Resisting Dispossession by Ranjana Padhi & Nigamananda Sadangi

Author:Ranjana Padhi & Nigamananda Sadangi
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811507175
Publisher: Springer Singapore

We were trying to peep into the history, but the present was in too much turmoil. Illegal prawn cultivation was being brought to an end by the government after many years. What was the grand plan this time? Tourism was our best guess.

Anadi Behera had asked us to meet him at the statue of Gandhi on the main Balugaon road. There were many questions we had in mind while waiting for him. Does one begin with the Sorana firing or go further back to the history of the fishing co-operatives? He soon arrived and took us to the office of the Matsyajibi Mahasangha. Any dilemmas about where to begin were put to rest as he placed the proposed new bill of 2017 on the table. He said:The central question is: who does Chilika belong to? And even today that is under dispute. In any case, there had always been caste hatred and we were looked down upon. We were the untouchables. But today everybody wants to do fishing as it brings big money. Even the powerful and rich no longer think it is a profession meant for untouchables. They have finally rallied together behind this bill. What happens to our traditional rights? We have always maintained that the land is yours but the fish is ours. From 1959 itself our traditional rights as fisherfolk had been protected by Leidlaw.4 Only the fisherfolk with traditional rights on their sairat obtained them on lease. We were the lease holders always. But this new bill is changing the very definition of fisherman itself. According to it, everyone is a fisherman! The government is taking away our traditional rights as fisherfolk.

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