The following is the text of an open letter to the prime minister, written by Hannan Mollah, general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha on April 25, on agrarian distress, farm suicides and land bill.

THE countrywide joint struggle of the peasantry against the Land Acquisition Ordinance is the first largest political ordeal faced by the eleven month old National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. The entire parties in the opposition have been cooperating and taking up independent agitations over this issue based movement. The joint march to Rashtrapathi Bhawan highlighted the unity of opposition on the issue.

The following is the statement issued by the All India Kisan Sabha on March 25, 2015.THE All India Kisan Sabha condemns the callous attitude of the prime minister towards the massive wave of protests against the Land Acquisition Act Amendment Bill 2015 across the country. The prime minister through his ‘Mann Ki Baat’ sought to convey a distorted picture on the new amendments to the Land Acquisition Act by twisting facts. The prime minister in effect has misused the official media to spread lies and mislead the farmers.

THOUSANDS of farmers, agricultural workers, tribals, landless peasants and fishermen thronged the national capital to express their anger against the Modi government’s conspiracy to snatch their livelihood forever, by promulgating the ordinance amending the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act, 2013. They converged at Parliament Street demanding withdrawal of the ordinance at once. The capital city heard their battle cry against the black ordinance, to repeal the ordinance. The protestors were carrying flags of different colours - red, green, blue and white.

IT took nearly 24 hours from Bhubaneswar by rail and road to reach Nawarangpur district headquarters. The journey took eight hours more than required due to an extraordinary situation prevalent in this part of the world. The Maoists had found an innovative way of fighting American Imperialism-to blow up railway tracks that link these rich regions filled with poor people to the other parts of Odisha. The express train was literally being dragged to Damanjodi in Koraput district from where we were to proceed by road.