It all happened on June 11, in the afternoon, when a sudden fire started in a hut in the village of Dasowala, located on the banks of the Pili River, and subsequently spread to nearby huts. The firefighting teams, along with the police, managed to extinguish the fire by nightfall. It took about three hours of intense effort to control the spread of the fire, with the teams continuing their work into the night.

As per reports, it took firefighters over three hours to control the fire, and even after that, five fire units have been stationed at the site as a precaution by the fire department. The administration has reportedly tried to make arrangements for the affected families.

According to the fire department,  scores of families were affected and had their huts and livestock destroyed. All belongings in the settlements were also reduced to ashes, leaving the families in crisis and without shelter.

SP City Swatantra Kumar Singh, CO City Juhi Manral, and Shyampur SO Nitesh Sharma also reached the site. Apart from police officials, CFO Abhinav also visited the site at night to examine the situation. FSO Shishupal Singh Negi had told the media that about five fire units have been deployed on-site as a precaution, with one unit called in from Roorkee and another called in from Laksar.

FSO Shishupal Singh Negi stated that there was no loss of human life, but some animals were injured. SO Nitesh Sharma mentioned that the fire probably had started from a spark that ignited while cooking on a stove. According to the police, the small sudden fire had broken out in a hut belonging to the Van Gujjars in the village of Dasowala. Shortly after this, the fire spread and engulfed nearby huts as well and people started running in fear.

Upon receiving the information, a police team from Shyampur police station reached the site. Three fire trucks from the Mayapur fire station were also sent to the scene. The firefighting team started extinguishing the fire in the afternoon and continued till late in the evening.

The Van Gujjars are a nomadic tribe of pastoralists from the Himalayas whose livelihood primarily depends on their cattle. During the summer, they travel to stay in the mountains, and as winter comes, they come down to the plains and forests near rivers. The community travels in groups, moving from region to region with their families and livestock.

The Van Gujjars reside in temporary wooden structures known as ‘deras, with each Dera housing a family. Many families, often related, travel and migrate together during the summer.

The Van Gujjar community is an extremely  marginalised group that has been granted Scheduled Tribe status in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. As of now they get OBC status in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The community has struggled with eviction notices in the name of ‘forest conservation’, and are often not granted any rehabilitation.

Related: 

 Forest Dept admits to faults in eviction notices issued to Van Gujjars, Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand: A Van Gujjar committee Revives an old Fight to Claim Land Titles in the Shivpuri Range

Who sprayed chemicals in an eco-sensitive forest area in Haldwani?

Revealed! An ancient migration route that may vanish soon

A Day in the Life of Van Gujjars

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What Marx and Engels said in 1848 still holds very scientific and real relevance today, after nearly two centuries when we speak of rights of the people and classes dependent on natural resources.

The most essential and basic of natural resources– the Forests and Land– are a major bone of contention between various class and caste groups in our society and the country.

Today right from Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south there is fierce battle going on for the control of these resources between the forest peoples and corporations backed by the state, crony capital and other powerful state & international agencies.

The struggle around forest resources is almost three centuries old here. Ever since British colonial power colonized India essentially to take control over our natural resources for the primitive accumulation of their capital. Today however, in 21^st century India it is more acute than ever before.

The first battle of the fight for independence and sovereign rights over natural resources was waged by Indian Adivasis in the forest areas in the eighteenth century. Their battle still continues today even after our country attainted independence from British colonial power in 1947.

The natural forest were plundered for industrial expansion and monocultures was (were) encouraged and promoted in pristine natural forest(s) only to meet the need of growing industrial production. Communities living inside deep forests and depending on these resources were termed as ‘ enemy of the state’. These ‘enemies of the state’ who were the real custodian of the forest wealth were kept out of control of “eminent domain” by colonial power and their local allies in order to build a colonial Indian Nation State.

This contradiction still persists and this is what is termed the British Colonial legacy. This unfortunately continues even after India became independent in 1947.

Forest peoples belonging to the forest villages known as Tongia villages who planted million of hectares of forest especially timber to enable British economic growth were not even counted in the Census records of the citizens in independent India! They were invisible, no records about them existed in any statistical figures and not even in maps until now.

Similarly the nomadic tribes like Van Gujjars spread all over the sub Himalayan range were also missing in the Census of this country until the New Legislation on forest Resource recognised them, for the first time, as a category for forest dwellers.

