(This piece authored by Fr Stan Swamy was originally published on Sept 15, 2017. It is being re-published today in his memory.)

“There are people who cannot take bail. There is nobody for them,” observed SC and ordered prisoners to be freed over trial delays.If a trial takes place, most would be acquitted… the trial deliberately delayed so they remain behind bars for years…                                                                    
 
The news was in the local print media recently. The startling news that after Jharkhand became a separate State, the highest number of arrests of alleged ‘naxals’ have taken place . It went on to say they are languishing in jails because they do not have the money to hire lawyers so they can come out on bail. Nor does the government’s ‘free legal aid’ ever reaches them. They are deliberately kept  in jail for years without trial because if speedy trial takes place, most of them would  be acquitted. The convenient tool the police use is to label them ‘naxals’, add more fake charges and prolong the trial process.

The Supreme Court, in its September 4, 2014 order mobilised judicial officers across the country to visit every prison in their district for the next two months to identify and release undertrial prisoners who have already underwent detention for half the maximum period of imprisonment their offence prescribes under law.

The media has however reported on September 21, 2015, that more than nine months after the Supreme Court deadline expired on the release of undertrial prisoners –all those who had completed half the prison term for the offence they were charged with should be released—the government still did not have any data (or was not releasing it, anyway) on how many such prisoners had actually been released.

Arrests and ‘Surrenders’ during 2015-16:  We get a glimpse of the arrests, the ‘surrenders’ as they appear in local print/electronic media: 1307 Jharkhandis have been arrested and 88 of them are supposed to have surrendered. (Source: Prabhat Khabar, Ranchi ed., 1 Sept. 2017).   

Some independent studies indicate that 27 persons [22 in 2016 and 5 in 2017) were killed in so-called ‘encounters’ by the police. (Bagaicha, Ranchi, documentation)

The assumption that all under-trial prisoners are guilty of alleged crimes is wrong. A serious question that emerges is, about the norm laid by the court that undertrial prisoners who had completed half the prison term for the offence they were charged with should be released. On what basis has the court prescribed this directive is not clear. The underlying assumption that all the under-trials are actually guilty of accused crimes. The reality is that it is not true. Most under-trial adivasi prisoners are not guilty of any crime but simple village folk who are falsely implicated by the police. So there should be no question of serving half their jail-term for crimes they never committed.

A just solution would be to release all under-trial prisoners immediately and speed up their trial process within a specified period. And if the govt fails to do that, they all should be acquitted without any conditions.

A dangerous de-humanising process is on:Practically every day, as we open the news paper or watch local TV channels, we see one or more young men are standing with their faces covered standing behind seated police officers in front of whom there is a table with weapons that are supposed to have been captured along with the ‘naxals’. A write-up describing where and how these ‘naxals’ are apprehended. Rare are the days when this type of pictures are not printed or such descriptions not reported.                  
                                
Is the general public being taken for a ride ?  The sad thing is that the educated general public takes it to be true! But the fact is most of it is not true. Innocent villagers are just rounded up, taken to police station, put in jails, cooked up charges foisted on them.

‘Surrenders’ proven fake.  Fake surrenders is another plot by para-military & police forces to rob the poor Adivasis & Moolvasis and make money out of them.

A staggering 514 innocent tribal youths were made to ‘surrender as Naxalites’ in Jharkhand between 2012 to 1014. A report of the NHRC affirms that some senior Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers conniving with some Jharkhand police officers have been organising these ‘fake surrenders’ to take advantage of the attractive ‘Naxalite Surrender’ policy. This opens up possibilities of getting awards and even getting promotions for playing this fraud on the poor tribal youths. Some middle men were also roped in who contacted the simple innocent tribals, lured them with promise of jobs and in return took big sums of money from them. Many of the surrendered youths had sold off their family land to arrange for the money to secure the promised jobs that never came. This money was shared with CRPF and police officers. These tribal youths were then lodged in the old central jail of Ranchi who then discovered that there were many many more tribals like them were also cheated and trapped. A senior Officer who discovered this anomaly wrote to the Director General of Police pointing out the seriousness of what was happening. But no action was taken until NHRC brought to light this disgusting affair.

Such is the tale of anguish the 4000 Adivasis languishing in the jails of Jharkhand are trying to tell the rest of the world.

But, is anyone listening ?

The post 4,000 Adivasis, Charged as ‘Naxals in Jails of Jharkand appeared first on SabrangIndia.

(This piece authored by Fr Stan Swamy was originally published on June 01, 2017. It is being re-published today in his memory.)

 
A Plea: so many protests by Jharkhandi forces / organisations / movements against CNT/SPT Acts Amendments and Domicile Policy are taking place. Rightly so. But hardly any efforts have been made to uncover the back-door stealing of individual ryots’ land (gair majurva khaas zamin), village- community land (gair majurva aam zamin) and village-forest land (jangal-jadi zamin).

About 10 lakh acres of such illegally ear-marked / acquired land is being offered on a platter to industrialists / business houses. Take note, this is all quietly done but the axe is laid on the land of the indigenous Adivasi / Moolvasi people. To add injury to insult, no compensation will be given to individual ryots or village communities because the government considers all gair majurva land as owned by the government!             
This whole process is illegal and unconstitutional. How and why ?

1. India’s Supreme Court in a significant judgment observed:                                                               

 “Since time immemorial there have been common lands inhering in the village communities in India, variously called gram sabha land, gram panchayat land… in the villages were for centuries used for the common benefit of the villagers of the village such as ponds for various purposes e.g. for their cattle to drink and bathe, for storing their harvested grain, as grazing ground for the cattle, threshing floor, maidan for playing by children, carnivals, circuses, ramlila, cart stands, water bodies, passages, cremation ground or graveyards, etc.
 
These lands stood vested through local laws in the State, which handed over their management to Gram Sabhas/Gram Panchayats. They were generally treated as inalienable in order that their status as community land be preserved. There were no doubt some exceptions to this rule which permitted the Gram Sabha/Gram Panchayat to lease out some of this land to landless labourers and members of the scheduled castes/tribes, but this was only to be done in exceptional cases.”
 
Referring to a case where the Punjab State government had regularized the construction of building on what was once a village community pond, the SC said: “The appellants herein were trespassers who illegally encroached on to the Gram Panchayat land by using muscle power/money power and in collusion with the officials and even with the Gram Panchayat.
 
We are of the opinion that such kind of blatant illegalities must not be condoned. Even if the appellants have built houses on the land in question they must be ordered to remove their constructions, and possession of the land in question must be handed back to the Gram Panchayat. Regularizing such illegalities must not be permitted because it is Gram Sabha land which must be kept for the common use of villagers of the village… In our opinion such illegalities cannot be regularized. We cannot allow the common interest of the villagers to suffer merely because the unauthorized occupation has subsisted for many years”.
(Civil Appeal No. 1132/2011in SLP(C) No.3109/2011, section 3 & 13)                                                    
 
But by no stretch of imagination can this Common Land can be given to outsider industrialists and business houses for profit-making enterprises. But this is what the Jharkhand government intends to do.
 
Take just one example. Torpa Block in Khunti District, a total of 10,898 acres of Common Land (gair majurwa aam zamin) has been ear-marked for a Land Bank of which 1116 acres has already been transferred to the government and a balance of 9781 acres remain at the disposal of the government all of which it may give to anybody who will invest for specific industrial/business enterprises.
 
Have we ever heard of government selling rivers to industrialists?
Yes, the Jharkhand government is doing that right now.    
                 
Here below is an example of one village (Lohajimi in Torpa block of Khunti district) where the govenment has ear-marked and partially acquired river land !

Thus a total of 157.65 acres of which 38.50 acres of river bed has already been acquired and the balance 119.15 is acquirable.

The fact that the government is doing this in Lohajimi village is significant because it is in this village the ‘Koel-Karo dam’ was to be constructed leading to the submergence of 132 villages, 30,000 acres of agricultural land and 20,000 acres of forest land.

