Today senior activists from among the Adivasi communities and others participating in the struggle for land are facing repression, false cases and externment orders. A Delhi-based group, Janhastakshep had approached members of intelligentsia and social and political activists belonging to different organizations to lend their support to an open petition addressed to the Hon’ble President of India on the issue of attack on Adivasis asserting their forest rights and opposing atrocities against them for opposing illegal felling of forest in Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

“In order to crush the struggle of the Adivasis the local administration has externed the leader of the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), Madhuri from the district. Around 150 signatories from India and abroad have signed the petition both in their individual capacity and also on behalf of their organizations. The petition sent to President Draupadi Murmu’s Secretariat, along with the signatures has been also released to the press.

Activists have alleged that these attacks by the forest department and other authorities are a continuance of the repression allegedly suffered by forest dwellers and Adivasis for over four months, since March 2023. Antaram Awase, a young Adivasi activist, has spoken to the media recently of the crackdown on villagers, filing multiple cases citing encroachment and deliberate disobedience of government orders. The most recent in the list of atrocities perpetrated against them, the villagers say, is an externment order against the human rights defenders who have been actively questioning the state in the region.

Strangely, even though a large part of the Burhanpur district is earmarked as a scheduled area, the tribal communities living there have for long been bereft of forest rights. Villagers of Siwal, along with residents of 15 other villages in the district, have been demanding they be recognised as forest dwellers and their rights under the Forest Rights Act be protected.

Four months ago, in March 2023, two Adivasi activists associated with the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS) had claimed that they were threatened with arrest during police questioning following the arrest of 35 other Adivasi activists after a face-off with the Forest Department in Madhya Pradesh’s Burhanpur region. The two had also then been called for questioning.

The region has seen a history of violence against Adivasi communities by the notorious Forest Department. The Forest Department periodically attempts to illegally “evict” Adivasis of Pachayat Baldi from their land by using force, sometimes employing violence and intimidation tactics such as illegal detention, physical assault, and even money extortion. This is a violation of section 4 (5) of the Forest Rights Act which does not recognize eviction at all. These section of the emancipator law states that forest dwelling persons from a Scheduled Tribe or other traditional communities should not be evicted or removed from the forest land they occupy until the recognition and verification procedure is complete.

In a statement released by JADS then, they detailed the following: JADS activists received a call from the locals of Baldi Panchayat on February 2, 2023 informing them about the illegal arrest of four people – two men and two women. They were picked up from their homes and taken to an unknown location with no information given to their families, a violation of settled law and jurisprudence. At this stage when this happened, JADS activists immediately contacted the DFO (District forest officer) and District Collector, Burhanpur, asking them to intervene in the matter and ensure that due process of law was followed. Anxiously looking for those who were picked up, other villagers went to the Range Office in Burhanpur and heard shouts and screams and other sounds of torture from the office building. Thereafter there was a reported clash between villagers and the forest staff after this. It was after this ‘confrontation’ that around 20 men and 15 women were arrested by the police while they were on their way back to their village.

The very next day, Antaram Awase, a young Advissi activist, and Nitin, a graduate from TISS, went to meet the DFO, SP and District Collector, to find out what had happened. Instead, they found themselves implicated in the conflict for merely speaking to the arrested villagers on the phone. The two were in fact not in Burhanpur at the time.

These two activists, Antaram and Nitin have been working with JADS for over five years and are at the forefront of the campaign to spread awareness about legal Forest Rights. JADS, currently active with tribals across four districts in MP – Barwani, Khargone, Khandwa and Burhanpur – is a community led organisation and plays an important role in highlighting illegal fellings of trees on Adivasi land and underhanded attempts to suppress their forest rights. The attempt to implicate the two JADS activists can only be read as an attempt to suppress this campaign. It was in 2018, that this struggle demanding legitimate rights had intensified. So did the state’s crackdown.

A protest and its aftermath

In April this year, over a thousand women and men – all belonging to tribal communities – staged a three-day protest against the tacit support given to widespread and illegal tree felling by the Madhya Pradesh government, emphasising that felling at such a scale is impossible without the implicit support of the state government itself.

While the officials didn’t relent to the villagers’ demands at all, JADS accuses the forest and state administration of illegally evicting many eligible FRA claimants. The district has over 10,000 FRA claims pending, some even belonging to those illegally evicted, the villagers allege.

Every act of protest, the organisation claims, is met with state repression, they stress.

Among the state actions earlier this year was the externment of Madhuri Krishnaswami of the JADS. Krishnaswami, who has been actively involved in organising the community and agitations in the district, has been booked in as many as 21 forest offence cases for alleged offences between October 2022 and January 2023. It is these cases that the protests were against. However, Krishnaswami’s name was added only in May, after the protests.

Krishnaswami is additionally named in five police cases out of which two have been disposed of already and others are pending investigation. These cases, mostly accusing her of unlawful assembly, have triggered her externment from the district.

Rights activists from the region call this part of the administration’s tactic to break the movement. “They are going after the leaders one by one. Many Adivasi women, who are at the forefront, are also getting targeted by forest officials. Like the Britishers, the Madhya Pradesh government too is hellbent on criminalising the community for fighting for their rights,” Awase said.

Adivasi activists allege that, since 2019, there have been multiple instances of human rights violations in the region. Between August and September 2020, several persons from the region – all belonging to the Adivasi community – were picked up under alleged false charges, detained by the forest officials and allegedly tortured. In one such incident, two Adivasi youths were handcuffed to a window railing and allegedly beaten up all night, before they were produced in court.

Those booked in multiple cases mostly work as farmers or farm labourers. Appearance before court means missing out on a day’s earnings. “As it is we have been spending a great deal of time organising and agitating against the state’s unjust attitude towards us. And now we have an additional challenge of appearing before the court every other week,” said an activist, who too has been booked in multiple cases.

