Government Plan to Remove Encroachments Forces Squatters and Landless Residents into Protests
The government’s initiative to update land records and remove encroachments on public land across 17 local units in Siraha has compelled squatters and landless communities to launch protests. Currently, 9,852 landless Dalit, squatter, and unorganized settlement families in Siraha live in temporary accommodations. The Land Rights Forum Siraha has condemned the eviction of settlements without securing safe housing as inhumane. April 13, Siraha.
Hari Saday, 56, from Dhangadhimai Municipality Ward No. 6, has earned his livelihood by laboring on others’ farms throughout his life to support his family. He stated, “Our ancestors have been squatters since forever. We worked day and night to raise our children. Now that I’m old, I don’t even have a plot of land registered in my name, even for my hut.” Along with Hari, other squatters have taken to protesting against the government’s decision.
In various squatter settlements in Siraha, one question dominates: “Where do we go now?” Sovereign Devi Saday from Golbazar Municipality Ward No. 3 said, “I live in constant fear of suddenly becoming homeless and cannot sleep.” Bhim Bahadur Damai from Mirchaiya Municipality Ward No. 6 added, “We Dalits have always been treated as vote banks. We had some hope when the leaders in government apologized to our community, but now they are destroying the homes of the poor again.”
Landless residents of Siraha are enraged by the government’s latest decision and the bulldozing of squatter settlements in different parts of the country. During a protest held on Monday in Dhangadhimai, participants openly expressed their pain and dissatisfaction. According to them, this movement is not out of desire but necessity. Ramsougar Devi Saday stated, “We had no desire to come out on the streets. We sustain our families through daily wage labor. We voted hoping for change, but now they threaten to destroy our homes!”
The Siraha District Administration Office’s decision issued on April 7 has heightened concerns among the landless, squatter, and unorganized settlement communities. The directive calls for updating records on public and government land in all 17 local units, preparing a plan to remove encroachments, and identifying genuine squatters for proper management processes. However, local squatters suspect that the ‘management’ plan aims to displace them. According to Samasti Lal Ale, president of the Land Rights Forum Siraha, eviction efforts without providing viable alternatives have made protests inevitable.
Data from the Land Problem Resolution Commission for the fiscal year 2081/82 shows that Siraha alone has 3,815 landless Dalit families, 2,663 landless squatter families, and 3,374 unorganized settlement families. In total, 9,852 families currently live temporarily along rural roadsides, on allotted land, forest areas, and private land owned by landlords. Government warnings to remove settlements on encroached and allotted land have left these communities living in constant fear.