“The Scheduled Tribe and Other Forest Dwellers Recognition of Rights Act of 2006” (Forest Rights Act, 2006) was passed by our august Parliament in December 2006. What a tragic fate of the forest people that this still needs to be made known to the rest of the world.

Likewise the millions of Adivasis, Dalits and other forest dwellers residing inside the forest were regarded as encroachers, insurgents, outsiders or Naxalites before, until the 1980’s. They always remained as ‘ Outsiders’ (outside the purview of the newly constructed Indian state) and therefore unwanted.

The transfer of power from British colonial regime to Indian leaders were full of such contradictions. Some of our greatest martyrs Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev ,Chanrashekhar Azad and Babasaheb Ambedkar cautioned Indians on this distinct and dangerous possibility much before India attained the independence.

They categorically said that this transfer of power from British will leave Dalits, Adivasis and Other (Economically Poor) Backward Peoples without any real independence. That was echoed after many years by a grass root leader Munnilal, a Dalit iconic leader of the All India union of Forest working people (AIUFWP) from Haripur Tongia of Haridwar district, Uttarakhand.

He has equated the enactment of the FRA 2006 as the moment of “real independence” for the forest villages in 2006. Until then they considered themselves still “Gulam” (slaves) within independent India. This is a common refrain from Adivasi people who often say, “sarkaar to hum ko chahti hi nahi hai” ( The government does not love us).

The continuous plundering of the forest after independence that continued in the name of “national development” has reached an impasse. Today, with climate change looming large over the earth and India, it is no longer feasible to continue the destruction of forest resources with the serious detrimental impact –that this model of ‘development’—has had, both on the environment and ecological balance.

The people residing in the forest area are considered as “most poor” according to Earth summit that took place in Rio de Jineiro in 1992. The people living inside the forest area being turned into displaced refugees and without safe employment in cities they are the poor, hungry and most vulnerable groups across our country .

However as a national trade union of the forest working people it has been our experience that the age-old battle on control over the forest resources is still being waged strongly under the leadership of the forest peoples across the country.

It is the women from these communities who are also leading the battle of safe guarding their resources from corporate loot. We have found that wherever such battles are being waged and where women are at the forefront, the assaulting state agencies are on the backfoot.

We are at a critical stage.

Almost all the forest area in our country — that is a landmass of almost 24% of the total –is endangered, and it is in these areas that these battle is bin waged, whether small or big. And, significantly, these are all democratic struggles which often are dubbed as “anti-state and terrorist acts.”

The government continues unchecked on its path of taking over of natural resources by surpassing all the laws, even our Constitution to ensure narrow gains for crony capitalist forces and big industries, of these major ones today are Adani and Ambani.

In this context the enactment of the FRA in 2006 needs to be viewed critically. The outgoing NDA government (2004) under the leadership of Atal Bihari Bajpai in 2003 strongly advocated the enacting a legislation on forest rights and made such a promise to the Adivasi and the forest people. This realization, suddenly from a deep slumber, was due, in large part, to the rising of Maoist activities in the forests of Andhra Pradesh and some other regions.

To win the vote bank of Adivasis, the outgoing government made these promises: that that if they come to power again, they would enact such a central legislation that ensures the rights of Adivasis over the forest resources and forest land.

However the NDA suffered a humiliating defeat and the United Progressive alliance (UPA-I) was elected with a majority with the very active support of the left parties. This combination was fairly progressive for a time and various people oriented legislation were enacted in Parliament between 2004-2014, of which FRA 2006 was one.

The coming of the Act was a blessing in disguise for the forest peoples. In 2002 there had been a massive and brutal eviction drive in the forest area where elephants were used to crush the villages in places like Assam and demolitions of homes and dwellings took place in various other areas as well. These incidents also mobilised the forest people against the anti-people NDA government which then compelled the government to backtrack and propose a progressive progamme for Adivasis.

The enactment of FRA is in itself a great historical achievement in the history of the forest area as well in history of India after Independence as there was, until then, not a single special Act that recognised the rights of the people over these vast resources.