The villagers’ demand as lawful claimants of the forest land gets complex with the government’s allegation of felling of trees. The region over the past decade has witnessed deforestation on a massive scale.

Awase says that he, along with other members of the organisation, had moved to notify both the forest and the district administration about the large-scale destruction of the forest cover. “These are all Sagon trees. They sell for crores of rupees. As some people from nearby villages indulged in the criminal act of destroying the forest cover, we wrote to the officials. No action was taken against those involved,” Awase alleges.

Those allegedly involved in the felling of trees also belong to the tribal community, activists say. This, Nitin explains, is a parallel phenomenon seen in the region where many from the Adivasi communities make a desperate attempt to claim stakes on the land. “If the state were serious about implementing the FRA law in the region, destruction of forest cover could have been brought under control,” he adds.

Related:

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The Hosur sub-collector was quoted by TNIE as saying, “In 2018- 2019, title deeds under FRA were given to 71 people in Shoolagiri and Denkanikottai taluks. This was due to the over five months efforts of revenue staff like village administrative officers, and former and incumbent tahsildars of Anchetti taluk. This process will be further extended across the district. Many people in Kodakarai don’t have community certificates and other documents to claim FRA. Therefore, community certificates were distributed for about 150 people in Kodakarai village and an Aadhaar card has also been arranged for about 50 people.”

Many people in Kodakarai do not have community certificates and other documents or Adhaar cards. As such community certificates  were issued to 150 people and 50 people were issued Aadhar cards. 

Changes were also to be made in the revenue records after providing the title deeds to these tribals. As a next step, the 114 people residing in Kodakarai will also get “patta” which will ensure their forest rights. 

CR Bijoy, an independent researcher, told Scroll, “FRA titles are enough to avail all facilities otherwise available to landowners.” He further added, “Tribals have the least carbon footprint in the world and yet it will be them digging a borewell which the forest department resists vehemently, rather than the diversion of large swathes of forest land or the department itself foolishly and catastrophically converting grasslands into grandis plantations.”

However, Tushar Dash, an independent researcher on forest rights governance, told Scroll, “no uniform understanding or guidelines on how these convergence activities are supposed to be taken”. The forest officials too, sometimes misinterpret the provisions of the Act and say that the title only confers some rights and not ownership of the land.

Legal Rights

Under Section 13(1)(a) of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 pattas, reports of committees and commissions are required as evidence for determination of forest rights. Thus, this development is in the right direction for the recognition of their rights. 

In February 2008, Madras High Court had issued an order to the state to not issue any pattas under the said law. As reported in the Scroll, in April 2008, it allowed the implementation of the Act but directed, “before the certificate of title is actually issued, orders shall be obtained from this Court”. In 2016, the Supreme Court reversed the April 2008 state order and allowed the implementation of the Act. Yet, it remained poor and a 2017 assessment showed that Tamil Nadu was the worst performing state when it came to the application of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

As of October 31, 2022 Tamil Nadu has received a total 34,837 claims (community and individual) but it has distributed only 8,594 titles. The state has 7.95 lakh tribal population.

Related:

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Asked about FRA implementation in states, MoTA dodges accountability

UP: Tribals Protest In Mirzapur, Demand Implementation Of Forest Rights Act, Allege Harassment

Tribals Allege Officials Use Forest Rights Act to Harass, Demand Money; Picket DM’s Office

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During the ongoing special Budget Session of the Parliament, on February 6, 2023, Lok Sabha member Shri Syed Imtiaz Jaleel (AIMIM) inquired with the government regarding the traditional forest dwellers present in the country. Shri BishweswarTudu, Minister of the Tribal Affairs, then provided the number of district-wise villages/habitations in each State who have claimed Community Forest Resource Rights under Section 3(1) (i) of FRA along with the number of claims that have been approved by the Gram Sabha. The data, as on November 30, 2022, is as follows:

The total number of claims that were received by the state governments, up to November 30, 2022, were 44,66,617, out of which 42,97,245 were claims of the individuals and 1,69,372 were claims for community rights.

With regard to the number of titles distributed up to November 30, 2022, the government informed that a total of 22,49,671 titles have been distributed, out of which 21,46,782 were individual titles and 1,02,889 were community titles. Additionally, the government also provided the details regarding the extent of forest land for which titles have been distributed, which came to a total 1,68,29,864.60 acres. Out of these 1,68,29,864.60acres, the titles distributed over individual claims were for 45,68,053 acres while the community titles were for 1,22,61,811 acres; which means more than 80% of total land for which titles have been distributed, has been given to community claimants.

Chhattisgarh was the state with the highest number of claims received until November 30,2022 with 9,22,346 claims and it also topped in the number of titles distributed with 4,91,805 titles; out of these 4,46,041 titles were given to individuals. Second in line is Odisha with 6,45,343 claims and 4,62,160 titles disbursed.

On the other hand, the lowest claims were received by Himachal Pradesh, with 3,021 claims and Bihar awarded the lowest number of titles which was 121. It is pertinent to note here that data of only 22 States and UTs has been provided by the Ministry. In all India consists of 28 states and 8 union territories.

It is further crucial to note that a crucial inquiry regarding the number of potential villages/habitations, district-wise, in each State where the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (FRA) being implemented was also raised in the Lok Sabha.  In response to this question, Shri BishweswarTudu informed that it is the states that are responsible for implanting FRA. No data was provided on the same by the government.

The complete answer can be read here:

Whose rights does the FRA recognise?

The FRA 2006 enables traditional forest dwelling communities to apply for claims to land and forest produce upon which they have been dependent for their livelihood for generations. The Act recognises the rights of two types of forest dwellers –Adivasi or indigenous tribal communities, many of which as included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD).

