A farmer named Arul, who was arrested under the Goondas Act for protesting against the expansion of Melma SIPCOT in Thiruvannamalai, has had the Goondas Act repealed by the Tamil Nadu government.
The Tamil Nadu government took steps to expand the third phase of SIPCOT in the Anakkavoor union adjacent to the Seyyaru in Thiruvannamalai district a few days ago. For this purpose, it was planned to acquire 3,174 acres of agricultural land from 11 villages including Melma, Kurumboor, Kattukudisai, Narmabalam, Nedungal, Thethurai, Vadu Aalaya Piranthan, Ilanji Kundram, Aathi, Manippuram and Veerampaakam.
According to the government, this land is said to be fallow. However, crops such as paddy, maize, sugarcane, millet, and flowers are cultivated and harvested here. The flowers for the northern states including Vellore, Tirupathur, Ranipet, Arakkonam, and Tiruvallur come from Thiruvannamalai district only.
The people of Thiruvannamalai have been protesting against the expansion plan of ‘Melma SIPCOT’, saying that this is not fallow land as the government says, but agricultural land. They also launched a 72-day continuous wait-and-watch protest in connection with this. However, no response was received from the government side. However, the farmers continued to protest.
On the 126th day, on November 4th, when they staged a rally, 20 people were arrested for breaking the bus window. Among them, Arul, Pachaiappan, Masilaamani, Devanathan, Bhagyaraj, Cholan, and Vijayan have been slapped with the Goondas Act on the orders of the district collector.
This has caused strong opposition. Various political parties also registered their protest against this. The coalition parties of the DMK also opposed this action. In this context, the Tamil Nadu government has announced that the Goondas Act against farmer Arul has been repealed.