Muthanga activist says state crushed Adivasi movement

M. Geethanandan, the social activist sentenced to five years for attempting to murder a police officer during the 2003 Muthanga agitation, has said the eviction was a bid to crush the Adivasi movement. In an interview after being granted bail by the Kerala High Court, he alleged that the state mobilised the police to attack unarmed tribal protesters and that an NHRC-ordered independent inquiry never took place.

Geethanandan argued that the 23-year trial treated the agitation as a criminal case rather than a land rights struggle. He pointed to a 2001 agreement with the UDF government to provide land to landless Adivasis through a resettlement mission, which he said was not properly implemented, leading to the land occupation at Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary. Two people died in the ensuing violence: police constable K.V. Vinod and Adivasi community member Yogi.

The Kalpetta court acquitted all accused in the Vinod murder case last month but sentenced Geethanandan and three others for attempted murder of another officer. Geethanandan said political factors, including a Global Investors Meet, influenced the decision to evict the protesters. He maintained the protest involved no weapons and that the police used revolvers and rifles against them.