Those who addressed the gathering included Delhi University’s Dr Jitendra Meena, Dr Saroj Giri of the Political Science Department and Dr Nandita Narain of St. Stephen’s College, DU.

Dr Meena spoke on the intensified displacement of Adivasis from their land by way of big corporates seeking to begin mining projects in resource-rich regions. He raised his astonishment as to how forests in Hasdeo which were once declared a “No-Go” zone for human activities are now being cut down for the interests of Adani’s mining project right after the BJP government came to power in Chhatisgarh.

He expressed his concern regarding how displacement of people in the name of environmental conservation and building a tiger reserve such as in Kaimur, is being justified through amendments in forest conservation and wildlife protection laws.

He said, “108 villages in Kaimur have been given a notice for displacement. Same story is being seen in Rajasthan, in the Kumbhalgarh area, where more than 50 villages have received the same notices for displacement. In Karoli, Dhaulpur, more than 50 villages too have received notices from the government to leave. Where will these Adivasi peasants go, what will happen to their lives? Nobody knows. But the story of displacing them from their lands has already begun, whether it be in Kaimur, Hasdeo, Bastar or Rajasthan.”

Dr Giri pointed out how the Indian state is unleashing an undeclared and undocumented war on the Adivasi people of the country since Salwa Judum and Operation Green Hunt which has now intensified into Operation Samadhan-Prahar. The people’s struggle against militarization and corporate loot is a struggle for their existence which is tied to their land, he said.

Condemning the death of a 6 month old infant in Bijapur during anti-Naxal operations, he drew a contrast with previous such massacres in Gompad, Sarkeguda and Eddesmetta, stating, despite judicial enquiry reports finding the paramilitary personnel responsible for the fake encounter in Edesmetta and Sarkeguda, no action has been taken.

Dr Narain said how corporate loot of resources is expanding its tentacles. She reminisced the campaign led by Dr GN Saibaba against Operation Green Hunt which culminated in his incarceration, thereby exposing the state’s attempt to silence any voice that questions this undeclared war.

The protest was also addressed by constituent members of FACAM.

Courtesy: CounterView

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Around 5,000 members of the Adivasi community of Odisha’s Sundargarh district surrounded the office of the district collector on October 21 to protest against what they termed the illegal acquisition of their land by the Dalmia Cement Company.

Under the banner of the ‘Jan Sangathan Forum for Gram Sabha’, members of five panchayats from the district – the Kukuda, Alanda, Kesramal and Jhagarpur Panchayats of the Rajgangpur block and the Ketang Panchayat of the Kutra block – came together to demonstrate. At present, a rasta rook protest (road blockage) is still on. The protest was reported by Orissa television four days ago.

Courtesy: Orissa TV 

The 5,000 protesting tribals have, according to OTV, begun a 100 km padyatra (footmarch) from Ramabhal on October 18, reaching the collector’s office on October 21. That night, the protesting Adivasi members spent the night out in the cold, demanding a meeting with the collector.

The protesters first began their 100 km march on foot, from Ramabhal on October 18 and arrived at the collectorate on October 21. The group also released a joint press statement on Monday, October 24, detailing their journey and demands.

In this press statement, the group notes that 750 acres of land coming under the aforementioned panchayats have been “illegally allocated to the Dalmia Cement Company” (formerly the Odisha Cement Limited; OCL), despite the members of the Adivasi community rejecting outright the proposal to part with their land. 

The statement alleges that if this land deal goes through, 60,000 tribals from 57 villages will be displaced and left unemployed. More importantly, the statement says, they would be left without their identity.

“For us tribals, land is not just a livelihood; it is like a part of our bodies,” the statement quoted the Jan Sangathan Forum for Gram Sabha president, Bibol Tope, as saying. “Land is connected to our life, identity, culture and language. That’s why, in 2017, we started this movement to save our land.”

“We’ll give our lives before giving even half-an-inch of land to the Dalmia company,” Tope said. 

Providing a background to this dispute, the statement says that Dalmia-OCL seeks to expand its stone mining operations in the region by providing an additional 2,150 acres of land to Dalmia Bharat, a private company. In order to complete the first leg of this expansion, the statement claims, the company needs 750 acres of land.

