Chengara struggle

The Chengara struggle refers to an ongoing controversy about land near the Chengara village in the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India.

Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. is an agricultural business corporation with a history that goes back over 150 years. According to its own slogan it is: "India's most diversified agri-business". It is the largest producer of pineapples in India, the largest producer of tea in South India, and is the largest employer in the region. It is employing around 13’000 people in rural Kerala, more than 100’000 people are - according to the companies own information - dependent on the company for their livelihood.

Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. started its rubber production in the early 1900s. Today it is spread over 10 estates in Kerala. One of these 10 estates is the Kumbazha estate, situated in Chengara near Konni in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, which has been occupied by the Dalits and Adivasis.

Until 1984 the company was wholly foreign-owned by Harrisons & Crosfield (named Elementis plc. after 1998), UK’s largest specialty chemicals business. Since 1984 Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. is part of the RPG Enterprises, one of India’s largest business groups. It is important to note that in popular perception, however, Harrisons Malayalam Ltd. still remains a 'foreign' company.

The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are official designations given to various groups of historically disadvantaged people. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India’s population (according to the 2011 census). The Schedules Castes are known as Dalits (the lowest group in the caste hierarchy; “untouchables”) and Scheduled Tribes are known as Adivasi (“original inhabitants”, the indigenous communities). Dalits and Adivasis represent respectively 1,1% and 10% of Kerala’s population.

Through a longer stretch of history, Dalits have been the backbone of Kerala’s wetland rice cultivation. Initially they were slaves, after the year 1850 they became the attached laborers (following the ban on slave traffic), and finally in the 1940s they became “free” laborers (following the advance of caste-based social movements and communist trade union organization). But although they were integral to agrarian production, they were prevented from owning land in Kerala’s traditional caste society.

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