FOR LAND, AND IDENTITY

No strident raising of slogans, no loud banners castigating political opponents, no mainstream media following the marchers.

- Romita Datta

Yet the padayatra of around 4,000 tribals from the Oraon, Kisan and Kharia communities, comprising mostly women, kicked up a dust storm as they winded their way through the quiet and picturesque villages of Odisha's Sundargarh district.

The padayatra covered 80 km to reach the district collector's office in Sundargarh. It's their latest, desperate protest against the Odisha government's planned acquisition of 2,150 acres of agricultural land across five gram panchayats in Sundargarh district's Kutra and Rajgangpur blocks for the expansion of a limestone mining unit of Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited (DCBL). At stake is the looming loss of livelihood, as well as the threat of eviction of thousands of adivasis. In all, 57 villages and nearly 60,000 people might be affected.