« Pép la about » : the people have had enough! As chants a popular Haitian song, the cost of basic food staples is going up in flame and the neediest populations are hungrier and hungrier. Without ever losing energy, Frères des Hommes upholds an agriculture permitting rural communities to live in dignity through their own labour. With the peasant Union group of Mecké, Senegal, the movement of the landless in Brasil and the peasant Papayan movement of Haiti we offer ways to build up sustainable and valuable peasant agriculture responding to the needs of the populations. The hunger riots that swept the continents this year clearly question the agroindustrial model and market regulations by the “invisible hand”, and show how the dominant economic model these last decades has been unable to provide decent living conditions for thousands of residents.

Access to land by the poorest is a vital challenge. In India 25 000 landless assembled by Ekta Parishad to march the 350km from Gwalior to Delhi obtained last fall the right to land and to self-sufficiency for all. For the past 2 years Frères des Hommes has assisted the development of this movement. The march (named Janadesh – the people’s choice in Hindu) sent us a clear message confirming the impact that non-violent popular mobilisations can have on obtaining concrete results in the fight against poverty. Rajagopal P.V. and Ramesh Sharma, directors of Ekta Parishad, were in France this summer to testify at the international Forum for human rights at Nantes and the Salon of peace initiatives in Paris. We wanted to take this moment to share with you the powerful impact of this popular mobilisation. Because Janadesh is the victory of the poorest to have rights to accede to land and dispose of means to live and work in dignity. It is proof that it is possible for underprivileged populations to act wholly as citizens and carry their weight on the political policies that condition their daily life. It is proof that promoting rights for the poorest enforces the rights of all the people with access to natural resources and democracy. Finally, Janadesh is the proof that it is possible to fight all forms of poverty and discrimination non-violently.

Non-violence is an effective strategy for fighting against discrimination

Frères des Hommes is present in India for nearly 40 years now and assists popular civic organisations in creating means for the underpriviledged populations to become real actors in Indian democracy. Our support of Janadesh is visible through the continuity of all our actions. Frères des Hommes from the start up preparations of the March : informed their public and raised donations through a “Temoignages et Dossiers special Janadesh” appearing in September 2006, put together a photo-expo on the theme “India, the other side: peasants’ struggle for land”, organised public events to present the photo-expo, solidarity marches and raise donations, created a solidarity banner using footprints of their numerous supporters. During the march which took place from October 2 to 28 2007, marchers carried proudly these banners created in France while international medias relayed their plaints to the rest of the world : French radio, television and newspapers were heavily mobilised by Frères des Hommes. Today Frères des Hommes remains united with Ekra Parishad to ensure that government promises are held and that the landless Indian peasants can finally live reasonably off the land.

The landless Indians wish to live off their own land labour
Rural inhabitants, landless peasants, agricultural workers, tribes, dalits and members of associations marched on the Parliament of Delhi to demand right to land ownership and sufficiency. They asked that the Indian government maintain a policy in this favour. Even though in the 70s the country engaged in a green revolution to ensure self food sufficiency, today these are rent and export cultures, with an almost exclusive market of GMOs encouraged by politics that abandon peasants in favour of agro-business. The landless recall that India is the largest democracy in the world, yet it’s population is still totally excluded in the development of the country’s economy and suffers it’s miseffects: Industrial and real estate projects undertaken on farmable land, construction of dams flooding villages and plantations, creation of specially designated economic zones for industrial investors who gain on fiscal tax deductions. The conditions suffered by lower-caste Indians and tribes chased off their lands, deprived of their yields and cut from their economic activity pushes them to migrate towards the outskirts of the cities where they can no longer escape their state of poverty. Numerous peasants are in debt – especially since the fall of cotton prices – and unable to meet the needs of their families. They find themselves drawn towards extreme engagements and actions : suicide, or affiliation to radical armed naxalite groups who hope to organise peasants and provoke reform. Janadesh enabled these exiles to unite and advise Indians of the political class of the effects of globalisation on the poorest citizens and their incapacity at dealing with these situations. The landless Indians propose peasant agriculture as a priority solution to famine : actually families disposing of land and free access to natural resources cultivate grains and vegetables which feed their families and enable them to escape the chains of dependence and instability. Therefore rural development and employment are essential answers to the pauperisation and exodus of the residents.