But the Adivasi and Moolvasi people of all these villages with support from several people’s organisations have waged a sustained struggle for over 30 years and have finally forced the government to call off its misadventure. The people have paid a heavy price for this resistance when during a peaceful protest the police opened fire leading to the martyrdom
of eight persons and injury to scores of men and women.

Now the Government is sent on avenging this earlier failure: And it is doing it through the back door calling it ‘land bank’. Not only is this condemnable, the Adivasis of Torpa block will not allow it.

There are also other ‘Commons’ which have been ear-marked to be acquired. Here are some examples:

2) The Vth Schedule of the Indian Constitution [Indian Constitution, Article 244(1)]clearly stipulates that a ‘Tribes Advisory Council’ (TAC) composed solely of members from the Adivasi community will advise the Governor of the State about any and everything concerning the protection, well-being and development of the Adivasi people in the Scheduled Area.[Part B4(1)(2)]
The Governor of the State is the Constitutional Custodian of the Adivasi people and he/she can make laws on his/her own and can annul any other law enacted by the parliament or state assembly always keeping in mind the welfare of the Adivasi people. [Part B5(1)(2). This provision is applicable in the nine States of central India where Adivasis are a significant population.         
                                                                                                                                      
The reality however is that in none of the States during all these nearly seven decades has any State Governor ever used his/her constitutional discretionary power to reach out to the Adivasi people proffering the excuse that they have to work in harmony with the elected government of the State.

The meeting of the TAC takes place only rarely, and it is convened by and presided over by the Chief Minister of the State even if he is a non-Adivasi and is controlled by the ruling party. The TAC has thus been reduced to a toothless body and a constitutional fraud meted out to the Adivasi people.

This new ‘Land Bank’ policy has not been placed before the TAC for its advice and approval. Hence it is unconstitutional.

3. The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act [PESA],1996 [Acts of Parliament No:40 of 1996]  which was a fruit of long drawn disenchantment and struggle of the Adivasi people and their political representatives and which for the first time recognized the fact the Adivasi communities in India have had a rich social and cultural tradition of self-governance and  outlined the composition and functioning of the Gram Sabha: (1) “State legislation … shall be in consonance with the customary law, social and religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources” [PESA 4(a)].  (2) every Gram Sabha shall approve the plans, programmes and projects for social and  economic development before such plans, programmes and projects are taken up for implementation…” [(e)(i)]. 

(3) “The Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be consulted before the acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas for development projects and before resettling or rehabilitating persons affected by such projects in the Scheduled Areas…” [(e) (ii) (i)].

(4) “State Legislature shall ensure that the Gram Sabha are endowed especially with the power to prevent alienation of land in the Scheduled Areas and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawfully alienated land of a Scheduled Tribe” [(m)(iii).
 
This ‘Land Bank’ policy was not placed before the to-be-affected Gram Sabhas nor was their advice, consent sought. Rather it was an ‘executive order’ coming from the CMO. It is therefore invalid.

Time for Action:

This article ends with  plea to all Jharkhandi forces / organisations / movements / legal professionals / activists to formulate a legal case versus the government and move the lower courts or the high court. We and our Jharkhandi people should not give up the battle by default. For our people’s sake, let us act and act fast.
 

Related Articles:
1.Prosecute Those Who Grab Land from Adivasis and Dalits under Atrocities Act: NCST
2.Fire on the Mountain: Jharkand – But Where is the Media?
3.BJP’s Jharkand Govt Continues in Mission to Grab Tribal Lands, Opposition in Rage, Protests on Streets

The post Let Us Act to Save Common Village Lands of Jharkand: A Constitutional Plea appeared first on SabrangIndia.

(This piece authored by Fr Stan Swamy was originally published on Sept 01, 2016. It is being re-published today in his memory.)

The Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgment , declared  “…A blinkered vision of development, complete apathy towards those who are highly adversely affected by the development process and a cynical unconcern for the enforcement of the laws lead to a situation where the rights and benefits promised and guaranteed under the constitution hardly ever reach the most marginalized citizens.” “…to millions of Indians, development is a dreadful and hateful word that is aimed at denying them even the source of their sustenance…  on the path of ‘maldevelopment’ almost every step that we take seems to give rise to insurgency and political extremism”
[SC Special Leave Petition (C) NO.6933 OF 2007, sections 9,7]
 
Tragically the Cabinet Committee for Security (CCS) has given its nod to recruit 12 tribal battalions for so called ‘Maoist-hit states’ as reported by the media on July 25, 2016

It must be made loud and clear the government’s decision to set up
 
‘Anti-Maoist Tribal Battalions’ all over the country
‘Anti-Maoist Paharia Battalions’  in Jharkhand
‘Anti-Maoist Bastar Battalions’ in Chattisgarh
 
is unjust and unwarranted.
 
The Government is creating a ‘police state’ rather than meeting people’s needs: Instead of doing some re-thinking about  of its developmental model and work towards bringing greater equity among its citizens, it is determined to add more guns against the poorest of the poor.

This is in addition to the already deployed 5,00,000 police and para-military forces in the 88 ‘naxal affected’ districts with the financial investment of Rs.30 crores per district per year under the ‘Integrated Action Plan’ for infrastructure development. Now this addition of 12 battalions is to be composed of mostly (75%) ‘local youths’. This raises the following questions:

• Question No 1: Who are the “local youths” to be recruited for the Reserve Battalions?

Answer: the ‘local youths’ are Adivasi youths

• Question No 2: who are the Maoists they should fight under the label of ‘Left Wing Extremism’?

Answer: they are also Adivasis labelled as ‘maoists’

• Question No 3: why should Adivasis be made to fight/kill Adivasis?

Answer: so Adivasi communities can be weakened and their unity can be replaced by distrust.
 
This is a plot to divide Adivasi Community and force Adivasis to fight/kill fellow Adivasis
 
Traditionally, the Adivasi Community, as we well know, is characterised by a sense of equality, mutual cooperation, communitarianness, consensus decision making, and closeness to nature. The so-called ‘modern’ society, on the other hand, stands for values which are just the opposite. Renowned scholars affirm that if nature and earth are going to be saved (from the rapacious greed of the developmental model that destroys land, water and natural resources) it will be only by the indigenous Adivasi peoples.
 
Currently,  the dominant capitalist society, supported by mighty state power, is waging a war against the  economically weakened Adivasi community.  Once it is weakened, its social and cultural values will disappear automatically. This process of weakening their economic base is being furthered by foisting one Adivasi against another.   
 
The Government is spreading a false picture: The Indian Government is spreading a serious misconception that Adivasis have come under the sway of Maoists, that they shelter and feed Maoists, they have become by and large supporters of Maoists and many of them have become Maoists themselves.  This is far from the truth. The reality is that Most Maoists are Adivasis but most Adivasis are not Maoists.
 
True, some of them have joined the militant forces mostly because of their rights over jal, jangal, jamin are being snatched away by the government in collusion with big business with hardly any rehabilitation or any alternate means of livelihood. But that does not entitle a government to blame the whole Adivasi community as being extremist.
 
Wherein lies the solution?  Certainly not through amassing more and more troops, supported by helicopters. Central Indian states have already become ‘police states’ with more than half a million para-military and police personnel stationed there.  Practically every village has a police post and people cannot even move around on a day to day basis, without being stopped, questioned, searched because all the people have become ‘suspects’.  This cannot go on indefinitely.
 
If the government wants to end its self-created extremism, the only way is to honestly acknowledge the traditional rights that Adivasi Communities have enjoyed over their natural resources. There are clear constitutional provisions, parliament enactments, Supreme Court verdicts meant to protect their rights.
 