Earlier this month, in February, hundreds of tribal people assembled and carried out a rally at dense forest areas of Dhekwah village in Rajapur gram panchayat of Marihan tehsil under Mirzapur district on Monday, demanding implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the withdraw all cases registered against them.The protesters, who marched to the ‘stone rocks’ on the banks of Jharinagari Nala, also sought 200 days minimum work for labourers in a year on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) job card and Rs 600 wage/day.

In January, the NCST, through its Chairman Harsh Chouhan, hadcemented its stand against the Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 reiterating that the rules are violative of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change insists that these concerns are not legally tenable.While speaking to The Hindu, Chouhan had said that “The commission’s stand will be the same. It is the commission’s duty to intervene and recommend corrective measures whenever any rules run the risk of violating rights of tribespeople. This we will continue to do.”

In September 2022, the NCST Chairman had written to the Environment Ministry asking it to put the rules on hold for the rules have taken away rights of Scheduled Tribes to consent to any diversion project in forest areas.

CJP battle to ensure justice for the forest dwellers

Forest Dwellers in other states have been a part of this struggle for staking their claims over forest rights for years. Sabrang India’s sister organization, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) along with its partner organization All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) have been helping Adivasis file these community land claims in different states such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh among others.

In November 2021, forest dwelling communities belonging to the Tharu Adivasi community residing in 20 villages of the Dudhwa region of Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, filed their Objections to denial of community land claims with the district administration. These claims had been filed way back in 2013.

In August, 2022 it was reported that, as many as 16,000 claims were rejected in just two regions of Karnataka – Sagar and Shivamogga. Out of the total 16,424 applications filed in Sagar, only 505 were approved and 4,993 were rejected, leaving 10,926 applications pending. Similarly, out of the 19,191 applications filed in Shivamogga, 11,982 were rejected and only 236 approved, leaving 6,973 pending.

Related:

UP: Tribals Protest In Mirzapur, Demand Implementation Of Forest Rights Act, Allege Harassment

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Activists of the Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organizations of Assam (CCTOA) gheraoed (surrounded in protest) the Sonapur Circle Office in Guwahati on June 21, 2022 to demand eviction of encroachers and illegal industries from tribal belts and blocks, reported Sentinel Assam.

With support from local progressive groups, the CCTOA organised a massive demonstration and submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. In it, members further demanded a halt on eviction of tribal people. Instead, it called upon the government to issue land patta to the tribals and to include Mising, Rabha Hasong and Tiwa people under Schedule 6 of the constitution.

Further, they demanded a survey of tribal belts/blocks and tribal-inhabited areas, implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. As per the memorandum, the Committee said the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is a key piece of forest legislation passed in India on December 18, 2006. Yet the law is not implemented properly.

“We demand that the state government must adopt a bold decision in the State Cabinet for the settlement of land/ issuing land title to all tribal inhabitants in various forest and reserved forest areas of Assam as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 to redress historical injustice committed against tribal forest dwellers,” said the CCTOA.

They also called for the exclusion of such land, Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) and Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDPs) area from the purview of the Assam State Capital Region Development Authority (ASCRDA). Regarding the latter, the CCTOA said doing so will jeopardize Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue (Regulation) Act, 1886.

Earlier, the Gauhati High Court directed Deputy Commissioners of districts having such land to take action against encroachers. The court further warned that imposing costs will be recovered from the salary of those officers, who delayed the process. Yet, the CCTOA stated that there has been no action by the concerned authority to remove such encroachment.

Members expressed concern regarding shrinking tribal areas and the resultant outcome of the de-scheduling of different areas particularly in Bijni tribal block and Dispur. Such moves can leave lakhs of aboriginal scheduled tribe people homeless and landless. CCTOA therefore, urged the government to take proactive steps to restore all the de-scheduled tribal belts and block across Assam with immediate effect. The protest was also attended by Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) General Secretary Tilak Doley, along with the TMPK Guwahati City Committee team.

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As many as 7,000 (seven thousand villages)  in India still aren’t recognised as per their revenue to enjoy benefits of the Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA), reported the All India Union for Forest Working People (AIUFWP) during its second national conference between December 1 and December 3, 2021.

Forest and Adivasi activists gathered in New Delhi to discuss the state of forest rights amidst the present political situation of the country. AIUFWP members discussed the challenges in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA).

Speaking during the briefing session of the conference, AIUFWP General Secretary Ashok Chaudhary said, “Our mission is to ensure that the forest rights movement is integrated into other democratic movements. It is important to understand the struggle as a fundamental political issue related to India’s political-economic structure.”

Looking back at the history of the forest rights struggle, he recalled how millions of forest dwelling communities fought for their rights during colonial rule. After a long struggle the FRA was passed to “undo the historical injustices suffered by forest dependent communities.”

The FRA put in place a three-stage process by which the rights of indigenous and other forest dwelling communities were to be recorded and recognised. It listed thirteen types of rights, including individual rights and community rights over land being cultivated, rights to non-timber forest produce, and most crucially, the right to protect and conserve forests which no Indian law had ever recognised as a right before. It also provided immense legal support to the forest-dwelling communities, allowing a proper process for rehabilitation in cases of their eviction and several other protective laws. The AIUFWP has been working for the last seven years to ensure the regularisation of this law across India. Doing so ensures land and livelihood security to indigenous communities.

“However, so far, the law has been regularised only in parts of Uttar Pradesh and north West Bengal. So, the Union is focused on assisting evicted communities reclaim their land, provided they are satisfied with the state of the land. We’ve already succeeded in this regard in places like Sonbhadra, Dudhwa, Kaimur,” said Chaudhary.

Forest rights not an isolated issue

During the conference, AIUFWP members resolved to keep voicing the need to shift the power related to forest decision in the hands of local Gram Sabhas. For the same, members stressed that forest rights is not an isolated movement.