The use of non-violence in the claim to rights
If access to land is the principal concern of Janadesh, the march actually offered a model of expression and claim to citizenship, proof of the birth of an active civic society rooted in popular cultures. The use of a march as a way to demand rights is at the heart of the story of India: remember the historic March for salt organised by Gandhi in 1930, an act of civil disobedience tied to the struggle for India’s independence. Coordinators of Janadesh assume a democratic method, for this non-violent alternative of demanding their rights brings together multiple local groups. These Indian citizens refuse to counter the violent situations they face daily with aggressive actions.

The groundwork for Janadesh began in 2005. In October 2006, 400 persons from 10 Indian states carried out an initial trek by foot from Gwalior to Delhi as a prelude. This was the first warning launched publicly concerning Janadesh. For one year the definitive mobilization is organised and extended: participants rallied, rice collected (through the creation of rice banks) to make up for the absence of labourers during the weeks of march, roupies donated to fund the organisation of the march. Also Rajagopal P.V. and delegates of Ekat Parishad meet with authorities regularly to solicit agreements. In all, three years of meticulous planning uniting hundreds of villages, and 25 000 persons – chosen among the poorest peasants, dalits and Adivasis – marching towards Delhi.

The marchers are welcomes like guests by the populaces
On October 2 2007, Gandhi’s birthday, 25 000 persons begin the march towards Delhi from Gwalior (350km). On the highway the frenetic circulation of cars and trucks is interrupted, replaced by these determined marchers. The highway becomes a site for claiming the right to life of those who are never allowed access to it : all daily activities – walking, eating, drinking, washing and sleeping – take place at the side of the road. In the towns marchers are welcomed with flowers and cheers. Even though the marchers are Indian they are “strangers” coming from the other side of India who don’t speak the same tongue, as well as dalits and outcasts. The status of marcher erases language barriers and social casts and allows for full citizen and republican expression. The populaces’ welcome and support weighed without a doubt on the political impact of the march. October 28 the marchers enter the capital. The next day, barred access to Parliament by police troops and restricted to an area without water or shade, with a temperature higher than 40°, the marchers chant “Jail or Land”. The plan was to enter Parliament the following day, observing a sit-in and hunger strike until their demands were given consideration. Won over by the determination and number of participants and additionally incited by international media presence, the Minister of Rural Development signed with Rajagopal P.V. a political decree announcing the establishment of a National Land Commission. Victory for the marchers! They then kicked off the long march back with first a celebration to fete their triumph over opposing government forces.

The international movements weighed in favour of the landless in their power struggle with the government

More than 250 activists from 12 different countries equally took part in the march, some independently, others as representatives of various human rights organizations. After more than 2 years of rallying in France, 5 activists from Frères des Hommes joined the marchers to share the hopes and enthusiasm of their group, distinctly apparent in the famous footprints banners – symbols of solidarity. These banners were carried high by the marchers and displayed at the meetings organised along the way. From the other end of the world they offered courage, strength and support to the landless. These Frères des Hommes activists were also on site to describe their engagement and experiences to the France 3 national team for their 19 o’clock news brief. The French public was later invited to discover the daily life and struggles of the marchers in the movie “La marche des gueux”, directed by François Verlet and Louis Campana. Two direct reports on Janadesh were transmitted by TF1 on their 8 o’clock news and many local newspapers detailed the story, including a two-page spread in “Liberation”. This media relay, organized by Frères des Hommes, Peuples Solidaires and the peasant Confederation, allowed a global echo which largely reinforced the positive impact on the government. The presence of foreign cameras and newspapers , as well as activists from other ends of the world, pushed authorities, anxious of maintaining a positive image internationally of a democratic country, to propose a satisfactory remedial plan without using violence.

Janadesh,a first step towards positive change for the landless farmers.
As of January 1 2008, as asked for by the marchers, a national Land Commission has been established. Delegated members of Ekta Parishad are seated next to ministerial delegates. In a few months, work provided by this Commission with the committee for agricultural reform has already resulted in significant amendments in legislations, notably the guiding reimbursement principle of “land for land” for evicted families, in place of an unsystematic and often pitiful monetary compensation. Beginning of the year 2008, a law founding the rights of the tribes on their lands, essentially forest lands held by ancestors, came into effect: a considerable advance with 80 million people affected. Another positive return of this march are the 7000 land disputes opened and treated with haste throughout all the Indian states. 2008 saw the birth of these first reforms, concrete results of Janadesh. Frères des Hommes stays closely connected to Ekta Parishad and the landless Indians, accompanying them in these changes and ensuring their continuity. Janadesh is not over but only just beginning.