To spell out just the most significant of these:

• Abide by the Vth Schedule of the Constitution which empowers the Tribes Advisory Council  (TAC) to approve or disapprove any project meant for the tribal people. It directs the Governors of the ‘Scheduled Areas’ states to seek the advice of the TAC and instruct the government of the respective states to act as per the advice of TAC. Unfortunately no governor has ever  acted as per the provisions of the Vth Schedule. It is time they do so.
• Implement the Scheduled Tribes/Scheduled Caste [ST/SC] (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 by which any non-tribal person/officer infringes on the economic, social rights of tribals must be punished. With recent amendments, late this law has been more stringent. It only needs rigorous implementation.
• Empower the Gram Sabhas through the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 2006 which authorizes  Gram Sabhas as the custodians of their tradition, culture and as consultants when displacement , rehabilitation  measures are to be worked out and whose consent is necessary when their land and natural resources are to be alienated from them for specific projects. Tragically these legal provisions are neatly ignored by the governments, state and central.
• The Supreme Court’s Samata Judgment 2007 should be carried out in letter and spirit because it clearly mandates that coal mining in Scheduled Areas cannot be undertaken by any private company  nor even by the government, but it can only be handled by tribal cooperatives and it is the government’s responsibility to functionalize this process. Sadly nobody even thinks of this significant judgment of the SC, let alone apply its fundamentals.
• The Forest Rights Act 2006 is an important legislation passed by the Indian parliament in the history of tribal empowerment especially relating to tenure security on forests and forest land. It is a legislation created with the intent to recognize, vest and record forest rights of the forest dwellers who have been residing in such forests  for generations and whose rights could not be recorded, due to which they underwent a serious historical injustice.  But sadly the injustice continues to be done. At an all India level, only about half of applications under the Act have been granted rights. Even those who get their patta, receive only a small portion of what they have actually claimed.  To make matters worse, a recent amendment to the Act does away with the power of Gram Sabhas insofar as their consent is not required to give forest land to companies.  Through an executive decision this power has now been given to the District Collector. So where will poor forest-dwelling Adivasis go?
• ‘Owner of the land is also the owner of sub-soil minerals’ The 2013 SC judgment makes it clear that the State/government is not the owner of sub-soil minerals. If the government wants that particular mineral, it must buy it from the land owner. That means that a Gram Sabha can say yes or no to selling its minerals. It also means that it is the Gram Sabhas have the power to excavate and market the minerals to companies whether public or private. This way rural communities can acquire legitimate wealth and become economically independent and well to do. This will lead them to social and political development and enable them to assume their due place within society.                                                                                       Very understandably, the government, the industrial and business class has chosen to neatly ignore this order of the judiciary. For obvious reasons. Gram Sabhas have to take the initiative and assert their natural right over natural resources.

 
Given the above considerations. . .
 
The Government’s decision to create Tribal Battalions is unjust and unwarranted. They are meant to weaken tribal communities by making Adivasis fight/kill one another. The ultimate aim is to make them leave their land with all its mineral resources so that this rich resource can be handed over to corporate houses.  This trickery of the government must be resisted at all costs.
 

The post Who is responsible for Extremism or Naxalism? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Stan Swamy listed all the activities that have made him a ‘Desh Drohi,’ a traitor of the country, in his open letter after he was charged with sedition. This short note was written by Fr Stan Swamy after the Jharkhand authorities filed a case of sedition against him for supporting the adivasi Pathalgadi movement. He is one of 20 activists accused of sedition, a committed Jesuit priest.
 
During the past two decades, I have identified myself with the Adivasi people and their struggle for a life of dignity and self-respect. As a writer, I have tried to analyse the different issues they are facing. In this process, I have clearly expressed dissent with several policies, laws enacted by the govt in the light of the Indian Constitution. I have questioned the validity, legality, justness of several steps taken by the govt and the ruling class.
 
As for the Pathalgadi issue, I have asked the question “Why are Adivasis doing this?” I believe they have been exploited and oppressed beyond tolerance. The rich minerals which are excavated in their land have enriched outsider industrialists and businessmen and impoverished the Adivasi people to the extent there are starvation deaths taking place.
 
They have had no share in what is produced. Also, the laws and policies enacted for their wellbeing are deliberately left unimplemented. So they have reached a situation where they realised ‘enough is enough’ and are seeking to re-invent their identity by empowering their Gram Sabhas through Pathalgadis. Their action is understandable.
 
Some questions that I have raised are as follows:
 
1. I have questioned the Non-implementation of the 5th Schedule of the Constitution [Indian Constitution, Article 244(1)]clearly stipulates that a ‘Tribes Advisory Council’ (TAC) composed solely of members from the Adivasi community who will advise the Governor of the State about any and everything concerning the protection, well-being and development of the Adivasi people in the State. The Governor is the constitutional custodian of the Adivasi people and he/she can make laws on his/her own and can annul any other law enacted by the parliament or state assembly always keeping in mind the welfare of the Adivasi people.
 
Whereas the reality is that in none of the States during all these nearly seven decades has any State Governor ever used his/her constitutional discretionary power to reach out to the Adivasi people proffering the excuse that they have to work in harmony with the elected government of the State. The meeting of the TAC takes place rarely, and it is convened by and presided over by the Chief Minister of the State and is controlled by the ruling party. TAC has thus been reduced to a toothless body. Verily a constitutional fraud meted out to the Adivasi people.
 
2) I have questioned why the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act [PESA],1996 [No:40 of 1996] have been neatly ignored which for the first time recognized the fact the Adivasi communities in India have had a rich social and cultural tradition of self-governance through the Gram Sabha.                                                                                                                                     
Whereas the reality is this Act of the parliament has deliberately been left unimplemented in all the nine states. It means the capitalist ruling class does not want the Adivasi people to self-govern themselves.
 
3) I have questioned the silence of the govt on Samatha Judgment, 1997 of the Supreme Court [Civil Appeal Nos:4601-2 of 1997] which came as a huge relief to the Adivasi communities in Scheduled Areas. It came at a time when consequent to the policy of globalization, liberalization, marketisation, privatisation national and international corporate houses started to invade particularly the Adivasi areas in central India to mine the mineral riches. The govt machinery gave its full cooperation to these companies. Any resistance by the Adivasi people was put down with an iron hand. The judgment was meant to provide some significant safeguards for the Adivasis to control the excavation of minerals in their lands and to help develop themselves economically.
                                                                                                      
Whereas the reality is the state has ignored this verdict of the highest court. Several cases have been filed by affected communities but the ‘law of eminent domain’ of the colonial rulers are invoked to alienate Adivasi land and to loot the rich mineral resources.
 
4) I have questioned the half-hearted action of govt on Forest Rights Act, 2006: [Act of Parliament No:2 of 2007] jal, jangal, jamin, as we know, are the basis of the economic life of the Adivasi people. Of particular importance is their traditional rights in the forest have been infringed upon systematically over the decades. At long last, the govt came to the realization that a historic injustice has been done to the Adivasi and other traditional forest-dwellers. To correct this anomaly, it enacted this Act.
 
Whereas the reality is far from desirable. From 2006 to 2011 of its operation, about 30 lakh applications were made all over the country for title-deeds, of which 11 lakhs were approved but 14 lakhs were rejected and five lakhs were pending. Of late the Jharkhand govt is trying to bypass the Gram Sabha in the process of acquiring forest land for industrial set up.
 
5) I have questioned the inaction of the govt to carry out the SC order ‘Owner of the land is also the owner of sub-soil minerals’. [SC: Civil Appeal No 4549 of 2000] wherein it has said “we are of the opinion that there is nothing in the law which declares that all mineral wealth sub-soil rights vest in the State, on the other hand, the ownership of sub-soil/mineral wealth should normally follow the ownership of the land, unless the owner of the land is deprived of the same by some valid process.”
 
The rich minerals in their lands are being looted by the govt and private companies. The Supreme Court has declared 214 out of the 219 Coal-Blocks in the country illegal and ordered their closure and levied a fine on them for their illegal mining. But the Central & State Govts have found a way out by re-allotting these illegal mines through auction to make it look legal! 
 
6) I have questioned the reasons why SC observation is being ignored that ‘Mere membership of a banned organisation will not make a person a criminal unless he resorts to violence or incites people to violence or creates public disorder by violence or incitement to violence. [SC: Criminal Appeal No: 889 of 2007]. The court rejected the doctrine of ‘guilt by association’. 
 
