Tested by mud and water, in Bundelkhand

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Villagers from Panna district’s Ajaygarh subdivision carry out a Jal Satyagraha in Banheri Kalan village to demand fair compensation and rehabilitation for their displacement due to the Majhgaon irrigation project on October 6, 2026 | Photo Credit: Faruqui A.M.

Around noon, on October 6, a group of women and men gather under an old banyan tree next to a water catchment area in Banhari Kalan village of Madhya Pradesh’s Panna district. After a brief meeting, they pick up their green and yellow flags and handmade posters on cardboard. The women enter the water, while the men begin sloganeering on the shore.

Some elderly women lie on symbolic pyres in the water, and others stand with loose nooses around their necks, while a man is strapped to a cross. The chanting begins with slogans like “ Nyaay do ya maar do (Give us justice or kill us); Ladenge aur jeetenge (We will fight and win);” and “ Hum apna adhikar maangte, nahi kisi se bheekh maangte (We demand our right, not alms from anyone).” The methods of protest are chita andolan (pyre agitation) and jal satyagraha (water resistance). This has become part of people’s routines here.

They gather at the spot twice a day to keep a protest alive, while carrying on with their daily lives. The protest was launched on September 11 against a dam being built under the Majhgaon Medium Irrigation Project of the Madhya Pradesh government. This will displace 1,450 families in four villages out of eight in the Ajaygarh sub-division. The project requires 1,552 hectares of land across eight villages, of which 988 hectares are privately owned. This land has been acquired by the Madhya Pradesh government.

Villagers, mostly tribals, have demands involving fair compensation and rehabilitation. The project will cost ₹693 crore. The protestors allege irregularities, inconsistencies, and delays in the compensation process, despite the land acquisition having begun in 2018. The project will benefit 43 villages, irrigate 8,370 hectares of land, and help with drinking water in the area, according to government documents.

Closing in on a month, the movement currently survives without its leaders, Amit Bhatnagar and Divya Ahirwar of the Jai Kisan Sangathan, a farmer-led movement. While Ahirwar is currently lodged in Panna district jail, Bhatnagar has been granted bail but has been sent to neighbouring Rewa for treatment following a seven-day hunger strike.

The current protest is an extension of a movement on for over eight months in the poverty-stricken Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, primarily in Chhatarpur and Panna districts.