One of the major protests took place in Bengaluru when a farmer, Vishukumar, cut down a sandalwood tree in front of the Vidhana Soudha and shouted his anger on behalf of the government. The incident exposed the growing tension between farmers and authorities over land acquisition and a compensation package for sandalwood trees destroyed due to national highway construction.
The problem started with the introduction of the Tumakuru–Shivamogga National Highway project to cover a rural area in Heliyuru village in Chikkamagaluru district, including land acquisition. The project took over around 21 landowners. Roughly 300 meters were covered by close to 3,000 sandalwood trees. Farmers, including Vishukumar, had grown sandalwood for decades. But the government settled a compensation of just ₹420 per tree, farmers felt the rate was unfair. They insisted on an appropriate price and sought compensation from the court. As the case sat unresolved, officials cut down 30 sandalwood trees of Vishukumar, triggering fury, they said.
In retaliation, Vishukumar staged a protest before the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power in Karnataka. He felled a sandalwood tree near Kengal Gate, a sign of his rage and frustration. And his act was not merely about deforestation but also about the injustice of taking away the value of years of effort and plant labor. The protest attracted public and media scrutiny, as sandalwood is highly decorative and symbolic in Karnataka. The removal of a tree in front of the state’s legislative assembly was a bold action, attempting to spotlight the reality of farmers whose livelihoods are thrown into upheaval in the name of development.
The government had originally justified the tree cutting as "necessary for highway construction." Farmers claim that development cannot be given without taking unfair compensation. The incident has raised a debate of how to balance infrastructure build capacity growth with farmers’ rights. Villagers and farmer groups expressed sympathies with Vishukumar insisting that the government should offer just compensation and respect farmers’ years of hard work in growing sandalwood.
Vidhana Soudha protests serve as a sign of the mounting struggle between development projects and farmers’ rights. The incident of Vishukumar chopping down a sandalwood tree in the state blockades the power centre at Vidhana Soudha is nothing less than a demonstration of anger and alienation of farmers who perceive they are being trampled upon, overlooked and undervalued. This case needs to be the catalyst for the dialogue between government officials and the agribusiness and government to deliver justice, fair pay and respect to the livelihoods of the farmers on the way towards the development.