It is common knowledge that many young men and women are held in prison on the suspicion of being “helpers of Naxalites”. After arresting them other penal clauses are added on. It is an easy label that can be put on anyone whom the police want to catch. It does not require any proof or witness. Supreme Court says even membership in a banned organisation does not make a person a criminal. How far removed are the law and order forces from the judiciary!
 
7) I have questioned the recently enacted Amendment to ‘Land Acquisition Act 2013’ by Jharkhand govt which sound a death-knell for the Adivasi Community. This does away with the requirement for “Social Impact Assessment’ which was aimed at safeguarding the environment, social relations and cultural values of affected people. The most damaging factor is the govt can allow any agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. So, any and everything can be included.
8) I have questioned ‘Land Bank’ which I see as the most recent plot to annihilate the Adivasi people.
 
During ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ in February 2017 the govt announced that 21 lakh acres in Land Bank of which 10 lakh acres is ready for allotment to industrialists.
 
Gair-Majurwa” land (uncultivated land) can be ‘khas’ (private) or ‘aam’ (common). As per tradition, individual Adivasi families or communities have been in possession and use this land [jamabandi]. Now the govt shockingly cancelled all ‘jamabandi’ titles and claims that all ‘gair-majurwa’ land belongs to the govt and it is free to allot it to anybody (read industrial houses) to set up their small and big industries.
 
People are in the dark about their land being written off. The TAC has not given its approval as is required by the Vth Sched., the respective Gram Sabhas have not given their consent as required by PESA Act, affected Adivasi people have not given their consent as required by Land Acquisition Act (2013).
 
Above are the questions I have consistently raised.   
 
If this makes me a ‘Desh Drohi’ then so be it!

The post I raise my voice for Adivasis, am I a Traitor? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

What a disaster commercialisation would bring is exemplified in the following narrative.

It graphically recounts how an Adivasi community lived before the start of mining in their neighbourhood and what damage it did over course of time.

Dubil is an Adivasi village in Saranda forest of West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand. This village of about 500 persons lived a happy life, close to nature. Paddy was the main crop, harvested twice a year, and supplemented by various cereals. The village was blessed with two natural streams, which ran with fresh water throughout the year. But alas, the Chiria iron ore mine, covering 3276 hectares, came up in the vicinity. As the mining expanded year by year, the happy life of Dubil Adivasis started to shrink steadily. The giant company started to distribute the actual mining activity to subsidiary companies who felt they had no obligation at all towards neighbouring village communities in terms of compensation for the damage done to their agriculture and water sources. Eventually about 100 acres of their fertile land became barren and the water stream is now flowing with reddish water.       

Apart from this, labourers from outside were being brought to work the mines whereas the locals were reduced to the category of ‘day-wage labourers’.  When the people of Dubil and neigihbouring communities organised themselves and protested against this injustice, their legitimate democratic actions were criminalised and police cases were filed against them. Six of their leaders were put behind bars. Verily, insult added to injury.

Even some half-hearted steps by the government to ameliorate their living condition did not make any difference.  The housing scheme failed when half of the houses collapsed or became uninhabitable. The hand-pumps stopped working, the solar lamps and radios have disappeared, the bicycles have broken down. Thus the promise usually made at the start of the project of bringing ‘development’ falls flat and people are left with greater deprivation and anguish.                                         

[edited extract from ‘Mission Saranda – a war for natural resources in India’ by Gladson Dungdung, pp. 59-64]

GOI’s decision to commercialise/privatise coal mines both  arbitrary and unjust

On Jun18, 2020 the central government released a list of 41 coal blocks from all over the country to be auctioned to private companies.  This is said to be the panacea for the economic crisis the country is presently facing. We are told 10 crore tons of coal will be made into gas, India will become the biggest coal-exporting country in the world, and that this will be a giant step towards making our country self-reliant etc.  In taking this step, central government wilfully ignored the plea by Jharkhand govt that the auctioning be delayed for six to eight months until the battle against corona virus is decisively won. So out of 41 coal blocks, 9 in Jharkhand, 9 in Chattisgarh, 9 in Odisha, 11 in Madhya Pradesh are slated to be auctioned. 

[Commercialisation/privatisation of coal mines through auctions will pave the way for the plunder of minerals. Most coal mines in central India are located in predominantly Adivasi areas and this arbitrary decision of the Centre has been taken, disregarding protective laws, judicial verdicts in favour of the Adivasis over past decades. The Jharkhand government has appealed against this arbitrary action of the central government in the Supreme Court of India.]

Let it be noted most of these mines in all above States are located in the predominantly Adivasi-inhabited areas, that is, on Adivasi land and forests.           

There is no need to remind anyone that India’s Adivasis and forest dwellers are among the most marginalised communities. They make up about 8 percent of India’s population of 1.3 billion, but about 40 percent of the 60 million people displaced by development projects in past decades are Adivasis. Only 25% of them have been resettled but none rehabilitated. They were given minimal compensation and then neatly forgotten.

Concern One: Only two parties (central government and private company) on the negotiating table. Why were major stake holders not consulted, in fact, ignored? Where are the people whose land will be excavated, will be displaced, will be reduced from being landowners to landless casual labourers when such decisions are taken?

Concern Two: Where are the laws, judicial verdicts … such as the Vth Schedule of the Constitution which stipulates that Tribes Advisory Council be taken into confidence for any project in Vth Schedule Area, the PESA Act [1996] which requires Gram Sabhas be consulted in the allotment of major minerals, the Samata judgment [1997] which empowers village cooperatives to be the sole agents of excavating coal mines in Vth Schedule areas, Forest Rights Act [2006] that makes it mandatory to obtain the consent of  Gram Sabha for any mining in the forests, the SC declaring [2013] ‘owner of land is also owner of sub-soil minerals’, the Land Acquisition Act [2013] which prohibits

acquisition of multi-crop agricultural land etc.                                                                       

Does this unilateralism mean laws enacted in parliament, judgments passed by the highest court of the land do not apply to present central government?

Concern Three: Past experience shows private companies are not going to abide by the laws protective of Adivasi community and their rights over natural resources. The government will acquire Adivasi land, forcibly if need be, and hand it over to the companies. Land is given to them on a platter. If affected people protest, they will be handled by law-and-order forces, willingly supplied by the local government administration. Multiple cases will be foisted on those who lead people’s protests and thrown behind bars. Private companies have nothing to worry.

Concern Four: How does India reconcile the fact that on the one hand the corporate houses go on accumulating profits in millions and billions of rupees and will go off the scene once the plunder is complete, and on the other hand the small & marginal farmers who lose all they have and are reduced to penury and destitution?  Has even a semblance of justice disappeared in our society?

Concern Five: it is not to say that there should be no mining of minerals at all. Only, that this must meet the needs of the community and not for making profit. A collective understanding of two significant SC judgments, namely the 2013 verdict which entitles the owner of the land to be also the owner of sub-soil minerals and the 1997 verdict, which declares that cooperatives of local Adivasis alone can do mining need to be the guiding stars, the arbiters. It then becomes the paramount duty of the state to help in the formation and registration of co-operatives, and to provide the wherewithal, such as the initial capital, the needed technical expertise, managerial skills, marketing avenues etc so they can function flawlessly and to the benefit of the whole community. The state can do it if it really wants the development and welfare of all.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

The post Commercial Mining, not a boon but a curse: Jharkhand & Central India      appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As per Jharkhand govt announcement, at least about five lakh Jharkhandi migrant workers will be returning home from different parts of the country once the lockdown is lifted. An assurance is given that all of them will be received warmly, reached to their homes safely and work from public sector undertakings will be provided. So far so good.

Two pull-and-push factors

(1) the ‘pull’ factor insofar as once the lockdown is lifted and small and big industrialists are told to commence production, they will call for workers who were once with them but now have gone home in different parts of the country. They may even add some further incentives to attract them to come back. We can be sure many will opt to go back.                                                                                                                 

(2) the ‘push’ factor will be the fact that after reaching home, most of them will discover that there is not much at home to keep them and their families going. 