All previously existing laws such as Indian Forest Act 1927 (IFA), The Wildlife Protection Act 1972, The Forest Conservation Act 1980 were too general, not positioning or addressing the traditional rights of the forest people. In fact the legacy of terming the forest people as “encroachers” that was started by the British and legally sanctified through enactment of the IFA continued to be the instrument used by Indian State to evict and displace millions of forest people from the forest.

Historically, evictions actually started much before the Act of 1927 was enacted. The foundation of modern development was thus on the graveyards of the millions of our Indigenous peoples who sacrificed their everything in the name of ‘national development’ within which they were not given or did not have any dignified place.

Ironically, this space is still not there, rather the state still sees them as a threat to their capitalist interests.

Adivasis and Forest Dwellers saw a ray of light in 1988 when the guidelines for a new forest policy was pronounced. Some glimmer of hope, their rights figured. Again, this came about in response to the unrest that surfaced in many forest area. The government of India was compelled to respond.

The New Forest policy was based on six crucial circulars brought out in favor of protecting the forest and the forest people by the then Rural Development Commissioner, S.R Sankaran.

This major development laid the foundation for coming of a Special Act on Forest Rights that was finally adopted by new government (UPA-I) in their Common Minimum Programme (CMP) 2004. The law was passed by the Lok Sabha in December 15, 2006 and thereafter in the Rajya Sabha.

The Act is clear and unequivocal. Section 13 states that FRA 2006 will supersede all the general Acts applied in the forest areas. Besides, the provisions of the “Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, will be legally and administratively viewed “in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other law for the time being in force save as otherwise provided in this Act and the provisions of the of any other law for the time being in force.”

The preamble of Act of 2006 says that the Objective is to –

• To undo the historical injustice occurred to the forest dwelling communities
• To ensure land tenure, livelihood and food security of the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers
• To strengthen the conservation regime of the forests by including the responsibilities and authority on Forest Rights holders for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance.

Where are we now?

Even though we have for after, 59 years after Independence and 56 years after India gave itself the Constitution with Schedules V and VI guaranteeing self- rule for the Scheduled Trines (STs), a Special Act for the Forest areas and Forest peoples, the forest bureaucracy and the state agencies that have appropriated massive land and forest areas are not ready to give up their control.

The implementation of FRA 2006 has been dogged by a lack of political will. Even after 17 long years of the enactment of the law, forest peoples have not got their control over forest resources. The colonial Forest department along with the state as a whole are hand in glove with each other to weaken the spirit of the Act. The aim is to refuse to relinquish control that, which in turn, means that the Act looses its strength.

To render the FRA more ineffective these agencies are trying to strengthen previous laws like the Forest Conservation Act 1980, talking about bringing amendments so as to dilute and divert the issue from provisions of the FRA 2006 altogether. Governments and other vested interests are quite aware that it is not possible to dilute the FRA completely as it is an Act of Parliament. If the Forest Rights Act, 2006 were to be implemented in its true spirit, the Forest Department may be rendered useless, less than a decorative piece.

A ready implementation of the law will bring with it some drastic and fundamental changes in overall character of bureaucratic functioning and handling of other resources, such as land and allied natural resources.

Recently the Ministry of Environment (MoEF) has moved some amendments in the FCA 1980 to divert the discussion away from implementation of FRA 2006. Hence the intense debate around this law but little around the crucial FRA 2006. The more dogged and focused the struggle of Adivasis and Forest Dwellers to get FRA 2006 implemented, there will be a push back and these moves by both governments  and the forest bureaucracy will be diluted. That has been the studied experience of the AIUFWP.

Once the gram sabha (village councils) are empowered under FRA 2006, it is they, at the ground level who will deal with all such laws that have been brought in basically to permit the erosion of resources and have nothing really to do with forest conservation.

Similarly the Environment Policy of 2020 is also an eye wash. This policy has not been brought in consultation with people. From the point of view of Adivasis and Forest Dwellers , the 2020 Environment Policy has just been brought in to take control over the resources and keep people away. Today when there is much awareness among people why is the critical debate on such policies not taking place in consultation with people? The corporate agenda of the government needs to be exposed and be challenged.

Bhumi Adhikar Andolan a national level front on the rights to land and forests has strongly criticised the government regarding these policies, holding protests and issuing heir statements.

