Who is Arul A, techie-turned-farmer charged under Goondas Act by TN govt?

On November 4, the Tamil Nadu police arrested 20 farmers from Melma and neighbouring villages in Tiruvannamalai district, who were protesting the land acquisition for the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT). Seven of the 20 farmers were then booked under the Goondas Act. After civil society groups and activists condemned the action, charges under the Goondas Act were revoked for all except one farmer - Arul Arumugam. The court granted bail to the other farmers on Monday, November 20, except for Arul. This has led to questioning why the state government is singling out and targeting Arul. .Minister for Public Works and Tiruvannamalai MLA EV Velu blamed Arul Arumugam for “instigating” farmers around Melma and Cheyyar to protest. The Minister alleged that Arul did not own any land in Tiruvannamalai district and that he hailed from the neighbouring Krishnagiri district. These were cited as the reasons for not dropping charges against Arul. However, Arul’s family and friends told TNM that the Minister’s claims are false.Who is Arul Arumugam?Arul hails from Krishnagiri district and was born in a family of land-owning farmers. He studied to become a Software Engineer and was previously an employee of Polaris and Infosys, Bengaluru. Arul is currently the chairman of Uzhavan Urimai Iyakkam, an organisation working for rights of farmers. Vinagayam, a farmer and a member of Uzhavan Urimai Iyakkam told TNM that Arul quit his job at Infosys, Bengaluru, around 2018 because of his love for agriculture. “He was always passionate about farming and hence, he returned to Krishnagiri district,” he said.Arul’s cousin Soundhar R said after his father’s death in 2009, Arul has been overseeing the cultivation on his patta lands. He returned to full-time farming in 2018. Soundhar said Arul has 10 acres of patta land in Chengam region of Tiruvannamalai and that the claims made by the minister are not correct. “He is a resident of Krishnagiri district but his patta land is in Tiruvannamalai,” he clarified.After Arul returned to Tamil Nadu in 2018, the government introduced the eight-lane expressway project for which they wanted to take over wetlands in Tiruvannamalai districts. Arul, like many other farmers whose lands risked acquisition by the state government, protested against it. “Since he was an educated farmer, many farmers in neighbouring districts had trust in him and protested by his side,” Vinayagam said. In 2018, Arul also founded the Ettu Vali Saalai Ethirpu Iyakkam (Movement against eight-lane expressway). He organised several protests across several districts of Tamil Nadu including in Chennai and neighbouring districts. After the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) issued a poll promise in 2021 to stop the eight-lane expressway project if they came to power, Arul campaigned for the party. However, the DMK government is yet to drop the project. “Minister EV Velu knew in 2021 that Arul was campaigning for the DMK and they used his influence over the farmers in that region to get elected. But now, when he started helping farmers in their protest against the DMK government for demanding wetlands for SIPCOT, they turned against him,” said Vinayagam.Arul’s involvement in SIPCOT protestsVinayagam said since Arul is the state Chairman for the Uzhavan Urimai Iyakkam, a registered organisation, farmers from the region who were affected by the SIPCOT project, sought his help. Arul aided them in submitting petitions to the government and in organising peaceful protests, farmers said. With his support, affected farmers from the region have been holding peaceful sit-in protests on their patta land, opposing the acquisition of 3,174 acres of wetlands for over 130 days. “Even if he wasn’t acting from his position of being the state Chairman of the outfit, there is no law which states that an individual cannot protest for a cause that isn’t directly affecting them,” Soundhar said. Chief Minister MK Stalin, in a press statement which announced revoking of provisions under the Goondas Act against six of the seven farmers on November 17, said that Arul has several cases registered against him. However, all FIRs against Arul, seen by TNM, were registered for protesting against the eight-lane expressway project between 2020 and 2021. “The CM’s statement was vague and it made it seem as though he deserved to be charged under the Goondas Act because he has cases registered against him. Arul is not an immoral traffic offender, nor a drug offender. He hasn’t committed any offence that has been stated under the Act to give him the tag of a ‘Goonda’. The only cases against him are for protesting for farmers’ livelihoods,” Vinayagam said, condemning the government for targeting Arul.