Chaudhary said that the recent farmers’ struggle has largely impacted adivasis as well, who are farmers as well. He argued that land rights and forest rights are integral issues that weave in problems related to labour, human rights.

“The main point is not to see the struggle in isolation because forests contain many diverse communities. It is not just farmers or labourers. Forests also have minorities that have suffered during the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

Accordingly, he also sympathised with members of the Gujjar and Muslim communities who tolerated severe xenophobia during Covid-19.

To show their support for other democratic mobilisation in India, President Sokalo Gond along with many other members headed towards farmer protest sites on December 4.

AIUFWP regional reports

The second-half of the conference began with regional reports of communities. The Kaimur delegation talked about how women members reclaimed forests despite being sent to jail. The Bihar government’s forest department has not claimed the land. While conflict persists in the area, the women said they will stand firm in asserting their legal and constitutional rights. Leaders considered this an achievement in itself.

Similarly, delegates from Kerala reported how community members were surrounded by authorities and disallowed from stepping outside their area. Latest reports said that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) party members have approached locals for talks.

Further, communities in the northern part of West Bengal are struggling to regulate the FRA owing to territorial autonomy. While two districts managed to realise this goal post-elections, the Gorkha region remains autonomous.

AIUFWP’s women trailblazers

The strength of women leaders in the movement was highlighted all the more when another woman was elected President by the Union on Friday – Sokalo Gond. According to leaders, women leadership is a crucial step in the way of women empowerment.

“It is important to acknowledge women’s contributions. Sometimes men struggle in being led by women. However, in the forest rights struggle and during the session, the women led the whole discussion,” said Chaudhary.

Sokalo Gond is also among the women forest rights defenders from Lilasi village, who stood up against police brutality in May 2018. She was illegally detained and along with Kismatiya Gond, for months until a sustained campaign by Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) helped their release.

For her Presidential speech to attendees Sokalo said, “We know we need to challenge the ruling regime, and for that we need to firstly, make sure the four district members present here voice their grievances. We will show them our work to improve health and education and our next generation will get the opportunities we didn’t.”

The rights activist also challenged the Supreme Court’s 2019 order that called for the large-scale eviction of forest-dwellers, based on the Indian Forest Act 1927.

Introducing AIUFWP Team

Aside from Sonbhadra’s Sokalo, the AIUFWP went through many place-holder changes. While Jarjum Ete became the President Emeritus, former General Secretary Ashok Choudhary became the Working President. Similarly, former Deputy General Secretary Roma Malik became the General Secretary.

Dehradun Adivasi leader and veteran activist Munni Lal became the Treasurer and Delhi’s Amir Khan took the post of National Organising Secretary. Seven individuals took up the post of Vice-President including three women: CJP Secretary Teesta Setalvad, Malapurram’s Chitra M. R. and Lakhimpur Kheri’s Nabada Rana. Other VPs are Mujhahid Nafees, Kishore Thapa, Balkeswar Kharwar and Mata Dayal. Newly appointed AIUFWP Secretaries are K. Krishnan, Sarath Cheloor, Shiva Sunwar, Tapas Mondal.

Towards the conclusion of the event, the AIUFWP thanked other organisations like the National Trade Union of India (NTUI) for attending the event and expressing their support for the struggle. NTUI General Secretary Gautam Modi promised the Union’s continued support in the communities’ efforts to protect their jal, jangal, zameen.

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Jammu and Kashmir’s most famous produce, the Apple, is also one of its most crucial cash crops, sustaining thousands of farmer families who work in the orchards. Each tree needs to be nurtured for at least 10 years or more before its first crop can be harvested and sold. However, it took the Union Territory administrators less than a day to chop down thousands of trees in In Kashmir’s Budgam district!

According to an Article-14 report from Kashmir, the move “to evict Muslim tribals from land they have used for generations” has “held back a protective forest law and a Supreme Court stay.” Crucially important to note that The Forest Rights Act, 2006, which grants rights to such tribal communities over their forests, is yet to be implemented in the union territory, reported the Gaon Connection. The report details how families including that of Farooq Ahmad Hajam (42), Shakeel Hajam, Maqbool Hajam and Abdul Hameed Hajam, and others all traditional forest dwellers from Sekiloo village in Pulwama district, bordering Budgam, were all served eviction notices by the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) forest department. These families have been cultivating small patches of land in the surrounding forests for generations, it added.

In the third week of November, the department sent men who then felled hundreds of decade-old apple trees raised by these families over 30 kanals (1.51 hectares) of forest land in Kanidajan forest area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, about 500 metres from Sekiloo. According to the report in Gaon Connection, these trees had borne fruit this season too, and the families had harvested up to 10 boxes (that sell for between Rs 700 and Rs 1,000 each in the mandis). The report added that the total number of trees felled “runs into thousands in Kanidajan in Budgam district and Sekiloo in Pulwama district.”

Article-14 reported that the men from the forest department were accompanied by the police and the personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). For the Apple growing families, these trees were the only source of income, added the report.

Around 50 officials and workers of the Jammu and Kashmir forest department cut about 10,000 apple trees on November 10, Mohammed Ahsan, the village head, was quoted in the report stating that the villagers were “threatened with police cases” against them if they tried to intervene. The reporter noted that, now over two weeks after the trees were massacred, the apple orchards “were strewn with chopped trees” and the farmers who visited the site were disconsolate. Others have not had the courage to visit the scene of destruction. 

The administration has maintained that the apple orchards were on forest land, and alleged that the area had been “encroached by the villagers”, who belong to the nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal communities recognised since 1991 as scheduled tribes and “forest dwellers”, under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.