Of late, it is clear that the present NDA-II government appears to be specifically targeting all hill States be it North East or Kashmir, first through the abrogation of Articles 370, 371, 372 and 374. Serious signs of unrest in the form of ethnic clashes are witnessed in Manipur, Nagaland, Assam, Arunanchal Pradesh and Tripura. No political solution is even being attempted. The AIUWFP believes that such unrest is politically motivated and being created to hand over these huge resources to the companies.

There is an urgent need to build a wider people’s movement against this corporate loot to safeguard our resources and also our forest people. The unity of the poor and the local communities who are entirely dependent on these resources is the only solution. But this will not happen automatically, the initiative should be taken by the social movements to stop this corporate loot and work towards the unity of the Indigenous people to protect and safeguard rights and resources.

Towards this, we, that is the AIUFWP and its allies have also initiated a national level process of bringing all natural resources based groups such as forest, fisheries, land, agriculture and other working people in this initiative to launch a nation-wide struggle to save our resources, save the planet Earth and remove poverty and establish social justice.

(Roma is the general secretary of the AIUFWP)

Related:

Forest Conservation Bill 2023: too many exemptions, discretion to Centre

Minister inquires about implementation of FRA in states, MoTA dodges any accountability

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

GuttiKoyas (Maru) Adivasis from Chhattisgarh face eviction in Telangana

A year of exacerbated attacks on Dalits and Adivasis, arguably two of the most marginalised sections of the Indian population

Are over 1,10,000 Adivasis & Forest Dwellers at risk of eviction and loss of livelihood?

Chhattisgarh: A minor dead in missile strike on Koya Adivasis

The post How a battle is being waged within India’s forests, for rights over land and resources appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Now, in an order dated May 25, the Forest Department has flagged procedural violations in the issue of these eviction notices. It directed the officials to note that their settlements, known as Khattey, can be removed only when proper provisions are made for their resettlements, reported The Hindu.

Van Gujjars from several villages in the Terai East and West Divisions had received such eviction notices. However, when TOI spoke to forest range officer Laxman Singh Martolia of Bannakheda range in Terai West division, he said, “The letter were solely intended to inform them that anti-forest activities would not be tolerated within the forest area.”

The Uttarakhand Forest Department had issued eviction notices to approximately 400 Van Gujjars to vacate their houses as a part of a drive to clear encroachments on forest property, like religious places, settlements or any other structures that cropped up illegally. It is also pertinent to note that most of these Van Gujjars belong to the Muslim community.

Van Gujjars are nomadic forest dwelling pastoral communities residing in Uttarakhand. The Van Gujjars of Uttarakhand mark the onset of summer season with their annual migration to the Himalayan ‘bugyals’ or meadows, and in the winter season they move towards the lower mountains of the Shivalik range. As reported in Times of India, Van Panchayat Sangharsh Morcha (VPSM), an organization working towards safeguarding the rights of the forest dwellers has written to the Principal Forest Secretary requesting the Government to halt the displacement of these forest dwellers and highlighted the procedural issues and lapses in the orders. Tarun Joshi, a member of VPSM highlighted one of the issues as “such notices can be issued by an officer holding the rank of a divisional forest officer”. As reported in the Times of India, on May 22, around 100 Van Gujjars, including women and children protested the order “to immediately vacate the land” in Ramnagar, Nainital district.

The Van Gujjars have stated that their claims filed under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (also known as the Forest Rights Act) are still pending with the government.
The Forest Rights Act, 2003

The Section 3 of Forest Rights Act, 2003 recognizes the right of the forest dwellers to ‘hold and live in the forest land under the individual or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation for livelihood by a member or members of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dwellers’. Further, Section 4 of the Act clearly states that in case they are residing in ‘critical wildlife habitats of National Parks and Sanctuaries’ these forest dwellers need to be rehabilitated first.

Further, the Guidelines on the implementation of Forest Rights Act issued by the Ministry for Tribal Affairs clearly state,

“Section 4(5) of the Act is very specific and provides that no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dwellers shall be evicted or removed from the forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete. This clause is of an absolute nature and excludes all possibilities of eviction of forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes or other traditional forest dwellers without settlement of their forest rights as this Section opens with the words “Save as otherwise provided”. The rationale behind this protective clause against eviction is to ensure that in no case a forest dweller should be evicted without recognition of his rights as the same entitles him to a due compensation in case of eventuality of displacement in cases, where even after recognition of rights, a forest area is to be declared as inviolate for wildlife conservation or diverted for any other purpose. In any case, Section 4(1) has the effect of recognizing and vesting forest rights in eligible forest dwellers. Therefore, no eviction should take place till the process of recognition and vesting of forest rights under the Act is complete.”