The tribals are on their way to the Sundargarh collector’s office to protest against illegal land acquisition by the Dalmia Group. This is a four-day rally to save the land of their ancestors. #SaveSundargarh @Naveen_Odisha pic.twitter.com/1LPeFu1jEB

— Suraj Kumar Bauddh (@SurajKrBauddh) October 18, 2022

The statement also notes that when the protesting Adivasis (indigenous people) arrived in front of the collector’s office at 10 am on October 21, they demanded that officials come out of the office, take a memorandum from the protesters and give their assurance that an inquiry would be conducted into the allegations of illegal land acquisition.

However, the statement notes that not a single official came out of the collector’s office. Instead, the tribals were told to select four representatives to give the memorandum to the collector in his office.

Thereafter, as protests intensified at the site, the collector’s office as well as his residence were closed “from all four sides”.

At 7 pm that day, under pressure from the protesters, the collector came out to address the crowd and called 25 representatives to meet with him the next day. With no other arrangements in place, the 5,000 protesters were once again forced to spend the night in the open.

The next day, October 22, the collector met with the 25 delegates of the forum, took notice of the memorandum and provided a written assurance that the memorandum would be sent to the chief minister and governor of Odisha, as well as the President of India, and that the land acquisition process will be halted until a reply is received. 

The protesting tribals had also demanded that until the illegal land acquisition is stopped, the protesters be given space outside the collector’s office for 100-200 members to protest, in addition to arrangements for water and mobile toilets. In this regard, too, the collector gave his assurance that arrangements would be made within 10 days.

The district administration’s assurances were then conveyed by the delegates who attended the meeting to the crowd and at 4 pm that day, buses were arranged to take the protesting tribals home safely.

Rila Susheela Tope, sarpanch of the Kukuda Panchayat told the media, “On January 26, 2020, the Forum rejected the proposal for the acquisition of our land and passed a resolution to not part with even an inch of land. However, the state government, the administration and the company, without conducting a social impact assessment, without any evaluation, without any notification and without the permission of the Gram Sabha, began the process of land acquisition.”

“We are Adivasis; we will not leave our land, we will not leave our village and we will not make a deal for our soil,” Vinay Barla, the Forum’s editor, said. “The government has been trying to lure people by promising to pay them Rs 25 lakh and use fake signatures to show their consent; that’s why we launched our four-day foot march. If the government does not heed our demand and stop the illegal land acquisitions, we will intensify our protests”.

Meanwhile, Madhusan, president of the Jan Jagran Abhiyan said, “In 2018, in the name of the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ programme, the Modi government mortgaged the heritage of both Delhi and the country, the Red Fort, to the very same Dalmia Bharat group. However, when this company came to Sundargarh in Odisha, they were opposed.”

“This is because this movement does not belong to any (political) party or special group,” Madushan continued, “it belongs to the women, youth, students and members of the Adivasi community. We will not give even half an inch of our land. The Dalmia company will have to go back.”

“This is a movement of Adivasi strength and will continue until Dalmia goes away,” Madhusan said, according to the statement. 

The statement names Jhagarpur sarpanch Lalit Lakra, Alanda sarpanch Ajit Lakra and committee member Mahima Tope, and other members as those leading the movement, further saying that after two weeks, the movement will begin by establishing a front outside the office of the Sundargarh district collector.

The powerful visuals that can be seen on Orissa TV tell their own story

Related:

Adivasi groups resolve to intensify agitation demanding inclusion of Sarna Code in Census

Sarna code: More than just a political tactic

Adivasi identity at stake

The post ‘Won’t Give an Inch to Dalmia Cement’, over 5,000 Adivasis in Odisha Protest ‘Illegal’ Land Acquisition appeared first on SabrangIndia.

These protesters had come from all over the country—Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, among others—to vent their frustration with the broken administrative system surrounding the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 that has only served to strip them of their homes and livelihood.

The Sansad Gherao

The movement was organised by Bhumi Adhikar Andolan along with other forest rights groups such as All India Kisan Sabha, All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), All India Kisan Mahasabha, National Alliance of People’s Movements, All India Agricultural Workers Union, Jagrut Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, All India Krishak Khet Mazdoor Union, Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch, and Delhi Solidarity Group.

These groups have been supporting tribal communities in holding demonstrations and meetings at their state, district and village levels from November 17 so as to protest the violations of their people’s rights and the dilution of the Forest Rights Act in the stay period between Supreme Court hearings on the on-going matter. These actions were planned ahead of the next hearing in the case which is slated for November 26.

Ashok Chaudhary, the general secretary of AIUFWP, said, “This mobilisation is important before the hearing. The message should go to the law makers that forest dwellers will not tolerate injustice.”

