Kolis and East Indians come together under AKEI umbrella to push for community related issues

Indigenous people’s group seeks to unite under one banner; push for cultural preservation and political representation for sons of the soil

It is all for one as Agris, Kolis and East Indians have come together under the AKEI umbrella to push for their voices to be heard, and specific community related issues to be brought to the forefront.

United

Bryce Rodricks, Andheri Taluka sarpanch said, “AKEI in the local dialect means united voices or together as one. It is perfect as AKEI the acronym, also represents the three groups who are the bhoomiputras or sons of the soil. This has been initiated by the Mobai Gaothan Panchayats across the city.”

Rodricks claimed a big part of AKEI which is still in the nascent stage, with different aims being mapped out, is political representation at different levels of the government, from grassroots to the very top. “Political parties have not thought about us,” claimed Rodricks. When asked to specify why the communities feel neglected, he stated, “Our demands for land for a cultural bhavan for instance have gone unheeded. Recently, there have been closures of fish markets, hitting the Koli community. We want these issues to be taken up by politicians and leaders. If they are not, then we have to enter the political stream ourselves and see that these are just some of the problems that are addressed. One of the aims of AKEI is just that.”

Representatives feel that a key issue here is “a lot of East Indian farm land has been taken away years ago by the government. For instance, we were told that land near the current airport was needed to build a defence/military airport more than 60 years ago, or roundabout. It was taken with hardly any compensation - peanuts, or no compensation at all from the sons of the soil. Today, a private airport stands there, no military airport. Our lands were taken away on different pretexts,” they claimed.

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Demarcation

Sagar Patil, president, Thane Gaothan Pade Koliwada Savardhan Samiti said, “When we do have political representation, we witness voices are weak. For instance, we have 40 corporators from our communities in Thane city. Yet, some time ago, it was not the corporators, but people power that stopped a proposed cluster development project, where people from our villages were to be rehabilitated into buildings. In this project, we, some who live in 1,000 sq feet homes right now, were being given 323 sq feet in the cluster development to be moved into a building. Modernization and moving with the times are all very well, but who will shift to such a small home, even if it means living in a building? That is unfair. Our corporators remained silent at that time, this is also one of the reasons AKEI has been formed, to give more muscle to our communities in the political landscape.”

Kolis protest demolition of fish markets, like the one at Crawford Market, recently

Housing is a hot button topic for these communities with many living in ‘villages’ with sprawling homes, but with infrastructural problems that dog old dwellings in the city. A big sticking point is being tagged along with ‘slums’ in different proposed projects. There are cries for demarcation or having a boundary for original gaothans so that blurred lines (several hutments spring up on the periphery of these villages) become sharply defined and there is a proper marked physical demarcation between the two, which have gone unheeded.

Heritage

Activists also form part of AKEI, and Neil Pereira from Pali village Bandra claimed, “There have been meetings upon meetings and placatory 'yes, yes, yes' from representatives, to numerous delegations from this community, but no movement on any demand. One is that certain ‘villages’ were demanding a heritage tag with lovely old bungalows and homes, which need to be preserved. They can have Special Development Rules. As usual, a number of meetings saw conciliatory noises but no action. 

Instead, we witness permissions for high-rise buildings around these villages, cutting off access roads and even resulting in no sunlight to certain homes on the lower floors.” “We need answers and action on many of these issues and AKEI we hope, will develop into a platform from where we can resolve pending problems,” he finished giving a window into the mood of the moment, sons of the soil on the boil.

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