They further lay down, “in view of the provisions of Section 4(5) of the Act, no eviction and resettlement is permissible from the National Parks and Sanctuaries till all the formalities relating to recognition and verification of their claims are completed.”

It is the duty of the State Level Monitoring Committee to ensure that these guidelines are followed.

Uttarakhand High Court order

In the Think Act Rise Foundation through Arjun Kasana vs State of Uttarakhand and Ors. Writ Petition (PIL) No. 140 of 2019 (order dated 25th May 2021) the Uttarakhand High Court through an interim order upheld the right of a qafila (caravan) of Van Gujjars to migrate to their summer homesteads in the bugyals (Himalayan alpine meadows) in the Govind Pashu Vihar National Park in Uttarkashi district. The court noted,

“It is, indeed, trite to state that Article 21 of the Constitution of India forbids the State from reducing the lives of its people below the animal existence. Every citizen not only has a right to live, but also has a right to live with dignity.”

The eviction notices to the Van Gujjars again show an attempt on the part of the state to remove them from their lands which in itself is violative of Article 21 of the Constitution and their rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Related:

A Day in the Life of Van Gujjars

HC order empowers Van Gujjars during Covid-19

Bullets and bureaucracy: Van Gujjars of Shivalik hills are caught in the crosshairs

How can you ever ‘resettle’ an ancient way of life?

The post Forest Dept admits to faults in eviction notices issued to Van Gujjars, Uttarakhand appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Eighty-six Families from Silan, a Van Gujjar settlement in Shivpuri Range, Tehri Garhwal, have filed their claims under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and further submitted them to the SDM office.

“We submitted these claims around 2-3 months back, with the hearing still being in the process. Ameer Hamza, president of Van Gujjar Tribal Yuva Sangathan (VGTYS), has been helping us with all these legal proceedings and formalities so far,” said Ibrahim, a resident of Silan who is also a member of the VGTYS. Despite all the efforts, forest dwellers of this region have not been granted legitimate land titles under FRA.

The Van Gujjars are among a few surviving transhumant pastoral communities worldwide. They are a rarity in that they are one of the few Muslim Tribals who have survived as nomads to the present day.

Originally from Jammu and Kashmir, the community has always asserted the prefix “Van” to reclaim their forest dweller identity as they are still not classified as forest-dwelling Schedule Tribes, unlike the hill states of Himachal Pradesh and J&K. The “Van” in their name also tends to assert their ancient symbiotic relationship they share with forests since time immemorial. This addition to the word Gujjar also distinguishes them from the mainstream community.

The primary occupation of the community is animal husbandry, which primarily comprises the Gojiri buffalo, an indigenous breed that cannot survive without seasonal migration and is identifiable by its unique horns and body structure. The Van Gujjars possess a unique culture owing to the spiritual beliefs they keep with respect to domestic livestock and wildlife.

Van Gujjar Tribal Yuva Sangathan was founded by young Van Gujjars striving to ascertain their collective struggles. There is a strong emphasis on reclaiming their tribal identity, as the state of Uttarakhand denies them their rightful Scheduled Tribe Status. The organisation was registered formally in 2020, but its members have been spearheading community development work since 2017.

Having faced systemic exclusion and exploitation due to the inadequate implementation of FRA by the Forest Department and concerning authorities, local youth from VGTYS rose to take on the work of empowering their community by educating themselves about the workings and provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The Forest Department, locally known as ‘Janglaat‘, is infamous amongst these forest dwellers for its apathy as, time and again, the Van Gujjars have been termed encroachers by the department, followed by eviction notices and drives.

Being marginalised to such an extent, the young Gujjars decided to fight back the state repression with constitutional means. Now, the members of VGTYS, with their aim of democratising information on the workings of administrative provisions on FRA, have been taking up this cause for the community all over Uttarakhand. So far, they have been instrumental in aiding people to file nomination claims, community rights claims, land rights claims, documentation and so on.

VGTYS has been highly instrumental in helping formulate Forest Rights Committees (FRC), a local body comprised of claimants, which is a prerequisite in the implementation process of FRA.

