The controversy over Amitabh Bachchan being allotted land in Uttar Pradesh by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government and then being denied of it because the court (surprise, surprise) found he was not a farmer is now assuming epidemic proportions. Media reports suggest that a host of other VIPs, including Aamir Khan, have been served notice in Maharashtra on more or less similar grounds.
Aamir was on every television channel last night making the same points that had presumably drummed into his head by his lawyers.
Namely, that he is a farmer, that his father and grandfather and great grandfather were farmers. That he had only recently bought the land, that he had not begun any cultivation. And that although he drew his income from acting, he was “by birth” an agriculturist, and that there was nothing to suggest that he might not go back to it after retiring from the silver screen.
All this back-pedalling is, of course, designed to prevent litigation of the Barabanki kind which felled Big B. But the point to ponder is whether it is such a crime for non-farming Indians to own farm land in their own country? Aren’t we all, if we go back sufficiently enough in our geneological tree, agriculturists “by birth”?
And which tahsildar won’t issue an RTC for a price to prove that we are?
At one level, the farm-land-for-farmers theory is bogus and based on the rapidly disappearing premise that asli farmers and agriculturists want to remain farmers and agriculturists “till death”. This, as the mounting suicides and the urbanisation figures of India show, is far from the truth.
Above all, there is a very obvious attempt by votebank politicians to muddy the waters. Somebody wants to buy, somebody wants to sell. So on what earthly ground can the State prevent either Bachchan or Aamir from buying some land? And who will be appeased by this? And for how long?
If the State can evolve laws that so easily deprive thousands of farmers of lakhs of acres of farm land to set up Special Economic Zones with food courts, amusement parks, and worse, what is to prevent an urban non-farmer from wanting to buy up what he thinks is or will be his rural idyll?
Surely, if Aamir Khan is a farmer, Vijay Mallya must be Choudhury Charan Singh.
I dont see anything wrong with Aamir or the like holding farming land unless they plan to build a resort or a hightech dabha on it. On the other hand as the farm land is diminishing, the govt should encourage those who are able to maintain it. Whether Aamir takes the plough or not is not an issue.
Who is not a farmer in our country? Everybody is whether or not they hold any lands.
Dont remember in where but read a cartoon yesterday which showed Amitabh pointing to Manmonhan Singh and saying ” I am a farmer just as much you are an Assam resident ”
That really sums it !
By the way, i dont find anything wrong in Amitabh or Aamir buying farm lands..esp Aamir who paid market price for land from a willing seller.
What do you say when several IT and other companies have taken away thousands of acres of farmlands for non farm purposes ? May be they dint fake as farmers but the farmers were deprived of the land neverthless.
land conversion is one aspect. but i think it is an artefact of the effort to tackle the spectre of jamindaari.
Wow! churumuri is talking of free markets in a positive way!
Heck! I am in the same position as Amir Khan!
Then by that logic, is HDK is a farmer? Is SM Krishna a farmer?
If Amir and Amitabh are mere farmers then I am a ‘Jameendhaara’
The legislation, I think, was to protect ‘food security’ of India and prevent land reform efforts from going down the drain.
AFAIK, even Nana Patekar has farm land that he actually grows fruits on. I dunno what Amitabh Bachchan wanted to grow in Barabanki.
I am a farmer. I do not have any farm land. If Bachan, Amir cannot have farm lands how about all our politicians who live in posh Delhi, including our Head of the hand!!
DG,
We know by now you are gowda number 1. Or is it haal oorige…
Just joking…
if they have got their papers ryt obviously yes they should be alloted land.
But the government should have some control over how much of land they are alloted as that will affect the farmers around the area.
dont u know amir was a farmer in “LAGAAN” and amitaab in “ADAALAT”