The Gherao also saw the presence of two Rajya Sabha MLAs — Elamaram Kareem and K.K. Ragesh, both from the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

The Case

In 2008, a batch of petitions were filed that challenged the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights Act, clubbed under Wild Life First v. Union of India. In relation to this case, the Apex Court had ordered the eviction of over a million forest dwellers in 16 states when their claims over the forest land they reside in were rejected by forest department officials.

The Court stayed this order after national uproar that was caused by it, and sought information on the claims process, after scores of faults were pointed out in its execution by Adivasis, civil society organisations, and even some retired forest officials.

In September, the Supreme Court admitted 19 intervention applications that had been filed before it in relation to this case by different sets of directly concerned individuals and organisations, all of these defended the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006.

One such application filed by two Adivasi leaders — Sokalo Gond and Nivada Rana — was backed by the AIUFWP and CJP. Through their application, Gond and Rana are presenting the plight of the Adivasi that has been so thoroughly ignored since the Act’s inception, and also showcasing how the Act is in line with Schedules V, VI, and IX of the Indian Constitution. This application was also significant as it brought to the forefront the role of women human rights defenders and community leaders in the protection of forest rights.

The Strife

Adivasis have complained that, despite further evictions having been put on hold until November 26, the forest department has continued to push people out by force and attempted to destroy their farms and houses.

On July 9, in the Siwal village in Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh, the Barela Adivasi community faced an onslaught of continuous pellet gun firing by forest officials for protesting against an eviction drive. Adding insult to literal injury, 153 Barelas were then booked in a FIR filed by the Nepanagar police in Burhanpur with questionable irregularities and several missing details.

On July 17, in Umbha village of Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, close to 300 men of the dominant, Gujjar community rode atop 32 tractors to indiscriminately fired guns at the residing Gond tribals, caught unawares while were farming their land.

The group was led by the village head that was trying to take possession of the Gond-owned land by means of illegal transfers. The firing led to the killing of 11 villagers, and along with injury to 21 persons.

Final arguments in the SC case are set to begin from November 26.

Related:

Sansad Gherao in Delhi for Forests Rights

Thousands of Adivasis demand the implementation of FRA 2006

All Intervention Applications defending FRA, 2006 admitted by SC

Towards Strengthening Women Leadership at the Grassroots

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Men and women from the Narmada valley protesting against the Narmada dam. “La Llorona’s Sacred Waters”, a mural by Juana Alicia on York and 24th in San Francisco.  Flickr: anirvan
 
Narmada: More than 75,000 Adivasis and tribals will boycott the inauguration of Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity and 72 villages have promised to register their protest by not cooking food. The communities are concerned and enraged at the wanton destruction of their lands and natural resources. They expressed their resentment to the collector of Rajpipla in the Narmada district on Oct 29. The six villages which were acquired for the Sardar Sarovar dam in 1961 have not received any compensation nor land that was promised to them in exchange in 2013. Their remaining land and the land that drowned is now being snatched for tourism plans.
 
19 villages named after Sardar Patel were acquired and submerged for the dam and the Adivasi people of the village still haven’t been rehabilitated. They do not have any drinking water, irrigation for their fields or employment. 35000 people are still affected in the submerged area of Sardar Sarovar in Madhya Pradesh. People who were displaced due the Garudeshwar weir, canals and inhabitants of the islands and mountains are now being driven out for tourism schemes. 72 villages from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh will not cook any food on Oct 31 to express their anger, sadness and struggle.
 
On Monday, the headmen of 22 villages near the Sardar Sarovar Dam had written to Modi to tell him that villagers would not welcome him for the inauguration of the statue. Tribal leaders had announced a boycott of the function. They have said the construction of the statue has led to the destruction of natural resources.
 
The village headmen said citizens’ hard-earned money had been wasted on such projects. “These forests, rivers, waterfalls, land and agriculture supported us for generations. We survived on them. But, everything is being destroyed now and celebrations are also planned. Don’t you think it’s akin to celebrating someone’s death? We feel so,” he said.
 
“We do not have anything against Sardar Patel. But we feel that had he been alive, he would not have agreed to the construction of such a huge statue at such a huge expense when the common tribal population across the state is still suffering for basic necessities. No food will be cooked in tribal households, which according to tribal traditions is practised when someone in the family dies,” said Amarsinh Chaudhary, a tribal rights activist who was an MP in the 70s and will be spearheading the movement from Tapi district, reported the Indian Express.
 