A sample study of a predominantly Adivasi district [Simdega] in Jharkhand shows 60% of Adivasi families own 1-2 acres, 7% own 3-4 acres. 7% own more than 4 acres. That means the great majority own small pieces of land, and that land is mostly mono-crop land dependent on the monsoon. What they can produce from that land would not be sufficient to feed the family the whole year round, let alone meet other needs of the family. That was the reason why they originally migrated to near and far places in search of employment so as to earn some money for their families.  

So now that they are back home and will decide to remain at home, there are certain possibilities by which they can be with their families and at the same time be economically viable:

(1) Instead of just helplessly hoping that nature will be favourable to them, take some positive steps to improve irrigation facilities so they can have a second or even a third crop. Wherever there are rivers/rivulets in the vicinity to avail of govt projects to have small check-dams to conserve and use water for cultivation. 

(2) It is a fact that most villages have small or large water bodies like tanks which have over the years become fallow. Motivate and organise the village community to freely work together to repair, deepen, broaden existing water bodies. Such bodies can make it possible for more water available for various uses as well as for community-fish-rearing. 

(3) The importance of household and common open wells is public knowledge. It will be a revelation as to how these wells will self-replenish water once the other water bodies are maintained well. It may be noted the govt has various schemes to augment water storage which mostly go unutilised.

MGNREGA can be made a good use of. Already suggestions have been made to increase the number of days to 250 a year per family and to augment the remuneration to Rs.300 p/d. If every rural household will be included, it will create a tremendous amount of labour force. This can be effectively utilised not only to strengthen existing commons of the community but also to reach out to individual families to strengthen their assets such as open wells, transplanting and harvesting crops etc. It would be very important that Gram Sabhas play a crucial role in identifying projects, allotting workforce, disbursing remuneration etc. In so doing, the traditional form of self-governance of village communities can be restored. That will be a hearty development indeed.

Co-operative farming, instead of individual farming on the ever-fragmenting plots of land, would seem a most desirable alternative. Everyone realises as to how each family trying to cultivate and eke out a living from its small plots of land has only led to its increasing impoverishment. Although it  may seem to be a distant dream, it will be a real step towards restoring the traditional adivasi communitarian ownership and use of all natural resources. Adivasi society, before private ownership was thrust upon it by capitalist forces, was socialist in essence. Everything was owned in common and the fruits of nature was shared according to each one’s needs. It will be a historic opportunity for a people who were owners of land to being reduced to contract/casual labour to redeem themselves to their pristine glory of community ownership and mutual sharing. Besides, it will save so much duplication of efforts of each one trying to farm one’s own land which is proving to be more and more unviable. Will they rise up to accept this challenge? Surely no harm in proposing and persuading them to venture out to this new path.

To Seek justice 

What was done on March 24 by Indian govt unilaterally declaring lockdown with immediate effect was a serious act of injustice to all Indians but particularly to several lakhs of migrant workers all over the country. They were instantly thrown out of work and found themselves on the street. The only alternative was ‘to go home’ and be with their families. But most of them were far far away from their homes and the govt made no provision for them to reach home since all public transport (air, train, bus) came to a standstill instantaneously. Thousands of them started walking hundreds of miles often with some of their family members, carrying their small children on their shoulders. A few dozens of them died on the way out of sheer exhaustion.

The lockdown was extended till May 3, and all those who were on the road were stopped and forcibly put in temporary shelters with even basic needs unmet. Now hunger/starvation is haunting them, with several voluntary organisations/ individuals  trying to reach out to them although very inadequately. But the executive and the judiciary are saying ‘when food is provided, what more do they need?’ (!)

A grave injustice to the poorest of the poor is being meted out to them. The only way even a semblance of justice is done to them is to have legal recourse by filing a PIL at the HC/SC level demanding the govt to adequately compensate the people on the road.  Calling on socially concerned legal professionals to take up this task on behalf of the deprived migrant workers.

Open a new page 

To conclude, may we say that those migrant workers who are determined ‘to go home’ do so not with a sense of hopelessness of going back to an economically and socially unviable situation, but with an intent to open a new page in their life that will enable them to live in their homes with self-respect and dignity. Suggestions given above, if accepted and followed, will surely make it possible. That alone will be worth the immense hardships they have and are enduring. And it will be the bounden duty of all socially concerned citizens to reach out to the ‘home-coming’ migrant workers in whatever way possible to ‘open a new page’ in their life.

The post Migrant labourers want to go home, but what kind of life awaits them? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The second half of 2019 (July – December) was both a very trying yet sobering experience. Jharkhand police was after me and I was after the police!  The difference was that the police acted illegally and I acted legally. The issuance of the ‘arrest warrant’ (June), declaration of me an ‘absconder’ (August), the raid of my workplace cum residence and the confiscation of my personal belongings (October) by an order of the lower court! The actions of the police were declared illegal by Jharkhand High Court (December 2019).

What did I do during the six-month sojourn ?   I was in the three southern states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka. I met with several socially concerned persons, groups, organisations, movements. Migrant labour from the north to the southern states is stupefying. There are 36 lakhs migrant labour in Kerala alone, another 10 lakhs in Tamil Nadu, the counting process is on in Karnataka! These mostly young people hail from the tribal belt of central India, north-east, Bihar. They go to the south in waves hoping to get some employment, thereby earn something for their families, which they are unable to do in their home states. But their working and living conditions are appalling. They are mostly performing hard labour: laying roads, construction of buildings, fly-overs, metro lines. A vast majority of them are in the grip of unscrupulous labour-contractors who fleece them of their meager earnings. With the exception of Kerala, the other state governments shut their eyes to the exploitation and demeaning of dignity of this vast section of migrant labourers. I pleaded with my friends not to ignore their presence in their midst. To not simply pass them by. I urged them to meet them in their work/living places, find out whether or not they are getting government-prescribed minimum wage, physical security and help them to approach the respective government offices to rectify when things go amiss. In short, I tried to persuade friends to show a human face to them.

What happened within me ?  

Initially it was like walking into a thick dark cloud. Where all  would I go…who all would I meet…would they take me in…and if they do, what repercussions it could have on them…for how long would I have to be on the run… etc. Another important concern was the cases my Jesuit colleagues and lawyers were handling back home both in the lower as well as in the high court… who will argue the cases…how long will the hearings go on…the needed finance toward court expenses/lawyers fees… and at the end of it all, will I and my co-accused colleagues get justice…etc etc.                                                                                

An enduring pain within me has been whereas I have been privileged to have so many contacts where I could go, be protected and take on the state government in court and get legal protection, there are so many more innocent persons who have been unjustly imprisoned and are still languishing in jails. There is no one even to bail them out. And when I think of Bhima-Koregaon case, in which also I’m implicated as a “suspected accused”, so many eminent intellectuals, lawyers, poets, human rights defenders are still behind bars. They are some of the best human beings I’ve come across in my life. They have given the most and best of their life for the cause of the poor and marginalized. More than a year has passed and they cannot even get bail. My heart aches for them. The only way I can find some justification is that I redouble my efforts to bring relief to the thousands of under-trial prisoners in Jharkhand on whose behalf I’ve filed a PIL in Jharkhand HC.

Knocking at doors:  

Renewing the contacts I already had with individual activists in people’s organisations/movements I took the liberty of knocking at their doors. They not only took me in but also went out of their way to contact other socially concerned persons/groups/organisations. We met and shared what is happening locally, in their states, in the country as a whole. They were eager to understand what compels the migrant labour to leave their hearth and home and come to the south where everything is alien to them. They also assured me they would take up their cause to the extent possible.                                                                        

The Jesuit communities whose doors I knocked, accepted me not just as a visitor or a guest but as a member of their communities. They shared all they have and were keen to know the developments with regard to the cases I’m facing and the situation of the indigenous peoples of central India. All the Jesuits I met expressed their solidarity with me and what I was going through.

