A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India

by Josy Joseph

The Commission pointed out that historically the Bhoodan movement had suffered from many frauds perpetrated by greedy landowners. Of all such cases, in Bihar, that of Hathua Raj, a large zamindari in Saran district, is legendary. Through a simple letter, the head of this family offered to donate 1,00,000 acres of land to the Bhoodan movement. It was meant to avoid pressure from the Gandhian leader and escape the land-ceiling restrictions that had come into being as a result of the movement. The Saran district authorities notified it through a gazette notification saying that by April 1959 there were 1,03,903 acres of land available for the poor in the district. The Commission said Hathua Raj had committed a ‘trick of colossal proportions’. ‘A question arises as to what is to be done about such unconfirmed lands,’ it said.