI) and the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM).

On Tuesday, politbureau members of the CPI (M) Ashok Dhawale and Vijoo Krishnan also joined the march. Talking to media, Nikole stated that if the state fails to give written assurances to fulfill the marchers’ demands in a time-bound manner, the march and the sit-in may turn more militant and block the movement of rails towards state capital Mumbai. Dhawale claimed the march had attracted even more people on its second day and warned that, if the government fails to concede to the demands, the marchers were ready to move to Mumbai.

AIKS and other groups have organized similar marches in the state on two earlier occasions. In February 2019, thousands of farmers marched from Nashik to Mumbai, covering a distance of nearly 250 kilometers on foot. At the time, protesters seeking irrigation projects in the state’s drier region and land titles, among other demands, were able to force the government to concede. A similar march was organized between the two cities in March 2023 as well. This protest was concluded midway before it reached Mumbai, after the government conceded to the marchers’ demands in writing.

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