However, the Act has not been implemented in J&K, as explained in the report this is because a slew of central laws did not apply to the former state. However, when article 370 of the Constitution was revoked on August 5 2019, 155 central laws had automatically became applicable to the new union territory, and the J&K government promised the FRA would as well, stated the report quoting a November 2019, statement by a spokesperson of Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam who had said, “The FRA will be in place in J&K by March 2021, after the initial survey is completed by 15 January 2021”.

The Jammu and Kashmir Administration had announced that it was all set to implement the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) by March 1, 2021. The J&K administration had stated, “It may be pointed out that the Forest Rights Act of 2006 provides for granting of rights to forest dwellers across the country. This Central Act was, however, not applicable or implemented in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 14 years. It became applicable to J&K only after October 31, 2019, hence, recognising the rights of forest dwelling communities for the first time in the Union Territory.” It was also decided that the survey of claimants would be completed by January 15, 2021, followed by the sub committee’s scrutiny into the claims and preparation of the record of forest rights by or before January 31. 

According to Gaon Connection, the J&K administration has been evicting people since early November. Most of those evicted are nomads and other traditional forest dwellers, belonging to the Gujjar and Bakarwal communities. They live in temporary sheds or mud houses in forests and mountains. However, traditional forest dwellers live on private land, locally known as milkiyat land, but have been cultivating patches of forest lands for generations.  

Mehbooba Mufti, the former Chief Minister of J&K had also flagged the issue in november. She asked that J&K Governor Manoj Sinha intervene and ensure the evictions “on discriminatory grounds” and the ensuing harassment of the “rightful inhabitants” be stopped.

Disconcerting to see nomads across J&K being harassed & displaced. They’ve been the rightful inhabitants & are now being evicted on discriminatory grounds. Kindly intervene @manojsinha_ & ensure that this stops

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 17, 2020

Meanwhile, over the years, several eviction drives have been carried out against Tribals in parts of the State on ground of illegal encroachment. Greater Kashmir reported that the eviction and reported demolition of Kothas (kuchha houses) in some Muslim- dominated areas of Jammu including Kalakote, Shidhra, Bathandi was done following an order by the General Administration Department.

The nomadic tribes of Gujjar and Bakarwal in Jammu and Kashmir have been dragged into the line of fire by the Union Territory (UT) administration as their unoccupied shelters were demolished in Pahalgam under the guise of clearing illegal encroachments. Both communities combined form 11.9% of the UT’s population and are spread over largely on Srinagar, Anantnag, Kulgam, Baramulla, Pulwama, Ganderbal, Shopian, Bandipora, especially on the higher reaches in the Kashmir valley. The government maintained that this is part of a drive to retrieve forestlands, which have been encroached upon.

However, as per Gujjar activists, the shelters or dogas as they are called, were unoccupied by the tribal communities as they had migrated to Jammu for the winter. They live in these shelters during summers to return to their pastures. This demolition drive in November was soon after  the J&K high Court declaring the Roshni Act or the Jammu and Kashmir State Land (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, as unconstitutional. Through the Roshni Act, the state government had granted ownership rights to occupants of a state owned land for a fee. The proceeds were to be used for funding power projects in the erstwhile state. The High Court in its judgment directed all state land under unauthorized occupation to be retrieved.

It is noteworthy that on February 13, 2019, the Supreme Court had directed state governments to evict forest-dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, whose claims over forest land were rejected under the FRA. But on February 28, 2019, the Supreme Court stayed its own order, after it was called out widely, including  by United Nations special rapporteur for human rights, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz. “Indigenous peoples and local communities are treated as squatters when in fact the land is theirs, and they have protected and stewarded their holdings for generations and play an important role for conservation,” the UN special rapporteurs stated onJuly  4 2019. SabrangIndia’s sister organisation CJP has been working closely with Adivasis and Forest dwellers and backed an intervention application to defend rights of forest dwelling communities in the Supreme Court by forest rights activists Sokalo Gond and Nivada Rana along with the All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP). The IA was admitted by the SC.

Related

J&K to implement Forest Rights Act by March 2021
J&K: Gujjar Bakerwal shelter demolition causes political uproar
Has the government decided to sacrifice Forest Rights Act to benefit corporates?
Gujarat HC upset with state’s poor  track record on protecting forest rights

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A public hearing on the issue of lack of implementation and negligence of forest rights in the state of UP, attended by eminent persons from across the country noted the lacunae in public policy and implementation and highlighted that despite several attempts by the government, the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 couldn’t be diluted.

Key observations included the urgent need to make forest rights into a core political issue which should be addressed by all political parties alike. The jury members included former Supreme Court judge, Justice B.G. Kolse Patil, human rights defender and educationist and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) Secretary, Teesta Setalvad, social worker Sandeep Pandey, former DIG (UP), G.P. Kanaujia, senior lawyer of Allahabad High Court, Adv. Farman Naqvi and Allahabad HC lawyer Adv. Chau. Dilnisar. It was organised by Van Evam Bhoo Adhikar Abhiyan and All India Union for Forest Working People (AIUFWP). The public hearing also deliberated upon the atrocities committed by the forest department on forest dependent communities in collusion with the police saw in January this year.

The findings from the public hearing have some important bearings for the upcoming hearing in which the Supreme Court is going to preside over a February order that had ordered the eviction of millions of forest dwelling people.

Diversity in UP forests and forest dwelling communities
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA, 2006) was passed in 2006 after a long struggle of forest dwelling communities.

UP has a forest cover that spans over more than 19 districts. In these forests, stay the forest dwelling communities who number in lakhs. UP has a vast range of different kind of forests. For example, the khols of Van Gujjars, Goth, Vankathiya labourers’ forest villages, van Tangiya labourers’ forest villages, forest villages comprising of those displaced by floods, fixed demand holding forest villages. And also conserved and reserved forests and nationals parks within which traditional forest dwellers have been in habitation for several decades. It is mainly, Adivasis, Dalits and other traditional forest dwelling communities who reside here.

