Sometimes dragging oneself, sometimes doing Shirshasana… why is there no one to listen to the poor?

New Delhi: Two incidents have come to light from Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh, which raise serious questions on the justice system and governance priorities in the state. On one hand, a farmer reached the collector’s office doing Shirshasana to plead for justice, while on the other hand, a person wearing a garland of 1,000 complaints is doing Lotan to plead for justice. Both these incidents show how many difficulties the common man has to face to get justice. These incidents also raise the question whether doing Shirshasana or Lotan has now become the new means of demanding justice? In the last few days, the strange protest of two farmers in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh has drawn the attention of both the administration and the society. These incidents indicate to what extent the poor and farmers can go when they do not get justice.

The farmer arrived doing Shirshasana

In Neemuch district, a farmer Manaklal reached the collector’s office standing upside down to demand justice for his/her land. The case is of village Dadouli of Jawad tehsil, where Manaklal and 18 other farmers have not been able to cultivate their own land for the last 6 years. The farmers allege that the forest department has occupied their land and is preventing them from farming. Farmer Manaklal says that he/she appealed to the collector several times but there was no hearing, so he/she was forced to protest by standing upside down. Surprisingly, this is the second incident when a farmer in Neemuch has been forced to adopt a unique method in the hope of justice.

The collector immediately constituted an inquiry committee and assured to solve the problem within three days. But the question arises that why do the poor have to resort to such unusual measures to get justice?

A man reached the collector’s office wearing a garland of thousands of complaints around his/her neck

Last Tuesday, a farmer named Mukesh Prajapati from Kankaria Talai village of Neemuch district reached the collector’s office rolling around wearing a garland of thousands of complaints. his/her video also went viral on social media. Mukesh alleged that he/she has been complaining about a corruption case for the last 7 years but no one is listening to him/her. he/she said, ‘I have been demanding action against the corruption in Kankaria Talai village for the last 7 years. No one is listening to me. I was forced to reach the collector’s office rolling around wearing photo copies of all the complaint applications around my neck. The victim has more than a thousand complaint applications.’

After this unique demonstration by Mukesh, Collector Himanshu Chandra ordered an inquiry into the matter. However, in the inquiry, 21 out of 22 complaints by Mukesh were found to be false.