Farmers in Rajasthan sit in mud pits to protest forceful land acquisition

Since they received no response of sit-in, they holed up 40 pits and a few trenches

Since October 2, 2017, more than 50 farmers in Jaipur, in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan, have launched an innovative protest, taking turns to sit in pits buried up to their waist in mud.

The protesters accuse the state government of forcibly acquiring their land, after providing them inadequate compensation. They want the current acquisition to be stopped, a fresh survey conducted and the compensation and acquisition be set as per the new Land Acquisition Act 2013 promulgated on 01 January 2014.

Before undertaking the current “dirty” protest, which they call the “