The core of the unrest stems from the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board’s (KIADB) move to acquire hundreds of acres of highly productive, multi-crop agricultural land for upcoming industrial projects. Protesting farmers from local villages argue that the proposed acquisition will permanently strip them of their primary source of livelihood and food security. Gathering outside regional administrative offices, protesters raised slogans declaring they are “ready to give their lives, but never their land,” demanding that the state government immediately withdraw all preliminary land acquisition notifications.

The visual presence of the onake (pestle) carries deep cultural and historical resonance in Karnataka, evoking the legacy of Onake Obavva—a celebrated 18th-century heroine who single-handedly fought off invading soldiers using a pestle. By wielding these heavy wooden implements, the female protesters sent a direct, uncompromising warning to land survey officials and local police forces. Farmers warned that any state representative attempting to enter their fields for forced surveying, soil testing, or boundary marking would face physical blockades and direct resistance from the community.

Agricultural union leaders addressing the rally criticized the state government’s developmental priorities, accusing policymakers of systematically favoring corporate industrial expansion over the survival of rural smallholders. They pointed out that the targeted lands are intensely cultivated, yielding vital local crops, and argued that industrial corridors should instead be redirected toward arid, non-cultivable regions. The unions have formally petitioned the district administration, calling for a high-level review and the immediate cancellation of the KIADB’s local development plans.