“We, the workers of Madhya Pradesh, fishermen, potters and farmers who consider Sardar Patel an unparalleled leader of farmers respect his contribution to the freedom struggle. We cannot deny what he did for the country. We respect the leaders of the freedom movement and their dreams of political, social and economic independence, who gave us the message of Swaraj and Su-Raj. We disapprove the current politicians using his name for their own gains. The people who speak Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati are all fighting one cause. This will be our slogan for the protest on Oct 31. The villagers of Bagud near Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh will demonstrate their struggle in Chikhalda Gram. We will show our support for the ongoing struggle in Gujarat and we will condemn the failure of rehabilitation of thousands of families. We don’t want the statue or the dam which leaves only a little water for the consumption of villages. We want a regularized water distribution of all major and medium water bodies. We want equal water for farmers, fishermen, potters and we don’t want our land, fishes, trees, plants, temples or Ghats forcibly acquired or submerged without our permission,” said a message received by one of the protesting groups.
 
They also said that the current government was acting contrary to the legal systems of the country. “Supreme Court orders of 2000, 2005, 2017 were violated. The grievance redressal authority is being weakened. Thousands of grievance orders and High Court orders are being overlooked which is a great injustice. The problems of innocent people are being ignored for a tourism scheme in Narmada. The livelihoods, survival and religious beliefs of Adivasis are at stake. We want the Narmada to flow free like the Ganga, free from pollution and illegal mining. The activities of corporate giants who build big dams and reservoirs and want to lay big pipelines of water supply should stop their inhuman work immediately. Taking water from Maharashtra and giving it to Gujarat and making Tapi river flow in taking Sardar Sarovar Water to Tapi river valley will deprive the tribals of Satpura. Despite the opposition of Gram Sabhas to this plan, the plans are being carried out unabated,” the group said.
 
The protestors argue that by not letting the Narmada river flow into the sea, it had destroyed countless lives along the banks. “The sea has entered Bharuch and Narmada district by up to 80 kms. Fishermen have lost their livelihoods and the water being supplied to people in towns is saline. We want the river to live and the dam should allow the river to exit into the sea. Prof G.D Agarwal became a martyr to save the Ganga and we did not want the same to be our fate. But if that is what it takes in these times where the govt is not just corrupt but violent and unjust, we will keep registering our protest. We will stand on the banks of the river and show our support for the Adivasis in Gujarat,” they said.

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Narmada: Around 90 activists from around Gujarat are reported to have been arrested by Narmada district police in Rajpipla and other places. A whole Government, right from the executive, administration, regular police, Reserve Police Force and Home Guards from across the State have descended on Kevadia for the 31st October ‘tamasha’ being conducted in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
 
Sardar Patel, who fought for the farmers, the poor, and the nation as a whole, would have been deeply pained at the kind of wanton destruction of natural, human and financial resources seen there. Tens of thousands of trees have been chopped off for road widening, houses pulled down, people summarily thrown out.
 
But why is the Government that rode such a wave of popularity and a Parliament majority so paranoid? Why does it have to fear a handful of activists while it has deployed its might of thousands of policemen and other security forces? What is the source of its jitters?
 
The answer is not far to seek. There are a thousand ‘national’ reasons why it is getting sleepless nights. Every institution that it tried to put under its thumb, the Supreme Court, then the CBI, now RBI has pushed back for its autonomy.
 
And, there are a thousand local reasons why it was showing the jitters just before the Statue was inaugurated.
 
The first six villages acquired for Sardar Sarovar staff colonies were never recognized as project-affected. They are fighting back.
 
The 19 villages that were, in fact, recognized as Project-affected are fighting because promises made to them, again and again, were not kept.
 
The seven villages that would be affected by Garudeshwar Weir are fighting for their rights.
 
The 28 villages on the right bank of Main Canal, under whose noses the water flows, are not allowed a drop of water for their parched farms in this rain-scarce year have resolved to fight.
 
And, why have the promises not been kept?
 
Because these people were believed to be docile, voiceless, ‘uneducated’ Adivasis who could be pushed around. Because Sardar Sarovar funds that should have been used for canal-network completion for thirsty and dying farmers were being quietly diverted to the Prime Minister’s vanity projects such as golf course, 5-Star Hotel, boating lake, Tent City for the rich and mighty. All this in the name of Sardar’s Statue!
 
The myriad project-affected -those that were displaced, those that were promised rehabilitation, those that were promised water- are all coming together. They are boycotting tomorrow’s programme. Their cooking stoves shall remain cold tomorrow. The Adivasi are in mourning. They understand it is not just their livelihood, lifestyle, life under threat but their culture being destroyed.
 