The happy news from Jharkhand end of December, the defeat of communal party paving way for secular democratic forces, meant a lot to me and my co-accused colleagues. The very first decision of the cabinet, within a few hours of swearing-in ceremony, was to withdraw all cases related to the Pathalgadi movement and this has brought a big relief to all of us. The whole nation stands in adulation of what the Adivasi/Moolvasi people of Jharkhand have been able to achieve to restore values of secularism and democracy.  The Indigenous Adivasis, in their own inimitable quiet way, will show the way to the rest of the country is my belief.

‘Truth will finally win’, yes, but after how long? 

My Jesuit colleagues and lawyers kept me updated about the proceedings in both the district and high courts. I was, and am, deeply pained about the type of accusations against me formally placed in open court by the Advocate General of the state: that I am a ‘dreaded criminal’… that I was the ‘mastermind’ behind the Pathalgadi movement leading the “poor ignorant adivasis” (sic) to violent action against the state with the intent of seceding from the Indian Union and therefore an act of ‘sedition’. He also told the court that if the state can crack me, it can easily crack the pathalgadi movement. He tried to link pathalgadi movement with Bhima-Koregaon case implying that both the revolts were done at the behest of Maoists. It is a small consolation that these accusations were aptly countered by my lawyers.

Light at the end of the tunnel !

We are witnessing a new mass upsurge in the resistance movements against the imposition of CAA, NRC, NPR all over the country. People of all ages, all religions, all races, all regions are coming down on the street. They are speaking in very clear words that they will stand by our Constitution, secularism and democracy. The conscience of the nation is being tapped. May we hope that this conscience-awakening will also spread to other spheres of life, that those in power & position, the bureaucrats, the legal professionals, the intellectuals, will not lag behind in hearing the voice of their conscience. We live on, in hope.

The post Six months of being hunted, not yet vanquished: Stan Swamy appeared first on SabrangIndia.

A couple of years ago, India’s Attorney General had said at the UN that “Ours (India) is a land of Gandhi and Buddha. We believe in peace, non-violence and upholding human dignity. As such, the concept of torture is completely alien to our culture and it has no place in the governance of the nation.” (Baljeet Kaur in EPW Vol. 53, Issue No. 36, 08 Sep, 2018)
 
Fine words indeed. However the 2015-2016 NHRC Annual Report states:Custodial violence and torture continue to be rampant in the country. It represents the worst form of excesses by public servants entrusted with the duty of law enforcement. 

Between September 2017 and June 2018  news reports noted 122 incidents of custodial torture resulting in 30 deaths. There has been no consistent documentation of torture-related complaints. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) does not document cases of custodial torture.(Baljeet…)
 
Let us enumerate some of the tortures taking place in the context of Indian government’s efforts to do away with so-called ‘extremism’ in the country:
 

• Several intellectuals, artists, writers, journalists, legal professionals, poets, Dalit  &Adivasi rights activists, human rights activists have now become suspects in the eyes of the ruling class. They are now invariably  called ‘maoists’, ‘naxals’, ‘urban naxals’ etc. Cases, including serious cases such as Unlawful Activities Prevention Act [UAPA], Sedition etc. have been foisted on them. Several of them have already been jailed, others are being harassed with raids on their work places and residences.

Now let us ask ‘who’ and ‘what’ are theseindividuals. They are perhaps the most precious human beings who have given the most and best of themselves for the cause of truth and justiceand have clearly taken the side of the deprived, marginalized sections of society. They have expended their individual charisma, professional expertise, unconditional solidarity with the deprived masses and many of them have achieved phenomenal success in bringing relief to the abandoned lot of human beings about whom the rest of society does not bother. They have deprived themselves of social & economic security which they otherwise would have enjoyed.

When the ruling class instead of commending their commitment is bent upon punishing them in meanest ways, it is deplorable.
Is this not torture ?

• The condition of the economically and socially deprived sections is even more a cause of concern. The fact is two-thirds [67%] of prisoners in India are under trials. Besides, one in every three under-trial prisoners in India is either SC or ST. Although they constitute only 24% of the population, 34% of them are under-trials. A random sampling study of under trial prisoners in Jharkhand reveals that the family-income of  59% of under trials is below Rs.3000 p/m and 38% of them earn between Rs.3000 and 5000 p/m. That means a total of 97% of under trial prisoners in Jharkhand earn less than Rs.5000 p/m. The inevitable conclusion is that practically all under trial prisoners are very poor people.(finding taken from ‘A Study of Undertrials in Jharkhand’ by Bagaicha Research Team, 2016, p.54)

A vexing question is how did they come to be arrested as ‘naxals’ / ‘sympathisers of naxals’?  The above-mentioned study found out that about 57% were arrested while they were at their homes.30% were arrested while travelling, at railway station or at a town while shopping. Eight percent said they surrendered themselves on being informed that there was a case registered against them, and five percent said that they were summoned by the police to the station ostensibly for some other purpose but on arrival they were arrested. However, most of the charge sheets filed by the police state that these arrests were made from forests. This mismatch is a clear indication that the police habitually fabricate cases against Adivasi villagers. (from above-mentioned study, p.56)
 
It is important to remember that greater part of them are young people. 22% are in the age-group of 18-28 which is the most creative part of one’s life and 46% are aged 29-40 which is the most productive part of one’s life. (facts from above study, p.50)But the repercussions of their imprisonment on themselves and their families are tragic. Many families have mortgaged or sold off the little assets such as their land, cattle. The sole breadwinner of the family is either in jail or implicated in cases. It is heart-rending to see many families have been reduced to destitution and their small children are growing up without paternal love and care. And knowing full well that if and when they are tried most of them will be acquitted.Hence their trial is deliberately prolonged no end.Is this not torture ?
 
It is common knowledge that prisoners are systematically tortured in our country. The poorer you are, the more liable you become a victim of physical torture in prison. Even very educated, knowledgeable, professionals are not exempt from physical as well as mental torture. It became evident when one of the accused in Bhima-Koregaoncase who is himself a lawyer was repeatedly slapped during police custody in Pune jail to the extent he had to be taken to the hospital. If this can happen to an eminent legal professional,the fate of poor helpless under-trial prisoners is best left to one’s imagination.
                                                                                                                                  
Is this not torture ?
 
And yet we are told ‘India is the land of Buddha and Gandhi and torture is just not part of our culture’ ! 
 
We can only take solace from the endearing song of our revered patriot, philosopher, poet Rabindranath Tagore. . .                                                                                                  
 
Where The Mind Is Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Related Articles:
4,000 Adivasis, Charged as ‘Naxals in Jails of Jharkand

Fence Eating the Crop ! NHRC Finds Fake ‘Naxalite-Surrenders’ in Jharkhand

The post Torture as practice dominates Indian law enforcement appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 

Image Courtesy: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters

There are three significant SC judgments on the indigenous Adivasi people’s rights over their land and natural resources:

1.  In 2011, the SC, hearing a complaint petition by a young Adivasi  woman who was raped and paraded naked by upper caste persons in a Maharashtra village, had observed 

“The ancestors of the present tribals or Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes), were the original inhabitants…  The injustice done to the tribal people of India is a shameful chapter in our country’s history. The tribals were called ‘rakshas’ (demons), ‘asuras’, and what not. They were slaughtered in large numbers, and the survivors and their descendants were degraded, humiliated, and all kinds of atrocities inflicted on them for centuries. They were deprived of their lands, and pushed into forests and hills where they eke out a miserable existence of poverty, illiteracy, disease, etc. And now efforts are being made by some people to deprive them even of their forest and hill land where they are living, and the forest produce on which they survive… Despite this horrible oppression on them, the tribals of India have generally (though not invariably) retained a higher level of ethics than the non-tribals. They normally do not cheat or tell lies, or commit other misdeeds, which many non-tribals do. They are generally superior in character to non-tribals. It is time now to undo the historical injustice to them.”  [SC Criminal Appeal 11 of 2011]

2.  In 2013 when the Adivasi people in Niyamgiri, Odisha, resisted their land being taken over by a corporate Vedanta co the SC ordered “The (adivasi) communities’ decisions must be respected, and projects must not be allowed without agreement by the communities in their favour… gram sabha proceedings in Niyamgiri take place independently and completely uninfluenced,.. the FRA protects a wide range of rights of forest dwellers and STs including the customary rights to use forest land as a community forest resource and not restricted merely to property rights or to areas of habitation.”  [SC Niyamgiri  judgment, 2013]

3.  Now, reversing its own established jurisprudence, under the Modi regime, the SC itself perpetuates this historic injustice on Adivasis. The recent SC judgmentpassed a few days ago by a three member bench of Arun Mishra, Navin Sinha and Indira Banerjee does just that. The central government that has been hyper active in other matters before the Supreme Court (be it triple talaq or any other) simply abdicated responsibility to defend the FRA in the Supreme Court.
 