Initially, the forest department had sent information on only 13 such forest villages to the (state) administration. However, the articulations and assertions as a result of people’s movements ensured the more accurate registration of the total number of forest villages, which was found, after meticulous corroboration with government records, to be at 89 in number.

The public meeting started with an observation that the Forest department remains hostile to implementing the FRA 2006 law because its enforcement would empower forest dependent communitiesa towards a stricter vigilance over their lands. Moreover, at present, invaluable forest produce (worth crores of rupees) is presently under the control of the Forest department, despite provisions of the 2006 law. If this Act is implemented in its true spirit and entirety, the department will have to relinquish thishold.

Testimonials before the Public Hearing and interjections from the jury brought forth some interesting observations:

• That, the climate of fear, generated by undue power and authority vested in the Forest department, an authority that was not any more sanctioned by law had seriously jeopardised the lives of forest dwellers. There are several examples that point to this. Instead of an implementation of the law, false cases are being lodged on the people. 
• Recently, in Bijnaur, a false report was given by the Forest Departmentto the government erroneously stating that there were no forest dependent communities living in the area. Tiger reserves then began to be constructed in the forests of Pilibhit based on this falsified information. Besides, there have been brute and violent attacks on women in forest dwellers in Kheeri, Khatima and Sonbhadra.
• Similarly repression was faced by those 16 Gram Sabhas which had filed community forest rights claims in Sonbhadra district headquarters at Robertsganj.
• The grave situation of forest rights has been taken into account by the Allahabad High Court (HC) and in October, 2018 it also ordered to process the claims filed as per the law. This order also states that while the claims are being processed, no atrocities should be committed on the communities.

 
Here are some key highlights from the testimonials of different sections of forest dwelling communities that attended the public hearing.

Sonbhadra                                                                      

• Shyamlal Paswan from Sonbhadra district said, “Several false cases are imposed on us. Twice, cases pertaining to Goonda Act were lodged on me. Police threatens to kill us by naming us in history sheets. And even today there are so many cases against us, pertaining to Section 120B, C.L. Act, IPC Sections504,149,147,148,353 and 452 etc. –these serious sections are mentioned and then the villagers are exploited.” Paswan highlighted that he was sent to jail four times. “It’s tiring to keep fighting so many cases. How can we do that?”
• Lalti Paswan, forest rights activist and Shyamlal’s wife said that though the FRA was passed, the people have experience enormous amount of atrocities. “I went to jail four times. Police beat me up and no medical was done. . Only when I went to the Mirzapur jail [did I received some treatment]. Till today no action has been taken. And when the administration got tired of charging us with false cases, they started targeting our children and their in-laws.”She continued, “We don’t even receive the summons, and directly get the arrest warrant.”
• Shobha is a resident of Badi village which has about 100 households. The people here have claimed about 500 acres of land through community forest rights. Shobha gave an account of the attack that took place on her house in 2015 before the Jury that was conducting the public hearing. She spoke in detail of the nexus between the forest department, police force and local mafias.

Giving a detailed account she stated how the attack began with boulders being first thrown at her house, before it was set on fire. Many women were injured in this attack and yet no action was taken against those who had inflicted this crime. Instead false cases were lodged against Adivasi and Dalit women. She alleged that there are numerous and often repeated incidents of instigation of community women. Shobha faced sexual violence in 2006 and is still battling that case in court.

Bahraich- Sommari Yadav

• Sommari spoke about the threats he received from Forest Ranger while he was returning to his village after the day’s work. The ranger threatened him, “One day we will straighten you out and even those who have taught you about your rights on forest.” Talking about the troubles of his community he noted, “On the one hand the government presents itself as promoting and protecting cow keepers and cattle stockers, on the other hand the life of forest dwelling cattle stockers. They are forced to get rid of their country cows.”

Bahraich- Jung Hindustani

• Located along the border areas of Nepal and India, forest villages have existed in the region since the time of British occupation, or even before. There are some forest villages and some Van Tangiya villages. 
• Van Tangiya villagers are made to work as begaar (labour without any payment of wages). The produce extracted or produced by forest working peoples like milk, curd, ghee, grains etc. is poached upon by the Forest Department. The department takes a share of everything from the villagers. For decades, forest dwellers from these villages didn’t have voting rights. It was only from 2005 onwards that they started getting forest rights, but exploitation by forest department increased from that date, as well.
• He drew the attention of jury members to the supposed afforestation projects that subsequent governments keep promising of. He said, “So much money has been extracted in the name of afforestation projects. Akhilesh government said that they will plant five crore trees. Yogi government promised that they will plant six crore trees. A while later they said that they will plant 11 crore trees. In three years, on papers, 22 crore trees have been planted. However, on the ground not many trees can be seen. The only trees that have survived are the ones that have been planted by the Van Tangiya community. 

 
Chandauli- Roma

• AIUFWP General Secretary and leader Roma said that FRA has not been effectively implemented in Chandauli. Only around 2010, for the first time, were Gram Sabhas formed and individual claims came to be filed. They were asked for proof of the last 75 years even though there is no such requirement under the FRA. On July 29, 2018, the villagersof Chandauli filed community forest rights claims. No sooner had they filed the claims, that the forest department along with the district administration came to the villages and allegedly destroyed the crops. Large ditches were dug up on land that was up for the claims process.

 
Rajaji Forest- Mustafa Chopda

• Mustafa alleged that Forest Department burns down forests, and thenlets hunters enter the forests. He highlighted the important role of Van Gujjars in sustaining forests, “Van Gujjars peel off old barks of trees so that new supple leaves grow there. They store water for their animals, which the wild animals drink as well. Does anybody care about forests like that?”

