Jindal used his political power and connections to get the police to help him evict farmers from their land. He tried to strong-arm others into signing papers that would give their land over to him. When they refused, police arrested and imprisoned them. Many were tortured. Some were even killed. Sadly, mafia-style land-grabbing techniques like this have been implemented more and more in recent Indian history. Jindal just happens to be one of the wealthiest land-grabbers in all of India.
Jarnail explains how this has played out over the past twenty years. “To this day, Naveen Jindal continues to use his great power and resources to try and scare us into releasing our land to him. The police have been no help to us, because they are the ones doing most of the harassing. As a wealthy industrialist, and former member of Parliament, Jindal can get the government to do whatever he wants to serve his best interests, since he has convinced them that his interests are also best for India.”
In a statement to The Assembly for Human Rights, Lakra describes the painful impact this intimidation has had on his own family. “My mother was assaulted and raped by Jindal’s men. When she reported it to the police, they ignored her complaints and never filed the First Information Report paperwork. She feared for the lives of her children, so we were raised in a hostel.” Talking about about living separate from his mother brings him to tears, as can be seen in recently released video from the rally. “For seven years my brother and I had to live separate from my mother. After Jindal had my uncle killed, we knew it was the right choice. But it wasn’t easy…To be traumatized from an early age can leave you stuck in a state of crippling fear. It can consume you, leaving you stuck somewhere between adulthood and childhood. Jindal robbed me of my childhood.”
In the video, Lakra explains how Jindal has violated multiple laws in how he acquired the Adivasi land, and also how Jindal has disregarded the legal guidelines for development on tribal lands. Indian law limits how many factories or companies can be built within any given region, as a means of protecting the environment. Jindal has violated these laws by building more than 30 factories and 60 companies in one village, placing an excessive burden on the environment and violating air quality standards established by Sections 21-31 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Lakra continues by describing the environmental damage Jindal has caused. Dust and coal poisons the air, and kills the farmers’ crops, destroying most of the local agriculture. Because of Jindal, the local farming community has collapsed. Those who still attempt to farm the land they own have found their efforts blocked by Jindal.
