On 2 October, over 50000 landless peasants gathering from the state marches, met together in Gwalior, to start a foot march to Delhi to press home their demands.
After 8 days of marching a 10 point agreement was signed with the representatives of the Indian Government agreeing to most of the demands of the Marchers. This is an enormous achievement and the organisations of the landless peoples, forest dwellers, stone breakers and others involved, are to be congratulated for the strength and determination in organising this non-violent action and for achieving crucial commitments to address land reform. To know more see the press release below from Action Village India who have for a long time supported the work of Ekta Parishad.
Ekta Parishad is one of the partners, with EAPN, in Dignity International. Representatives from EAPN including activists with direct experience of poverty, will later this month meet with representatives from Ekta Parishad to share experiences, to draw strength from each other’s work and to draw inspiration in relation to non-violent direct action to defend the rights of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion. Dignity International will facilitate this meeting.
March for Justice 2012 Success – Government agrees to demands: http://www.actionvillageindia.org.uk/index.php?/news-events/partners-news/
Read also article on the New Internationalist Blog: http://www.newint.org/blog/2012/10/11/landless-march-victory/