But with nothing appearing to happen, the tribals regrouped and went into the land again, building little huts and vowing to start farming from next week. A day later, the CPM began deploying its ranks to the area, tearing down the tribal huts and putting up their own, erecting fences and planting party flags all over the grabbed land.

While the CPM state leadership, which is busy at its party state secretariat meet, has yet to either disown or endorse this land grab, local CPM leaders allege that the tribals were being used as a front by “foreign-funded NGOs” to grab government land for themselves, and have vowed to bring in its own “landless tribals” there.

This is despite the fact that many of the agitating tribals are carrying three-year-old government land titles issued to them. Though the CPM is leading from the front in driving them out, local sources say other political parties too are in the background.

“They are trying to create another Nandigram here,” alleges AICC secretary Kodikkunnil Suresh. Both Suresh and Opposition leader Oommen Chandy today alleged that the CPM was doing this for the powerful land mafia in Munnar.

The CPI too expressed its displeasure. A fuming Rajendran today said that all encroachers on government land, irrespective of who, will be thrown out. Rajendran conceded that the tribals had encroached on government land only because they were not given their promised land. “They were given only pieces of paper making them land owners, but not a morsel was actually given to them. We will immediately correct that,” he said.