That is why all these activists are in Police lock up. When a power-drunk Government sees itself in the mirror it deludes itself into believing that it can survive by rounding up those who speak truth to power. Good Luck to them, and all power to the fighting, struggling daughters and sons of the soil.
 
Report from Activists Anand Mazgaonkar, Swati Desai, Michael, Ghanshyam Patel, Shaukat Indori, Deepali Ghelani, Kamal Thakar, Daniel M

The post More than 100 activists and Adivasis arrested In Gujarat before the Inauguration of Sardar Patel’s Statue appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The press meet addressed by NSS leaders – Dodi Pusika, activists Jagili Pusika, Kuni Sikaka, Dama Pushika, Dasuru’s mother Sitari Kadraka, Saiba’s sister Palenge Pusika and others.

On the May 1, the police raided village Gorata at midnight and abducted 20-year-old Kuni Sikkaka, who happens to be the daughter in law of Dodi Pushika, the village headman as well as a highly respected leader of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti. Dasuru Kadraka (Village – Gorata, PS – Muniguda District – Rayagada) has been languishing in jail for more than a year now charged with several false cases. Saiba Pushika, a 17-year-old boy, also from Gorata village was similarly picked up from the market in February 2017, tortured and is now imprisoned in the Berhampur juvenile jail. In February 2016, Manda Kadraka, from village Dangamati, again a Dongria Kondh PVTG settlement, was shot dead by CRPF soldiers and was presented to the media as hardcore Maoist from Chattisgarh.

The statement states that:
“This is to bring to your attention that the Adivasi-Dalit members of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti have been made a victim of a conspiracy between the Govt. and mining company Vedanta. We are being constantly intimidated and pressurized to succumb to the private company’s machinations, and the Police has been made an instrument to suppress us.

“We have been spearheading a movement to safeguard our life, livelihood and environment under the banner of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti for more than 12 years. We have opposed the mining of our sacred mountain, Niyam Dongar and the construction of the refinery by forcefully grabbing land. The sacred mountain Niyam Dongar is our tribe’s God and worshipped by millions of people. Our opposition and petitions to the apex environmental court, the National Green Tribunal, led to several investigative commissions as well as a historic referendum in the year 2013 as per the Supreme Court of India’s directives, where 12 villages in the Niyamgiri hills held Gram Sabhas that unanimously rejected the mining proposal. The Gram Sabha’s decision was further validated by the Supreme Court in its final verdict on the matter, mining has been banned in the Niyamgiri hills.

“Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, the company and State Govt. have colluded to intimidate the same people who had earlier unanimously rejected the mining proposal. As a result many of our people are being branded as Left Wing Extremists and members of the CPI-Maoist, which is a blatant falsehood. Vested interests supporting the company in the ruling party have influenced the local police to frame us and our organization, Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti, as a CPI-Maoist front. This has led to random detention, torture and incarceration of our people. Being members of a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, the Dongria Kondh, the people of Niyamgiri are guaranteed the highest form of protection by the Govt., but instead we are seeing even minors are not being spared from this heinous conspiracy.

“Dasuru Kadraka (Village – Gorata, PS – Muniguda District – Rayagada) has been languishing in jail for more than a year now charged with several false cases. He was the sole breadwinner of his family comprising of three small children, wife and an old mother. He was picked up from the Muniguda town market in March 2016 and later presented to the media as a hardened Maoist guerilla, which is a complete lie. He has been made to undergo extreme third degree physical torture as well as being subjected to electric shocks in custody.

“Saiba Pushika, a 17-year-old boy, also from Gorata village was similarly picked up from the market in February 2017, tortured and is now imprisoned in the Berhampur juvenile jail.

“On the May 1, the police raided village Gorata at midnight and abducted 20-year-old Kuni Sikkaka, who happens to be the daughter in law of Dodi Pushika, the village headman as well as a highly respected leader of Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti. Later when Kuni’s family went to secure the release of Kuni Sikkaka, all of them were blackmailed by the SP and DIG to sign statements that they are surrendered Maoists. They were also forced to make false statements in front of the media. When they protested and told the truth to the media, the police manhandled and muffled them.

“We have already seen how a young student Manda Kadraka, from village Dangamati, again a Dongria Kondh PVTG settlement, was shot dead in February 2016 by CRPF soldiers and was presented to the media as hardcore Maoist from Chattisgarh. Only when pictures of his dead body published in the media reached his teachers it was revealed that they had killed the boy in a fake encounter and then tried to cover up by presenting him as a Maoist cadre from Chattisgarh. Drika Kadraka of Dhamanpanga village (PS – Muniguda) committed suicide in 2015 after he was tortured and threatened by the Police.

