| Rajagopal P. V. | |
|---|---|
Rajagopal P. V., October 2007 |
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| Born | Rajagopal P. V. 1948 Thillenkery, Kerala, India |
| Residence | Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India |
| Occupation | Activist, president of Ekta Parishad |
Rajagopal P. V., a Gandhian activist, is Vice Chairman of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi,[1] and the president and founding member of Ekta Parishad,[2] a grassroots right-based organization which organized the massive non-violent landless march Janadesh 2007.[3]
Rajagopal grew up in Kerala, a state in southwestern India and then pursued agricultural studies at Seva Gram. In the early 70s he worked in the violence-ridden area of Chambal in Madhya Pradesh to help rehabilitate dacoits.[4]
Rajagopal decided to use only his first name in order not to be associated with a caste.
In the years that followed, Rajagopal travelled to several tribal areas and developed an understanding of plight and needs of India's tribal people. Their cause became part of his lifetime mission. After setting up a number of training organizations across Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa, the subsequent mobilization led to the consolidation of a people's organization, namely, Ekta Parishad in 1991. This organization is focused on people's control over livelihood resources in an environment where land is being grabbed, and where forest rights are not being implemented. This is making the Gandhian vision of the advancement of self-reliant communities and local governance, more challenging.
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After consolidating a membership of 200,000 people (majority women) across six states, Rajagopal began using the Gandhian technique of foot-march or padayatra to galvanize greater support among the poor. With a track record of 10 state level foot-marches, he led a national march to Delhi in October 2007. In the march, Janadesh 2007 25,000 people marched 340 kilometers from Gwalior to Delhi and compelled the Government to take action and land reforms and forest rights. The campaign had three main demands: The campaign has three specific demands around land reform. These were:
After the marchers were locked up for a day in the Ram Lila grounds, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Rural Development Minister agreed to all the demands and set up a National Land Commission chaired by the Prime Minister on which Rajagopal was also given a seat.
Though the Land Reform Commission has issued its report, the government has not yet accepted it. Rajagopal is therefore organizing yet another, still larger march, Jansatyagraha 2012 which will involving 100,000 persons. The planning and carrying-out of the footmarch will be done by 6’000 leaders across 25 states.
In the context of the continuing growth of Naxalism in Central rural India, Rajagopal's organization of Ekta Parishad with its mobilization of tribal peoples, women and youth as well as its advocacy of Land Reform, is one of the most successful nonviolent alternatives. While identifying the ongoing structural violence involved in industrial and government supported land grabs, Rajagopal has stood firmly by nonviolent action as the instrument of social change. By advocating social change through mass mobilization, he continues to make use of and enhance the democratic space of India, arguing, that "between violence and silence, there is another alternative, nonviolence".[5]
Several films have been made of Rajagopal's work and the effort to establish and international solidarity of the poor around land reform issues: 1. Hans-Jurg Pfaff, Nonviolent Action. Der lange Weg zum eigenen Stuck Land. Pro Dok Indien 2008. DVD. 33 minutes. (German, English, French). 2. Louis Campana and Francois Verlet, La Marche des Gueux, 2008. (French and English). 3. Kuldeep Tiwari, Janadesh 2007 (Hindi.) 49 Min. Also Available on Vimeo 4. Vikram Nayak, Subki Apni Zameen Ho, (Let people get their own land) 23 min. 5. Raja’s Reise (Raja’s Journey), Karl Sauer (2007). 6. Saugues, S. (2008) “Janadesh 2007 – For a fistful of land” – Sauges Enterprise, France.