Parties protest against eviction in Manjolai-Megamalai

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“Land acquisition remains a persistent historical struggle for the Tamil community,” stated Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seeman.

Addressing a demonstration organised on Saturday by the South India Forward Bloc against the eviction of residents from Megamalai-Manjolai, he asserted that major infrastructure initiatives—ranging from dam projects and the eight-lane highway to Parandur and various SIPCOT ventures—consistently turn local populations into victims of development.

“People tend to remain indifferent until the crisis hits home,” he remarked.

Highlighting that losing one’s ancestral land is the deepest sorrow, he questioned how employers who brought labourers to Megamalai in 1910 could evade accountability.

If the administration labels these families as encroachers today, he asked, what accounts for the century of life they established there?

Pointing out that the State declared the region forest land, Mr. Seeman questioned why residents were not relocated back then.

“While governments devise strategies to safeguard forests and wildlife, what becomes of the hundreds of thousands whose livelihoods depend on this soil?,” he asked.

Echoing these concerns, AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran noted that the Megamalai region, encompassing over 98 villages, had long flourished under the AIADMK governance of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.

“Though originally an outsider, I share a deep bond with the people of Theni through my past contest from the Periyakulam Lok Sabha constituency,” he shared.

Mr. Dhinakaran said he struggled to face the constituents after eviction notices forced families out of their homes.

Noting that over 90 % of the nearly one lakh residents belong to marginalised communities, he urged the Tamil Nadu government to take immediate steps to halt the process and restore the land to its rightful owners.

Recalling his party’s struggle, Puthiya Tamilagam founder K. Krishnasamy noted that a protest organised by them in 1998 for the Manjolai residents tragically claimed 17 lives, including a one-year-old child.

He stated that their primary demand at the time was securing 2.5 acres of land for the residents prior to any eviction. Though those appeals went unheeded, he emphasised that their fight for the people had never stopped.