TEAM HERALD
BICHOLIM: Tense moments prevailed at Maulinguem-Bicholim on Wednesday when about 200 villagers gathered near the house of a landlord demanding a solution to their pending land issue.
The villagers got enraged after they found that the landlord was trying to sideline some villagers and taking only a few into confidence.
Villagers had claimed that during an earlier discussion, the landlord had assured to resolve the issue and give the villagers the ownership rights.
As the villagers learnt that the landlord, who usually stays at Kolhapur, is in the village, they decided to confront him. About 200 villagers including women gathered in front of his house demanding justice.
It may be recalled that most of the land in Maulinguem is under Mokashe rule, where most of the land is owned by an individual. The villagers, almost for all the issues regarding the land, need to take permission and NOC from the landlord.
“It’s surprising that we are staying here since many generations, but we are still not free and have to take permission from the landlord for everything. The earlier landlord died, but now a new one has taken his place who calls himself the heir from Kolhapur,” a resident claimed.
“The landlord is trying to divide and rule, where he calls only a few villagers and farmers from Maulinguem and assures them that only their issues will be solved. When we realised this, we confronted him,” said the resident.
A large police force was present in the village to avoid any untoward incident. Later in the evening, the villagers were pacified after the landlord assured that he will resolve the issue on Sunday after a meeting with the villagers.
“We are given the assurance that the issue regarding our land will be solved on Sunday and even police were witness to the incident. Based on the assurance of the police and landlord, we withdrew our agitation. But if we are not given justice, we will continue with our agitation,” warned a resident.