 
Saharanpur – Kaluwala Van Tangia- Chanuram

• People who were working under the Tangia techniqueof cultivation were given some rights over the land. However, more recently, while doing surveys, Forest Department indicated the number of families to be far lower than the actual numbers. For example, between Nand Ram and Nadu Kaluwala, two brothers, one of whom, Nandu didn’t have any sons, the land should have gone to his nephew. But his names was struck off. People here allege that there is no specific procedure followed when granting revenue status to villages. In one such village with the name Bhatianagar, the police claimed that it was never populated. However, the villagers alleged that forest departement’s own records contradict them. Chanuram reiterated what several others had already said, “Forest department doesn’t want us to continue living in the interior regions as that obstructs what they want to do.”
• Chanuram noted, “Forest department lures us with bribes. They say that they will give us accommodation outside the forest. “ In the 13 khole in the Shivalik range, as many as 4000-5000 families live. They vote. The Sarpanch has even certified that they are the residents, yet the revenue department doesn’t give them Income certificate (Aay adhikar) certificate.
• In a case in which army went into the interiors of the forest to practise combat, a woman was shot dead. The Forest department didn’t show any sympathy or concern. In fact, it gave a no objection certificate to the army certifying that no one lives inside the forest.

 
Lakhimpur kheeri

• Seventeen villages in Lakhimpur Kheeri had claimed their rights on forest produce as per the FRA. Section 3(1) of the Act gives the forest dwellers the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use. Later, 23 villages in the area claimed community resources rights.

• Though the officers there assured forest dwellers that their claims will be processed within two months at sub district level and forwarded to the district level committees, not much has happened. Even until 2016 the claims were un-processed and thereafter the files were misplaced. Later, the files were made available by the Pariyojana (Project Officer) office. Through all this, SDM was transferred. Then the villagers protested in their thousands on December 28, 2018 in front of the SDM office. The SDM assured action. However, the village level revenue officer, Lekhpal started processing the claims merely on the basis of claim forms. Again, the forest dwellers had to object and they highlighted that Parivar Suchi (family register) of families was an important document) and was relevant for verification.

Jury Spoke!
HRD and educationist Teesta Setalvad, who is also Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) secretary and has been closely working with forest rights movements, outlined three key issues for the political parties. She said, “As soon as the new government comes to power, we should demand that the parliament should have a three day special session on FRA, so that the parliamentarians can understand how this law should be implemented and that its implementation itself is converted into a political program.”

Adv. Farman Naqvi said that it was very important to make this into a political issue and to urge the political representatives to take up the matter of implementation of FRA to the political representatives. Adv. Naqvi had fought Sokalo’s case in Allahabad HC last year when she was illegally arrested from Chopan station in Sonbhadra.

Empathising with those present there, Justice Patil pointed out repression going on in other states. Justice BG Kolse Patil said, “Democracy needs numbers, for people to come together. Today, we need that people should come together in large numbers. I want that Dalits, Muslima, Adivasis, everyone should unit and they take up your issues.”

Ashok Chaudhary highlighted the importance of the law, FRA 2006. He said, “Though there was a lot of exploitation under Modi government, they couldn’t touch the FRA. Even the tribal ministry has sent a circular saying that an SDM doesn’t have the right to reject any claims. And yet, the Forest Department is interfering with the law and it is ignoring the Forest Rights Committees (FRCs). On the other hand, at the ground level, the Gram Sabhas aren’t totally aware of the rights granted to communities under FRA. You will have to educate the people in your respective areas [about the Act]. This law [FRA] doesn’t give anyone rights to reject claims. Infact if you’ve claimed land then nobody has the right to remove you.”

Activist Sandeep Pandey pointed out a very interesting fact from the region. He said, “When I came here, I saw shining lights in Renukoot, even though traditionally UP is known for not being industrial. I saw that companies have got huge plots of land. Another organisation, Vanvasi Seva Ashram has land, on which schools and colleges are built. So, companies have got land, schools, colleges have got land, organisations have got land. But the rightful owners of forest land have not received land, instead those who shouldn’t have got the land, have captured it.” He highlighted the fact that as, in the course of the hearing of the petitions around the Right to Food campaign, the Supreme Court has appointed Special Commissioners, whose role was to go to every state and see if the law had been implemented properly, such an option could be explored in the case of implementation of FRA. He also highlighted the issue of rejection of claims, and allotment of lesser land than requested if claims were approved. He said that this trend needs to be done away with and only the fact that a particular community stays in the forest village should be proven.

The broad themes that emerged from the public meeting, were those of severe repression from the Forest Department on the forest dwelling communities. The communities themselves are diverse in nature and are engaged into a diverse range of activities, right from community farming, to nomadic lifestyle, to cattle stock takers, to keepers of trees and more. It was also felt that the communities have a positive impact on the sustenance of the forests. However, not only do they face repression, there is inexplicable delay in the processing of their claims. Even when their claims are processed and accepted, the land they receive is lesser in area than what they had claimed. Unless there is a strong pressure from the communities, many files of claims keep lying in faraway offices of the administration and eventually get misplaced. A scientific survey or assessment of the lands has not yet been taken up. There also appears to be many malpractices and incidents of misappropriation of money going on. Jury members highlighted the importance of this issue as a political issue.

The entire report in Hindi may be read here

Related Articles:
https://cjp.org.in/sokalo-gond-adivasi-warrior-who-defends-her-people/
https://cjp.org.in/roma-interview-supreme-court-decision-fra/
https://cjp.org.in/sonbhadras-mahua-coloured-dreams/
https://cjp.org.in/rajkumari-bhuiya-songs-as-her-tool-sonbhadra-forest-rights-leader-marches-on/
 

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The memorandums are in the context of the controversial ongoing proceedings in the Supreme Court of India in petitions filed by “conservation groups” wherein the SC had passed mass scale eviction orders in February 2019. During the January-February 2019 hearing of the 2008 petitions in the Supreme Court, the Modi government’s law officers were conspicuously absent from the proceedings, failing to defend the central statute.
 