“This never-ending assault by the Odisha Govt and state’s  plice at the behest of the mining company Vedanta has destroyed the lives of many Adivasi Dalit people in Niyamgiri, where we no longer live fearlessly as we have for centuries in our homeland. Our life and livelihood has been disrupted by this concerted campaign to drive us away from our sacred ancestral land so that the mining company can take over. Today, we cannot go to the markets to sell our produce as the Police randomly picks our people and then slaps all sorts of cases against them, tortures them to make fake submissions, and then they languish in jail.

“While we were travelling to Bhubaneswar on the June 4 to submit this petition to the NCST, our Adivasi friends from nearby villages who were accompanying us were intimidated by the Muniguda Police Station and they had to turn back. Earlier the Muniguda police intimidated those who tried to help us in writing and lodging FIRs against the Police for abduction of Kuni Sikkaka, and other cases. The Police has also threatened us for going to Berhampur city to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister via the RDC.

“Is Niyamgiri an occupied territory where democracy and Indian constitution have ceased to exist? Are the Adivasi people of Niyamgiri prisoners of Odisha police who cannot even step out of the area? Why is the Muniguda police not allowing the people to have access to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the other legal recourses available to us? Is it a crime to raise matters of injustice?

“Instead of providing health facilities that can stop dozens of our tribe members dying from epidemics every year or education in Mother Tongue, the sole purpose of the Govt. in our area is to terrorize us.

“Therefore, we have demanded an inquiry by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to investigate the matter, punish the culprits responsible for terrorizing us, direct the Govt. to free our people languishing in jail as well as take measures to protect us from such political violence.

“We have also urged the NCST to look into the reasons why several resolutions and demands made during the 2013 Gram Sabhas have not been accepted. We demand that the entire Niyamgiri hills be rightfully declared as Dongria Kondh habitat area as per the Forest Rights Act 2006. We would also like the Govt to recognize the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti as per the Forest Rights Act as the official organization that is protecting Niyamgiri forest. Unless such action is taken, we fear the already marginalized population of around 8,000 Dongria Kondh people living in Niyamgiri, will get wiped out totally as a tribe.

“We would also like to emphasise that this conspiracy by the Govt and Vedanta has also endangered the lives of our leaders like Dodi Pushika (Village – Gorata), and Lado Sikakka (Village – Lakhpadar), who were also petitioners in the case against Vedanta. We have demanded that the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes should advise the concerned authorities to safeguard the life of our leaders.

“Today on June 5 when the whole world is observing World Environment Day, we the people engaged in protecting the environment are facing intimidation, torture, abduction, and wrongful incarceration by our Govt. itself. Even then Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti will continue to campaign for the protection of the Niyamgiri hills that are home to hundreds of endangered flora and fauna species, as well as the source of rivers Vansadhara and Nagabali that sustain life for hundreds of square kilometers in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The Govt. needs to function like a democracy, we are fighting peacefully and using legal measures for our Constitutional rights. The Govt. has to stop this witch hunting of Adivasi Dalit leaders who are opposed to the nexus between the Govt and Vedanta.

English Translation of Press note and picture courtesy – Surya Dash. 

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The post Intimidation & Illegal Incarcerations of Adivasis: Odisha Police Acting at the Behest of Vedanta? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Business Today

 
Leading citizens, lawyers and activists have strongly protested the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has linked the Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti (NSS) with ‘Maoist’ organisations. The Annual report (2016-17) of the MHA states that Maoists ‘guide’ the activities of the NSS. A strongly worded petition addressed to the president, Pranab Mukherjee, prime minister, Narendra Modi , the ministry of tribal affairs and the chief minister of Orissa, Naveen Patnaik has protested this stand of the MHA.

The Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti is a collective of the Dongria Kondh tribal people and other local communities who have been organizing themselves against bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills (Odisha), which is their only home, for more than a decade.

The petition raises a pertinent issue of whether, the continued targeting of the Dongria Kondh community (with a population of less than ten thousand people) in reports like these (and in continued state actions on the ground) raises serious doubts: is this being purposely done to break their continued resolve to oppose the mining of the Niyamgiri hills, and fragment their movement?