Gami, an elder from the community who has been spearheading this effort since 2002, speaks about the latest effort and the formation of a Forest Right Committee to finally address the long pending demand of the community.

“We still haven’t got land titles under FRA, and the committee is aimed to hasten the process of claims and represent all of us in courts,” Gami said.

Ibrahim says that the forest department, apart from threatening eviction, does not want the community of Van Gujjars to progress.

“How will a community thrive if they don’t have basic facilities to survive, such as schools, toilets, hospitals, Anganwadi in their locality, land to live on and construct houses and farm at?” he added. Not many land titles have been granted to the Van Gujjar.

“As granted by FRA 2006, Van Gujjars got land titles only in the district of Uttarkashi. They are some 23-24 families. Rest in the whole of Uttarakhand, we haven’t got any titles, and hence we need to fight for it,” Gami said.

The Dhebar commission set up by the Government of India in 1960 to scrutinise the implementation of provisions of special protection of Scheduled Tribes across the country, as granted by the Constitution, notes, “There is a feeling among the Tribals (Gujjars in this case) that all arguments in support of preservation and development of forests are intended to refuse from their demands. They argue that when it is a question of industry, township, development work or project of rehabilitation, all those plausible are forgotten, and vast tracts are placed at the disposal of outsiders who are mercilessly destroying the forest with or without necessity.”

(Gami (right), with Ibrahim (second from right), discussing the issues with the journalists)

“Earlier, due to a lack of awareness, we lagged in filing the FRA claims. Hence we couldn’t push to get land titles sooner,” Gami said. He formed the committee two years ago when the forest department served eviction notices to the residents of Silan. The committee then represented their defence in court, which is still in process. “The demand has been there since 2002, but now that they served us a notice, it became important for us to put forward our defence and demands,” Gami said.

The notice asking the Gujjars of Silan to vacate was sudden, and they wrote to the forest department, invoking the FRA, section 6(2), which grants the gram sabha the authority to delineate mapping of a claim to land in an area by a tribal community. Gujjars have asked for specific localities (called compartments) like Brahmapuri, Nirgaddu, etc., within the Shivpuri range. See the letter below.

(Letter by the Van Gujjar Committee presented to the forest department under FRA (2006), section 6(2))

As noted, Gujjars have never been granted rights to forest land before, except in Uttarkashi, where Ameer Hamza of the VGTYS has led the legal fight and claim to land rights.

“It took one year for them to get their due rights under FRA, and we, too, have been working on it for the past two years,” Gami said, hoping they can finally get land rights. While the line of narrative against the Gujjars of the authority, the forest department, has been that the forest-dwelling ways of Van Gujjars are detrimental to wildlife and threaten the ecosystem of national parks and forest ranges. Nothing is further from the truth, as Gujjars have lived in the forests for decades and are symbiotically related to the ecosystems.

The positive impact on the environment and the ecosystems of forests are umpteen. Their transhumant movement through the hills and forests across Uttarakhand nurtures the flora of many regions, while it is their way of life, practised holistically for decades. Their customs, festivals, anecdotes, folklore and tradition; all bear testimony to their symbiosis with forests they have thrived on for years. We could look at the community’s Sela Parv as the aptest example. Sela Parv is an annual festival celebrated by the community where saplings of local indigenous trees such as ‘Semal’ are planted and celebrated. The semal tree, like the other trees which find their mention in similar Gojri traditions, has high ecological and nutritional benefits.

From their traditional settlements (Deras) constructed of thatched roofs and mud walls to their local food, everything being organic seems to have a minimal carbon footprint. Yet, these rightful heirs are termed as encroachers in the very own forests they nurture.

The other symbiotic relationship they share with forests isn’t uncommon as well. For instance, as their economy depends on milk utilisation, they have an indigenous way of using the semal tree to skim milk. The branch of the tree is used to skim milk, which later grows into full-fledged trees. The transhumant path of Gujjars then organically helps the growth of such trees. The grazing of buffaloes also helps in the seed dispersal of many trees and plants. The cyclical system of grazing buffaloes, utilising forest produce, and giving back to the same forests through the aforementioned processes are rooted in the tribal way of life of the Gujjars.