While hearing a petition by a wild-life protection group, the SC gave directions to the Chief Secretaries of 21 Stateswhich are as follows:
(i) Give a lowdown of how many claims of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD) have been adjudicated under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
(ii) Give the status of eviction of people whose claims have been rejected under the Act.
(iii) Explain in affidavits why even after attaining finality, eviction was not done.
(iv) The Chief Secretaries should ensure that the eviction of rejected claimants is carried out. They have to file the compliance reports on or before July 24, 2019 which is next date of hearing. [The Hindu, 22 February 2019]
Some troubling questions emerge:

The fact is the process of recognising rights has been poorly implemented. Of the 41 lakh claims filed so far, 18 lakh have been approved, 3 lakh are still being processed and the remaining 20 lakh have been rejected.                                    
                                                                                                                          
Even when land-title is given there are layers of deception. The FRA authorises every forest-dwelling family at least two hectares (five acres). But the reality is if a family claims four acres, it is given 40 decimals or even less! There is a huge difference between the claim of four-five acres and where the ‘authorisation’ of 40 decimals?A clear injustice.
 

• Is not the Gram Sabha the most credible body to assess the genuineness of the claims? The members of Gram Sabha know who has been residing and cultivating which pieces of land and for how long.
• How are Committees at the Block and District level equipped to know whether the claims are true or false?  The members of these committees are mostly outsiders and non-Adivasis who have no sympathy towards the claimants.
• Has the judiciary the authority to order eviction of Scheduled Tribes people from Scheduled Areas?
• Is it not a plot to clear forests with its sub-soil minerals and hand them over to corporate mining companies?

The FRA was meant to correct a ‘historic injustice’, but the misuse of the law by the bureaucracy and the SC now approving this misuse is nothing short of perpetuating the ‘historic injustice’.
 
Related Articles:

1. Opinion: Corporate Conservationists use Judicial Process to Annihilate India’s Indigenous People

The post In ordering Eviction of Millions of Adivasis, the SC contradicts itself appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 

Ranchi: A group of 52 people comprising of academics, activists, representatives of people’s organisations and other concerned citizens have released a statement condemning the recent starvation deaths, communal lynching and violence, attempts by the government to forcefully acquire land and repression of voices of dissent in Jharkhand. They have made demands from the ruling government for the state. The signatories include social activists like Kavita Srivastava, Xavier Das, Amitava Ghosh, Jean Dreze, Ankita Aggarwal, Aloka Kujur and Afzal Anis.
 
The statement:
Since 2014, people of Jharkhand have faced severe attacks on their mere right to life by the Raghuvar Das led BJP government. The government has been trying to acquire land of Adivasis and Moolvasis against their wishes that will directly affect their livelihoods. On the other hand, there is also a direct attack on the people’s freedom to religion leading to the killing of Muslims and Adivasis in the name of ‘cow protection’. At the same time, there is a negligible focus on welfare programmes such as the Public Distribution System and social security pensions that has led to a spate of starvation deaths in the state in the recent past.”

At least 12 persons have succumbed to starvation since September 2017. The immediate causes of these deaths include denial of subsidized rice due to the absence of a ration card, cancellation of ration card not linked with Aadhaar and failure of Aadhaar-based biometric authentication at the ration shop.

It is true that some starvation victims were also ill, but they would probably not have succumbed to the illness if they received adequate nutrition and medical care. Denial of social security pensions and absence of work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) further contributed to the destitution of the starvation victims and their families. For every person who has died, hundreds other languish with hunger, undernutrition and illness.

While the starvation deaths expose the lack of political commitment of the state government towards people’s welfare, the various tactics used to acquire one of the biggest assets of people, land, are also telling of its anti-people motives. Despite widespread protests against amendments in the land acquisition act, the government kept pressing for the amendments which have finally been approved by the President. The most crucial amendment is the waiving off of social impact assessment (SIA) for government acquisition for specific ‘public’ purposes such as setting up schools, colleges; railway line and electrification and so on. For such purposes, the government empowers itself to forcibly acquire even fertile multi-crop land.

Social and environmental impact assessments are to be done by independent agencies and their reports are to be placed before the concerned Gram Sabhas for consent.  Waiving off the assessments will make it easier for the government to acquire land without people’s consent. And it is only a matter of time before the government uses this amendment to acquire land for private institutions of education, health etc.

The state government has also marked common lands of Adivasis and Moolvasis (such as rivers/rivulets, village roads, ponds, places of worship, burial grounds and so on) as part of “land bank” without the consent of the respective Gram Sabhas. The bank consists of 20.56 lakh acres of land across the state.  Of this, 10.56 lakh acres are already earmarked for corporates with whom the government signed MoUs during Momentum Jharkhand. And 81 per cent of this area falls in the Fifth Scheduled Area.

Forceful acquisition of land will have a direct impact on the livelihoods of the Adivasis and will literally violate their right to life. Not to mention, this is also a direct attack on the Adivasis’s constitutional right to self-governance.

The government is also repressing voices of dissent. Damodar Turi, convenor of Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan, was arrested on 15 February 2018 on charges of being a member of the illegally banned Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) and for celebrating the anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

There are also growing incidences of communal violence in the state. At least nine persons were lynched in the name of religion or cow protection in the last four years. Recently, two Muslim youths, accused of stealing buffaloes, were killed by a mob in Godda. In June, Nagri and Bero blocks of Ranchi also witnessed communal violence.

We expect opposition parties of Jharkhand to stand with the people against the continuing attacks on their right to life. We demand the government to immediately address the following demands:
 

• Universalise coverage of the Public Distribution System and social security pensions and ensure adequate work under NREGA in all the villages
• Remove mandatory linkage of welfare programmes with Aadhaar
• Withdraw amendments made in the land acquisition act
• Stop creating a land bank
• Notify rules of Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act (PESA) and implement the act in its true spirit.
• Release Damodar Turi and others implicated falsely along with him
• Ensure communal harmony in the state and ensure equality and justice for minorities
• Ensure criminal action in all the cases of lynching and mob violence in the state.

 
झारखंड में भूख से लोगों की मृत्यु, लोगों के सामाजिक और आर्थिक अधिकारों के उलंघन, अल्पसंख्यकों के विरुद्ध हिंसा, प्राकृतिक संसाधनों का जबरन अधिग्रहण और जनता के पक्ष में उठने वाले आवाज़ों को दबाए जाने के विरुद्ध शोधकर्ताओं, एक्टिविस्ट्स, जन संगठनों व अन्य चिंतित नागरिकों द्वारा जारी किया गया वक्तव्य. 
 
अधिक जानकारी के लिए स्टेन स्वामी (8409102157), प्रेम वर्मा (9835514004) अथवा सिराज दत्ता (9939819763) से संपर्क कर सकते हैं.
 
झारखंड में जीने के अधिकार पर बढ़ते प्रहार
2014 से रघुबर दास सरकार द्वारा झारखंड के लोगों के जीने के अधिकार पर प्रहार बढ़ गए हैं. सरकार आदिवासियों और मूलवासियों की इच्छा के विरुद्ध उनकी ज़मीन का अधिकरण करने की कोशिश कर रही है, जिसका सीधा प्रभाव उनकी आजीविका पर होगा. दूसरी ओर, लोगों की धर्म की स्वतंत्रता पर भी प्रहार हो रहे हैं, और गौ संरक्षण के नाम पर मुसलामानों व आदिवासियों को मारा जा रहा है. जन वितरण प्रणाली व सामाजिक सुरक्षा जैसी जन कल्याण योजनाओं को नज़रंदाज़ किया जा रहा है, जिसके कारण हाल में कई लोगों की भूख से मौत हुई है.

