Peasants across the country are opposing development projects which displaced them from their land, habitat, livelihood and environment. They are questioning the paradigm of development itself which is so heavily loaded against them. The law on land acquisition is central to the understanding of this hostility to development. Their resistance is rooted in the conceptual frame and design of the land acquisition act which empowers the government to acquire land of citizens without their consent on payment of meagre financial compensation and creates no obligation to provide alternative land, assured employment and a dignified rehabilitation to rebuild their broken lives. The recent changes proposed by the government in the law to undo this injustice would fail to persuade the agitating peasants to part with their land willingly.
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