Author: Mahesh Mhatre
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 2, 2006
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/7711.html
Introduction: Meet the Vidarbha farmer who
borrowed Rs 40,000 from Cong MLA's money-lender family in June 2002. He's
repaid Rs 1.75 lakh but they still want more…. And the Chief Minister
doesn't want any action
"I know MLA (Sananda) has money power
and muscle too. But I don't care. I know he can kill me and my family because
I know his track record. He has forced so many farmers into suicide... Sometimes,
I also feel like that. But I thought since I am educated, I should fight him."
That's Rajendra Shankarrao Kavadkar, 52-year-old
farmer, who dared to get on the wrong side of the region's most powerful moneylender,
Congress MLA Dilp Sananda, when he approached the local Money-Lending Prevention
Committee to file an FIR against him and his family for robbery, kidnapping,
and trespassing.
Chinchpur is just 200 km from Yavatmal where
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled his first package for debt-ridden farmers
of Vidarbha today.
As first reported in The Indian Express on
June 30, so high is the Sanandas' reach that no less than Chief Minister Vilasrao
Deshmukh came out in support of them, even though police records show over
40 cases registered against them for illegal money-lending, land-grabbing
to kidnapping, manhandling to torture.
The Indian Express tracked Kavadkar to his
home at Chinchpur, a tiny village of 4,000 people close to Khamgaon, home
of the Sanandas, where the approach road can only be accessed by bullock-cart.
Khavadkar said that in June 2002, when he
needed money for his farm, he borrowed Rs 40,000 from Gokulchand Sananda,
the MLA's father, at an interest rate of 48 per cent per annum.
''Up to March 3, 2003, I had paid Rs 95,000
to the Sanandas. But Sananda and his men continued to demand money. On February
27, 2004, Sananda's agents reached my home, threatened me and forcibly took
Rs 80,000,'' alleged Khavadkar in his police
complaint.
According to the complaint, the terror didn't
stop there. ''They are still harassing me for money...I am fed up with this
torture. I have returned much more than what I borrowed. I have handwritten
receipts. I need protection.''
But the very next day after the FIR was filed,
the CMO intervened. First, his secretary called up the police station asking
them not to take action against the MLA and his family. Then on June 1, Vilasrao
Deshmukh called a meeting of the Buldhana district collector Ganesh Thakur
and Assistant Police Inspector Ganesh Ane in Mumbai to tick them off for ''registering
cases without proper investigation.''
While MLA Sananda admits he is close to the
chief minister, he claims he is being targeted by the Opposition and local
police.
But the committee, comprising tehsildar U
B Rathod, Assistant Registrar of Cooperation and Ane, has clearly stated in
its FIR that Gokulchand Sananda and his associates are involved in the illegal
business (of money-lending).'''When the Sanandas came to know of my complaint
and realised the police was going to arrest their father, they started using
pressure tactics. I cannot tell you what they did, but believe me it was a
horrible experience,'' Khavadkar told The Sunday Express.
But Khavadkar, father of a software developer
son and two daughters who study in Pune, is firm on his stand. He gathers
courage from his belief in education- ''only education can help farmers to
come out of poverty''- and his 75-year-old mother Durgabai who told him: ''Shambhar
varshe kutryapramane lachar jivan jagnyapeksha char divas vaghasarkhe jagane
bare (It is better to live like a tiger for a few days than spend a life of
hundred years in slavery).''
But Durgabai doesn't hesitate to admit she
is scared. ''Sanandas are famous for their torture. That's why I was shocked
when I heard about Rajendra's complaint. But I believe in God, he will take
care of us.''
mahesh.mhatre@expressindia.com