Further, the petition sees as devious the attempts by the state government to surreptitiously introduce the proposal to start mining from the backdoor, despite the Supreme Court having ordered that the Dongria Kondh need to be consulted about mining in the region in April 2013. Following the Supreme Court order, “and the complete and overwhelming rejection by the Dongria Kondh gram sabhas of the mining in the hills thereafter, “ the petition observes that these backdoor efforts continue. Recently, the Odisha Mining Corporation filed a petition in the Supreme Court to reopen the mining. The Supreme Court has refused to admit the petition and has asked the government to make the 12 gram sabhas that had earlier rejected the mining parties in the petition.

Besides, apart from these attempts, there has been constant intimidation and violence on the community by security forces. In the last 2-3 years, several Dongria Kondh youth and elders have been arrested, harassed, and killed, and one has committed suicide after repeated harassment and alleged torture by security forces. In none of these cases, have the forces been able to produce evidence linking them to so-called Maoists. One young adivasi was charged with arson, murder, attacking security forces, etc, and with absconding … the last one a blatantly false claim given that he was picked up from the main market of Muniguda town! 

The Ministry of Home Affairs appears to have ignored the overwhelming response of the Dongria Kondh, when Maoist organisations told them to oppose or boycott the gram sabha meetings organised by the state at the behest of the Supreme Court order of April 2013. Hundreds of Dongria Kondh had flocked from village to village to take part in the meetings, openly defying this call[1][1].

The Government should also pay heed to the wisdom of the Supreme Court expressed in the case of Nandini Sundar and Ors vs The State of Chhattisgarh (Writ petition no 250/2007), also referred to as the Salwa Judum Judgement. In this reiterated that the current social order which treats any person speaking for human rights and questions the current paradigm of the State, as a maoist or a maoist sympathiser, has become a serious problem affecting our nation and that any peaceful dissent or dissatisfaction which is a positive feature of democracy, is often not recognized by the authorities and is met with severe repression.

The petition urges the authorities to use their responsibility of upholding the Constitution, and in particular the safeguards for Adivasis contained in it, to direct the MHA to retract the statements made about the NSS in its report, to stop the intimidation of the adivasis and attempts to restart the mining, and to allow the Dongria Kondh and other communities of the Niyamgiri hills to live a dignified life of self-determination for their present and future.

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The post MHA’s Linking Niyamgiri’s Dongria Kondh Tribals with ‘Maoists” Strongly Protested appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Historic Injustice: The Supreme Court of India in a landmark judgment (Criminal Appeal No: 11 of 2011) has observed:
“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.” [section 36].

Law vs People: Realising this injustice, the British rulers introduced some legislation with a view to protect the tribal people and their rights over natural resources. Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908 (CNT) and SantalPargana Tenancy Act, 1949 (SPT). These laws were meant to prevent land-alienation of the indigenous Adivasi community. However, over the years some loopholes were introduced in the law, especially in the CNT Act through which indigenous land can now be taken for public sector undertakings such as mines and industries. Under this guise or pretext, thousands of acres of land has been forcibly appropriated from Jharkand’sAdivasis using the outdated Land Acquisition Act of 1894 enacted by the British. The compensation fixed by petty bureaucrats has been meagre without any rehabilitation of the displaced. A minimal estimate is that about 24 lakh acres of land was thus alienated and 19 lakh people have been, over the decades, displaced. A cruel, further push in this policy of unfair seizure of land was brought in with the neo-liberalisation policies adopted from the early 1990s, that has paved the way for private industrialists to invest in mining and industries.

MoUs on paper only: Even as the government went on signing Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with prospective industrialists, people’s resistance movements began to emerge.Consequently very few industrialists could set up their industries leading to an industrial deadlock and most of them had to go back empty handed.Big projects such as Neterhat Field Firing Range, Koel-Karo River-Water Project, Arcelor-Mittal project where the people’s collective resolve not to give their land are some of the success stories of people’s resistance.

It was in such a predicament that UPA government enacted the ‘Land Acquisition Act, 2013’ by which better compensation and rehabilitation was offered. Some significant features of this 2013 law are: (1) compensation amount enhanced to four times the market rate, (2) obtaining environment clearance for the industry/mine, (3) obligatory public hearings wherein the consent of 80% for private industries and 70% for public sector industries, (4) social audit by independent expert group to assess the  economic, social, cultural impact on the communities because of the industry/mine functioning in their midst. Only on the satisfactory fulfillment of the above conditions, industries/mines would be given the go-ahead signal.

