ADIVASI OPPRESSION IN MAHARASHTRA 55 A fortnight passed since these demonstrations were held, when the forest cultivators of Pankheda in Sakri taluka were attacked by a posse of SRP and forest guards who went to Vanjarkudi to uproot the Nagll seeding plots. The SRP and forest guards of the area and the armed constabulary from Dhulia were massed at Pimpalner (3 miles from Pankheda) and waves of attacks were launched daily from July 11 on the villages of Vanjarkudi, Chinchpada, Vaki, Kalikhet and Bodhra. The villagers took refuge in the forest and stayed there in pouring rain. The villages became deserted and lifeless. Satyagraha Struggle for Land It is in this background that the five leaders of the Maharashtra State Sangharsha Samiti, S YKolhatkar (Communist Party of India Marxist), Pannalal Surarana (Socialist Party), N D Patil M L A (Peasants and Workers Party) Datta Deshmukh (Red Flag Party) and S N Bhalerao (Right Communist Party), toured the areas from July 17 to 20. Addressing the big public meeting of the forest cultivators of the taluka at Sakri the leaders assured them of the support of the common people of Maharashtra. On July 18, a batch of 326 (104 of them women) landless Adivasis and Sahus led by Dongar Bagul and Funabai Thakre offered satyagraha before the Sakri tehsil Office by breaking Section 144. They were sentenced to 15 days' rigorous imprisonment. A batch of 134 (45 women) landless Adivasis led by Ramsingh Gavit, Najubai Gavit and Savitribai Vasave offered satyagraha before the Nawapur tehsil office on July 19. They were sentenced to 20 days, R. I. Led by the Shramik Sanghatana, 1599 men and 285 women participated in the satyagrahas in Shahada, Taloda and Nandurbar talukas on July 20 and 21. In all 2344 (434 women) landless Adivasis and Sahus took part in this unprecedented civil disobedience movement, out of which 957 satyagrahis (282 women) underwent sentences ranging from 15 days, to 1 month's R I. Against the Biggest and Worst Landlord Twentyeight per cent of the cultivated land is owned by 5.5 per cent of the landholders of Maharashtra. These are the private landlords. But the biggest landlord of all, the Maharashtra government, owns 79 lakh hectares of forest and uncultivable land plus 45 lakh hectares of cultivable land, the grand total being 124 lakh hectares (310 lakh acres). According to the estimate made by S M Joshi after careful on-the-spot investigations, the land lost by the Adivasis to the Sahus in Shahada taluka alone must be not less than 10,000 acres. The government is reluctant to take over this land inspite of its recent ordinance (No. 13 of 1974) followed by statutory legislation, while it is bent on removing the 'encroachment5 over 10,800 acres of forest wasteland! The subjection of protected or unprotected tenants to their private landlords is limited to the payment of land rent. But the tenants of the