Andhra Pradesh: Tribal Women Stage 'Mock Suicide' Protest Over Cashew Crop Destruction

Tribal women of Urlova village in Andhra Pradesh’s Uravakonda town staged a 'mock suicide' protest on April 7. The women tied sarees around creating makeshift nooses around their necks and the other end of sarees to the branches, enacting an act of suicide, in their cashew plantations at V Madugula Mandal which is now under the Anakapalli district.

Reportedly, the women in a video from their protest were heard saying, "Death is the only option left if you don't listen to our pleas.” The women added, "If you do away with cashew gardens here, we have no option but to embrace death because our livelihood depends on them."

Andhra Pradesh women cashew crop protest

The tribals alleged that the representatives of a mining company, along with the support of the revenue officials, were destroying their cashew plantations which they have been raising for the past several years. The women also alleged that the land is being taken away from them forcibly and was allotted to the granite mining company.

The women were quoted saying, “We have not received any money from any granite company. Some people gave away our lands in exchange for money; we don’t have papers of land ownership. The government had allowed us to cultivate this land; however, they are now bringing trucks to flatten the crops.”

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The women also alleged that Madugula Mandal's revenue officer was allegedly levelling false accusations against the tribals saying these women were obstructing the mining company who is trying to build a road through their land. “We want the joint collector to conduct an inquiry,” the tribal women demanded.

The protest was reportedly led by E Narasimha Murthy, Girijan Sangham district general secretary, and K Bhavani of the Agriculture Workers Union. The tribals have planned to stage a protest at the Anakapalli Collectorate on April 11.

Tribal women from another hamlet in Andhara Pradesh had recently staged a protest recently to get the damaged road between Jogampeta and Ajaypuram repaired. The lack of connectivity to interior hamlets was affecting the lives of the tribal people residing in the agency areas of the Vishakhapatnam district. Many tribal hamlets there did have roads that were damaged because of the movement of trucks carrying granite stone mined in the nearby area.