The FR platforms have alleged in these communications that the “government is trying to use two routes – a backdoor route through the Supreme Court  and a front door route through proposed amendments to the Indian Forest Act – to condemn crores of tribals and forest dwellers in the country to destitution and extortion, brutality and eviction by forest officials.”

The FRA 2006, a recognition of rights law, was passed decades after Independence setting right then prevalent colonial laws and jurisprudence that, in fact, unfairly favoured forest officials over the adivasis and forest dwelling communitites who for generations had both lived off, tilled and protected these lands.

On February 13, 2019, the Supreme Court of India, hearing a petition filed by wildlife conservationists and former forest department officials, directed the state governments to evict “encroachers” or “illegal forest dwellers”. The official defender in the case, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA), was conspicuous by its absence in the courtroom.
 
The order had sent shockwaves across the country’s forests, home to eight percent of the population. It was met with stiff resistance and was called “unconstitutional” by several groups, especially those which had been struggling for forest rights for decades. The order was criticised for “violating” schedules V, VI and IX of the Constitution and also for turning established jurisprudence on its head. A week later, the order was temporarily stayed after the Central government, under pressure from several quarters and forest rights groups, was compelled to move the same bench for review.
 
Significantly, the case in question, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by wildlife conservancy groups regarding the validity of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA, 2006), had been going on for many years.

The letter highlighted that cases have been running against the FRA since 2008. Between 2008 and 2016, the letter noted, the Central government “played its constitutional role” and defended the crucial law before the Court. However, they expressed a concern that from 2017 onwards, The Central Government’s counsels in the case “did not make a single statement” in defense of the law.

This matter, they observed, had been raised by them on February 4, 2019, nine days before the order of February 13. Because of absence of any arguments on behalf of the defenders, “the petitioners’ views prevailed”. The letter said, “After a nationwide uproar, your government rushed back to Court and managed to persuade the Court to put this order “on hold.” The next hearing in this matter is on July 24th. It is a matter of extreme concern to us and to the crores of forest dwellers of this country that your government has not made a single statement in public on this matter after February 28th. We fear that your government is again planning to try to sabotage the Forest Rights Act by remaining silent and thus allow for a mass eviction once again.”

The memorandum has also expressed their deep concern over the draconian nature of the proposed amendments to the Indian Forest Act, 1927. On March 7th, the Ministry of Environment and Forests sent a “proposal” for amendments to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, to all State governments. If this proposal becomes law, forest officials will acquire extraordinary powers that no other agency – including the security forces in disturbed areas – has ever had in the history of this country. Forest officials will be able to end people’s rights merely by paying cash compensation (s. 22A(2), s.30(b)); to use fire arms against tribals and forest dwellers with impunity (s.66(2)); to take confessions from accused and have them be admissible as evidence in court (a provision that does not exist in any other law) (s.64C); to shut down people’s rights in entire forests for flimsy reasons such as “wilfully causing fires” (s.26(3)); to end shifting cultivation entirely; and so on. 

They said that if the proposals become the law, it will be the single biggest attack on the country’s tribals and forest dwellers since the first British Act, 1865. It said, “Your government will have committed a historic atrocity on the crores of tribals and forest dwellers in this country.”

The organisations drew attention to the problems of seeing afforestation in exclusion with forest rights. They said that in 2016 when the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act was passed by the government it didn’t have a mention of forest rights. The Rules framed under the Act – contrary to assurances to Parliament – also allow forest officials to override tribals and forest dwellers and plant trees on their lands. They noted, “This has already led to atrocities against tribals and violence, including most recently in Telengana and Maharashtra. Compensatory afforestation money is being wasted, siphoned off by corrupt officials, used as a pretext for evicting tribals and seizing their lands, and spent on buildings and guns when by rights it should belong to the country’s forest communities.”
The FRA, 13 years ago, for the first time, recognised the individual and community rights of the forest dwellers over the forest land. It recognised the “historical injustice” done to these communities and helped remove the stigma of “encroachers”, a term pregnant with colonial prejudice and popularised in the last few centuries by the English mainstream media favouring elite notions of conservation.

Most of the people classified as forest-dwellers in India belong to the Schedules Tribes (ST), non-notified Adivasis, Dalits and vulnerable poor communities, who are occupationally dependent on sustainable agriculture, cattle rearing, fisheries and collection of other forest-produce and therefore, rely on land and forest for their livelihood.
 
The platforms have urged the Central government to

• Actively defend the Forest Rights Act, (FRA), 2006 in the Supreme Court, and place before the Court the correct legal position, under which evictions only for the inability to prove a claim are not justified in law and in any case are not related to the case before the Court;
• Immediately withdraw the proposed amendments to the Indian Forest Act and instead amend that law and other forest laws to bring them into accordance with the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and to prosecute officials who violate forest rights;
• Ensure that money collected in the name of compensatory afforestation is only spent with the consent of affected gram sabhas and subject to plans prepared by them rather than by bureaucrats.
• Announce a transparent audit of expenditure under the District Mineral Funds and take action against any officials or agencies who have diverted money in these funds, and alter the rules under this fund to ensure that any expenditure is subject to the consent of gram sabhas and is decided by bodies with representation from tribals and other affected communities.

Various organisations will organise nation-wide protests against these measures on July 22 and in August. A consultation was organised in this connection on July 1 and 2.
 
The complete text of the letter can be read here:
 https://sabrangindia.in/article/protect-forest-land-rights-adivasis-forest-dwellers-baa
https://cjp.org.in/sokalo-gond-adivasi-warrior-who-defends-her-people/
 
 

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