For Hindus all over the world, Deepavali, popularly known as ‘festival of lights', is a celebration of good over evil and light over darkness.

NONE But for fruit farmer Kamala Devi Abaroo, this year's festival which falls tomorrow, is overcast with shadows as she has just lost her ‘rice bowl' when her banana plantation was demolished by state authorities yesterday morning.

Just two days ahead of Deepavali, workers from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage had bulldozed their way into the area, levelling about 50 banana trees, without prior notice, said Kamala Devi.

The land happens to be reserved under the department, but would have been left unkempt for many years if not for her banana trees.

She lamented that she was not given ample time to find a solution for her livelihood when she has two young children to care for, while her husband, who helps her out in the farm, does not have a fixed income.

Having farmed the small area of land (less than an acre) situated next to the Seberang Jaya police station for 12 years, Kamala Devi felt as if she had lost her children when she found her trees strewn all over the land.

"I planted those trees, I took care of them, they are like my children, now I feel as if they have killed my children," she said in tears.

NONE Kamala Devi, 47, ( right in photo ) earns only about RM800 a month from selling fruits and banana leaves.

She has taken orders for banana leaves ahead of the Deepavali celebration and her customers are shocked and disappointed that she is not able to meet their demands.

She laid total blame on the Pakatan Rakyat government and zeroed in on Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy for her current woes.

She said she had met with Ramasamy, who is Batu Kawan MP, several times over the past year but he has yet to resolve her problems.

"It is all because of him that I am in this current bad situation now," she exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes.

She added that she was disappointed with him for ‘lying' to her when she went to his office to seek his help but was told that he had left for an overseas trip.

"I found out later that he was actually around; that he was in his office; he had lied to us," she told reporters who gathered at her plantation this morning.

Cruel action

Penang MIC Youth chief J Dhinakaran who accompanied Kamala Devi to the plantation condemned Pakatan for its ‘cruel action' in levelling the land just before the Deepavali celebrations.

He said had contacted the DID director Anuar Yahya about eight months ago and the latter assured him that the department will not interrupt Kamala Devi's activities on the land as long she kept it neat.

However, if the department needed the land for a project, it will issue prior notice to Kamala Devi who is willing to vacate the area, Annuar had told Dhinakaran.

NONE "We (MIC) have done things the proper way and followed procedures in handling this land issue; we wrote to the relevant departments; we met them and talked, but now we are shocked that without prior notice, state authorities have come to demolish the plantation,"  said Dhinakaran ( left in photo ).

"It's only a small piece of land, if it is not in used, why not let her have it. If there is a project coming up here, we can negotiate and ask her to leave; perhaps we can find her an alternative plantation; we are supposed to be helping small time farmers," he added.

"Besides the state government is promoting its campaign on a greener and cleaner Penang but all we see here is green being destroyed and wasted," he stressed, pointing to the flat land covered with flattened banana trees.

Dhinakaran urged the state to explain the "inhumane" incident yesterday, saying its action has "hurt the sensitivities" of the Indian community as it occurred just before Deepavali.

 Poor handling

He reminded the state about its previous poor handling of Kampung Buah Pala and Waterfall Cafe at the Botanical Gardens, where the two locations had attracted bad press due to demolishment exercises and eviction woes.

When contacted, Ramasamy said he had done his best to assist Kamala Devi in preserving her plantation by negotiating with the relevant parties such as the police and DID.

He said he was shocked to hear about the demolishment as he thought the matter had been resolved when he did not hear from Kamala Devi for several months.

"It is totally unfair to accuse me of not helping her as I am very aware of this issue and have personally contacted the relevant departments like the police and DID to resolve her problem, to ask them not to disturb her," he said.

"I will take up the issue in the next state exco meeting and will ask the DID why it had resorted to this action just before Deepavali.

"I will also try and see if I can help her get another piece of land so that she can continue with her livelihood," he added.