पिछले दस महीनों में झारखंड के कम से कम 12 लोग भूख के शिकार हुए हैं. ये मृत्यु मुखतः निम्न कारणों से हुई हैं  – राशन कार्ड न होना, आधार से लिंक न होने के कारण राशन कार्ड रद्द होना एवं  जन वितरण प्रणाली में आधार–आधारित बायोमेट्रिक सत्यापन की व्यवस्था काम न करना.

यह सच है कि कई भूख के शिकार लोग बीमार भी थे, पर अगर उन्हें समय पर पर्याप्त पोषण व स्वास्थ्य सुविधा मिलती, तो उनकी भूख से मौत नहीं होती. सामाजिक सुरक्षा पेंशन व नरेगा का काम न मिलने से मृतक व उनके परिवारों की आर्थिक स्थिति और भी दुर्बल हो गई. ये लोग राज्य में भूख, कुपोषण और बीमारी से ग्रसित सैंकड़ों लोगों के चंद उदहारण मात्र हैं.

लोगों के जीने के अधिकार पर हमला उनकी आवीजिका के स्त्रोतों – जैसे ज़मीन – को छीन कर भी हो रहा है. भूमि अधिग्रहण कानून में संशोधनों के विरुद्ध व्यापक विरोध के बावजूद राष्ट्रपति ने इन संशोधनों को अपनी मंजूरी दे दी है. इनमें से सबसे महत्वपूर्ण संशोधनों में से एक है सरकार द्वारा स्कूल, कॉलेज, रेलवे लाइन, विद्युतीकरण जैसे ‘सार्वजनिक’ उद्देश्यों के लिए भूमि अधिग्रहण की प्रक्रिया में सामाजिक प्रभाव मूल्यांकन की बाध्यता को समाप्त करना.

स्वतंत्र संस्थाओं द्वारा सामाजिक व पर्यावरण प्रभाव मूल्यांकन किया जाना है एवं इनकी रिपोर्ट ग्राम सभा के समक्ष अनुमोदन के लिए रखी जानी है. इस बाध्यता को समाप्त करने के बाद सरकार के लिए लोगों की सहमती के बिना उनकी ज़मीन अधिग्रहण करना आसान हो जाएगा. और शायद इसका फाएदा स्वास्थ्य और शिक्षा से जुड़े निजी कंपनियों को मिलेगा.

राज्य सरकार ने ‘लैंड बैंक’ के लिए बिना ग्राम सभाओं की सहमती के आदिवासियों और मूलवासियों की सार्वजनिक ज़मीन (जैसे नदी, सड़क, तालाब, धार्मिक स्थल आदि) चिन्हित करनी शुरू कर दी है. राज्य भर में अभी तक लैंड बैंक के लिए 20.56 लाख एकड़ ज़मीन चिन्हित की गई है, जिसमें से 10.56 लाख एकड़ ज़मीन के प्रयोग के लिए निजी कंपनियों के साथ समझौते भी हो गए हैं. इस ज़मीन का 81 प्रशिशत क्षेत्र पांचवी अनुसूची क्षेत्र में पड़ता है. यह आदिवासियों के स्वशासन के संविधानिक अधिकार का सीधा उलंघन है.  

सरकार उसके विरुद्ध आवाजों को भी दबा रही है. 15 फ़रवरी 2018 को मज़दूर संघर्ष समिति का सदस्य होने व रुसी क्रांति की वर्षगाठ मानाने के लिए विस्थापन विरोधी जन विकास आन्दोलन के संयोजक दामोदर तूरी को गिरफ्तार किया गया था.

राज्य में साम्प्रदायिक हिंसा भी बढ़ रही है. पिछले चार वर्षों में धर्मं या गौ रक्षा के नाम पर कम से कम नौ लोगों को पीट पीट कर मारा गया है. हाल में भैंसे चुराने के आरोप में गोड्डा के दो मुसलमान नौजवानों की ह्त्या हुई. रांची ज़िले के नगड़ी और बेड़ो में भी साम्प्रदायिक हिंसा हुई है.
हम आशा करते हैं कि झारखंड के सभी विपक्षी दल लोगों के जीने के अधिकार पर लगातार हो रहे प्रहार के विरुद्ध आवाज़ उठाएंगे.

हम सरकार से निम्न मांगे करते हैं:
       जन वितरण प्रणाली और सामाजिक सुरक्षा पेंशन का सर्वव्यापीकरण हो और हर गाँव में नरेगा का पर्याप्त काम खुले
       सभी जन कल्याणकारी योजनाओं में आधार की अनिवार्यता समाप्त हो
       भूमि अधिग्रहण कानून में संशोधन वापस लिए जाए
       लैंड बैंक बनना बंद हो
       पेसा कानून की नियमावली जारी की जाए और इस कानून को सही भावना के साथ लागू किया जाए
       दामोदर तूरी और उसके साथ झूठे आरोपों के लिए बंधक बनाए अन्य लोगों को तुरंत रिहाई मिले
       राज्य में साम्प्रदायिक सौहार्द व अल्पसंख्यकों के लिए समानता और न्याय सुनिश्चित हो
       राज्य में साम्प्रदायिक हिंसा फैलाने वाले लोगों के विरुद्ध कानूनी कार्रवाई हो
 
Signatories
Adeep Kumar (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Afzal Anis (United Milli Forum, Jharkhand)
Aloka Kujur (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Amitava Ghosh (Concerned citizen)
Anjor Bhaskar (Independent consultant)
Ankita Aggarwal (Right to Food Campaign)
Anmol Somanchi (Independent researcher)
Arvind Kumar (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Aseem Shrivastava (Concerned citizen and Environmentalist)
Ashok Verma (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Basant Hetamsariya (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Bharat Bhushan Choudhary (Samajwadi Jan Parishad)
Binod Kumar (Concerned citizen)
Debmalya Nandi (Concerned citizen)
Devika (Concerned citizen)
Gautam Mody (New Trade Union Initiative)
Jag Narayan Mahto (Samajwadi Jan Parishad)
Jean Dreze (Development economist)
Jharkhand NREGA Watch
Jothi SJ (Udayani Social Action Forum, Kolkata)
Kavita Srivastava (People’s Union for Civil Liberties)
Koninika Ray (National Federation of Indian Women)
Kumar Sanjay (Social Worker, Jharkhand)
Leo A Singh (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Mahendra Singh (Van Jeevan Grameen Vikas Samiti Sanstha, Latehar)
Manoj Kindo (PRADAN, Ghagra)
Md. Shadab Ansari (Advocate)
Mira Shiva (Jan Swasthya Abhiyan)
Pranjal Danda (Concerned citizen)
Praveer Peter (Solidarity Centre, Ranchi)
Prem Verma (Jharkhand Nagrik Prayas)
Rajendra Kumar (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Rajendran Narayanan (Assistant Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore)
Sadique Jahan (Social Worker, Jharkhand)
Sajha Kadam, Jharkhand
Sakina Dhorajiwala (Concerned citizen)
Samajwadi Jan Parishad, Jharkhand
Saroj Humroz (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Satish Kundan (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Shariq Ansar (Fraternity Movement)
Siraj Dutta (Right to Food Campaign)
Stan Swamy (Bagaicha)
Sunil Kujur (Concerned Citizen)
Swati Narain (Right to Food Campaign)
Taramani Sahu (Jharkhand NREGA Watch)
Uma Gupta (Assistant Professor, University of Delhi)
Umeshwar Prasad (Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Gumla)
United Milli Forum, Jharkhand
Vishwanath Azad (National Alliance of People’s Movements)
Vivek (Right to Food Campaign)
Xavier Dias (Editor, Khan Kaneej Aur ADHIKAR (Mines minerals and RIGHTS)
Ziaullah (Association for Protection of Civil Rights)

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