Farmers in Bago Region have burnt three coffins in a symbolic protest against the alleged seizure of their land by the Tatmadaw, farmers’ welfare activist Ko Thant Zin told Mizzima on April 22.
The farmers, from AungGon Village in Thegon Township, burnt the coffins in a cemetery near the village at about 2pm on April 22, Ko Thant Zin said.
“One coffin represented the local Light Infantry Battalion, one represented those occupying and working the land and the one representedthe Farmland Investigation Commission,” he said.
Ko Thant Zin said the farmers are claiming that about 1,160 acres was seized by the military in 2001 and was being used as fishponds by a businessman under the name of the No. 3 Wholesale Co-operative.
He said the farmers had resorted to the symbolic protest out of frustration that their complaints to the Farmland Investigation Commission over the alleged land grab had failed to resolve the dispute.
The Farmland Investigation Commission reported 745 cases of ‘land grabbing’ to parliament and they have been referred to the Land Use Management Committee for adjudication.
Some media sources have reported that more than 6,000 land grab complaints were submitted to the commission.
