Land contract disputes have always been a "heart disease" in rural society. Recently, another land dispute incident occurred in Kailu County, Inner Mongolia, which attracted attention: some villagers contracted more than 5,000 acres of land, which had been transformed into fertile land after 20 years of hard work, but at the time of spring ploughing, the village cadres came forward to block it and demanded to pay a high "water and land fee", otherwise it was not allowed to cultivate the land.
The cause of the incident can be traced back to 2004. That year, the village signed a 30-year land contract with the villagers, and more than 5,000 acres of saline-alkali land were contracted to the villagers. In the following 20 years, relying on the hard work of the villagers, this original "wasteland" was finally gradually transformed into fertile and fertile land, and gradually became better.
However, just when the villagers were preparing to reclaim the contracted land for spring ploughing, the village suddenly released a "fierce material": it was required to charge an additional 200 yuan per mu of land for "watering fees", and 5,000 mu of land was a total of 1 million yuan. If they refuse to pay, spring ploughing will not be allowed, and continued cultivation will be regarded as "forcible occupation of land and grabbing of land".
In order to prevent the villagers from entering the land to cultivate, the village is even more rogue, sending more than 300 people to guard the field in shifts 24 hours a day, no matter how the villagers fight, it will be useless. When interviewed about why the levy was so costly, the village secretary bluntly responded that "I don't understand the law", "the contract will be terminated for you", and "I don't agree with your business".
This incident has sparked heated discussions on the Internet since it was exposed. Many netizens believe that this is obviously "digging a pit first and then luring in", waiting for the villagers to renovate the land and then unreasonably take it back, and the behavior is a hundred times worse than that of robbers. Some have also questioned whether the village committee was greedy because the rent price was too low 20 years ago.
In fact, it is clear that it is a violation of the relevant law to circumvent the rationality of the law and prevent villagers from engaging in legitimate farming activities at a heavy cost. What is particularly sad is that the villagers have spent 20 years of hard work in exchange for this fertile soil, and when they were about to be triumphant, they encountered this sudden obstruction.
In rural areas, land is undoubtedly the lifeblood. Once this happens, it will be difficult for the villagers to go to the fields to cultivate with psychological peace of mind, and their enthusiasm for production will be greatly reduced. For the vast number of peasants, they are unable to display their skills even on the land on which they depend for their livelihoods, so what quality of life can they have? From this point of view, the dispute not only harmed the vital interests of the villagers, but also infringed on their basic right to pursue a happy life.
Obviously, in this incident, the village committee was seriously derelict in its duties and went back on its word and violated its original contractual commitments. As a grassroots mass autonomous organization, it is supposed to represent the interests of villagers, not become a "powerful person" who deprives others of their rights. The incident once again reflects a series of problems, such as the lag in the construction of rural democracy and rule of law, the weak awareness of the legal system of grassroots organizations, and the lack of supervision of public power.
The most urgent task at the moment is, first of all, the relevant departments should immediately intervene, quickly and properly resolve the dispute in accordance with the law, and restore the villagers a spring ploughing peace. If the village committee has violated the law, the relevant responsible person should be held responsible. It is also necessary to start from the perspective of systems and mechanisms, strengthen democratic supervision and education in the legal system at the grassroots level, and raise the building of democracy and rule of law in rural areas to a new level.
Only by acting in strict accordance with the law and respecting the will of the people and the wisdom of the people can village-level organizations not deviate from the track of the rule of law. When farmers truly realize that "protecting and obeying laws and rules is a pragmatic move", the quality of production and quality of life can continue to improve. Truly making the rule of law an inexhaustible driving force for rural development is the only way for us to modernize.