SANGUEM: In an unprecedented move, the farmers agitating against the IIT proposed on their agricultural lands in Sanguem’s Cotarli village on Tuesday descended upon Sanguem town and waved black flags at Sanguem MLA and Minister for Social Welfare Subhash Phaldessai while he was leaving the Sanguem Municipal Council building after attending the council meeting.

Over 50 protesters, mostly women armed with black flags, suddenly turned up at the busy area and started shouting anti-IIT slogans. They went on to raise slogans against the MLA for ignoring their pleas and destroying their cultivated plantations.

They went on to accuse Phaldessai of being greedy for power and money and threatened to ramp up their protests if he goes ahead with the IIT project. “This land and the mountain on it belong to the farming class and the government has no right or claim on it to build the IIT project. There are many barren lands elsewhere, even in Sanguem itself, which could be easily used for setting up the IIT project,” said one of the elderly protesters.

The women also called Phaldessai a liar and berated him for lying to them during his election campaigns in the area. “We will not allow the government to usurp our lands in the name of development. We have held and farmed this land for several generations, and will not give them up for as long as we live,” said the farmers.