Mass protests overwhelm 2013 Ordinanceof the NDA II government to scrap the salient features of the 2013 Land Acquisition Act. This was a desperate attempt to salvage the assurances the government had made to industrialists that they would face no problems in setting up industries. This arrogant action of the government aroused intellectuals, farmers associations, working class, Dalit and Adivasi communities to take to the street at local, regional, national levels and denounce the duplicity of the NDA govt. This determined protest by the masses finally brought the government to its knees and forced it to withdraw the much-criticisedOrdinance.

Shifting the burden of dismantling the 2013 Land Acquisition Act to State Governments—especially those ruled by the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP), the NDA government asked the States to enact their own laws / ordinances / amendments so that corporate entities can easily acquire land and start their industries and mines. Now that Jharkhand Government is also a BJP government and has been faithfully carrying out the dictates of it’s national one, the NDA II government worked out the sinister plan of passing an Ordinance which sought to tamper with both laws, the CNT & SPT Acts.

This Ordinance was passed by the JharkandState Cabinet just a few days before the commencement of the State Assembly on July 28, 2016. Such an important and crucial t should rather have been placed in the Assembly for appropriate discussions and deliberation. But the government knew it would be difficult to get such changes through since the opposition would oppose it vehemently. Extremely unfortunately, the State Governor signed this irregularly brought Ordinance and forwarded it to the President of India for his approval after which it would become a law. Fortunately, the President had the discretionary sense to forward it to the Central Government and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes for their comments. While the central government has been silent on the matter, the ST Commission responded saying it would be highly unconstitutional to pass such an Ordinance. Nearly five months have passed and the President has not given his approval. This Constitutional brakes have placed both the NDA II government at the centre and the state government in Jharkhand in an awkward situation where their designs against the indigenous people, Adivasis of the state, have not materialised.

Ordinance becomes Amendment: The Jharkhand Government then proposed Amendments to CNT & SPT Acts, offering these as ‘good’ and ‘necessary’ for the larger good of ‘development’.  This ploy too, has, however not worked and a widespread mobilisation among Adivasi groups and indigenous peoples has been roundly protesting these moves.

Where the attendance register becomes ‘consent’ document: Sensing the predicament of the government, indigenous parties, organisations and movements demanded that the Vth Schedule of the Constitution be observed in letter and spirit and that government’s proposed amendments should first get the approval of Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) before they are presented on the floor of the State Assembly. The state government, keen to appear to be abiding by constitutional requirements convened a formal meeting of the TAC in September 2016 but this turned out to be mere tokenism and something of a farce: the Chief Minister who is not even a tribal made himself the ‘chairman’and conducted the meet. The attendance register of this farce of a meeting was put forward as the ‘consent’ document and the general public was informed through the ever-obliging, and largely uncritical, media that the resolution of the government had been passed by the TAC!

A three-minute miracle! Opposition to the proposed Amendments to CNT & SPT Acts swelled. Protests became vociferous with both indigenous mass movements and opposition political parties, participating. Rallies, public meetings against the amendments became the order of the day. Opposition parties assured the people that they would not allow the bill to be passed in the State Assembly.Both the ruling party and the opposition parties were geared up for the battle and an obvious tension prevailed all over the state. When the State Assembly gathered, the opposition parties members were up on their feet and demanded that the bill be discussed first before any attempt was made to pass it. An uproar prevailed but then, then lo and behold it was unilaterally announced that the Bill has been passed by a voice vote! All this took place in a matter of three minutes!

It is NOT agricultural land for non-agricultural purpose… BUT snatching indigenous land for out-sider industrialists. What are the objectionable elements in the proposed amendments? (1) Article 49 allowed transfer of indigenous land only to industry and mining. The proposed amendment will open the door to creating infrastructure, rail lines, colleges, hospitals, transmission lines etc. etc. in fact for any and every thing. (2) Article 21 restricted the use of agricultural land only for agricultural purpose. In other words, agricultural land cannot be changed to non-agricultural business purposes. The proposed amendment will allow any and every non-agricultural use.                

It is important to keep in mind that whatever agricultural land is still in possession of the Adivasi and indigenous community, has been possible because of Article 21 of CNT and Article 13 of SPT Act. If the amendments actually become “law”, no land will be left with indigenous communities. A frightening reality indeed!

This plot of the capitalist ruling class against the India’s Adivasis and Indigenous Peoples must be resisted at all costs. If we fail in this struggle,  Indigenous Communities will be wiped out in the map of  central India.

An appeal to the Media too: The glare and gaze must reach where repression is at its height. Jharkand is one such today.

Human Rights Day, 2016

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