Ibrahim adds that the relations of the Gujjars in the Shivpuri range and the whole of the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand with other communities, such as the rural Garhwali communities, is one of mutual support and care.

“As Gujjars have become aware and have started speaking out, more people from the villages interact with us. They are curious to know more about us and our unique pastoral lifestyle. We help them as well, for example, with our buffaloes. We get them to graze the fields and lands of people who want them cleared of vegetation. We help in many other ways, and they do the same,” he said.

As the people of Silan rear Gojri buffaloes like the rest of the community, all the families depend on the buffaloes’ milk. Their livelihood depends on selling milk from the buffaloes and, in turn, on the forests for grazing. While the other communities, although rural, depend on forest produce as well. The Garhwali Hindu community, too, rears cattle and needs fodder for them. As they both depend on forest use, that’s why, Ibrahim says, communities co-exist with Van Gujjars with mutuality.

While the forest department’s threat to the residence of Gujjars in the forests is a major concern, an anxiety that the Gujjars have to fight against consistently, projects such as those related to National Highway and Railways too affect their lives. Ibrahim says that the authorities uprooted a nearby van Gujjar locality, Bhingani, without any prior notice. Gami used to live in that locality previously before shifting to Silan. It was uprooted to give way to a development project of the Railways. “We lose land and forest access due to random predicaments,” Ibrahim says.

Inadequate electricity supply, lack of access to water, and improper roads are a few of many problems which ail the region. Hence, it is important that the Gujjars win rights over land to settle, in addition to being provided with the aforementioned facilities that have been lacking.

Silan, interestingly, has been a settled area for the past 12 years. Gami says that due to the transhumant nature of their lives, children’s education and awareness within the community were lacking. This is due to migrations every six months.

“Families migrate to higher ground, after staying at one place for six months, to graze buffaloes elsewhere. This affects the schooling of our children,” Gami said. The elders of the locality settled in the area of Silan so that children could go to school regularly. Ibrahim is one such youth who has gone to regular school and now is a bachelor’s student of Sociology, all the while helping the community.

“There is a government school 1 kilometre away from here. All our children go there to study,” Ibrahim said. Hence it becomes even more pertinent for the families to get the rights to the land in the Shivpuri range, says Mohammed Wazir, another resident of Silan. “Our milk business isn’t profitable at all. All we get is low rates and no support from the government to incentivise our trade,” says Wazir, as most profit is also earned by milk supplier middlemen, known as Lalas. Reshma, another resident, adds that she would like her children to get jobs in the city and progress, as “the dangar (cattle) are not useful to sustain our families. We want our children to get the education and work to live a better life,” she says.

The writers are independent journalists. All views are personal.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Srinagar: Members of the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities have launched protests across Jammu and Kashmir ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the region. The communities are apprehensive that Shah may announce Schedule Tribe status for the Pahari community, which the former claim will lead to ‘dilution’ of the reservation.

Representatives, students and community activists from the Gujjar and Bakerwal community, who fall in the Schedule Tribe (ST) category, took to the streets and carried out several rallies in several areas of Kashmir valley, parts of Chenab valley and Pir Panjal areas. The community members argue that Gujjar and Bakerwal communities are not only socially, economically and politically backwards but also face social stigmatisation, which the Pahari community does not have to deal with. They have called for a valley-wide mobilisation to peacefully protest for what they referred to as the “protection of reservation rights.”

Shah is visiting the region for two days from October 4. The Pahari community is hopeful that the Home Minister will announce ST status for them during his rally in the Rajouri area of Jammu, which has a significant Pahari-speaking population. The demonstrators have said they will continue their protest during Shah’s visit.

Faisal Raza Bokda, the provincial president of the Gujjar Bakarwal Youth Welfare Conference J&K (JKGBYWC) in Jammu, said that the Pahari community does not fit the criteria of being a Scheduled Tribe.

“It (the ST status) was granted to us after a long struggle by the community and its leaders in 1990. The Paharis did not fulfil the standards and were hence left out, and there was no demand as such during that time. Now that there is a political reservation, which was announced during the delimitation process, some of the Pahari leaders have began demanding it,” Faisal told NewsClick.

Gujjar and Bakerwals have a 7.5% reservation under the ST category, which they also share with other communities like Shinas. The young activist also argued that anyone who lives in the mountains could claim Pahari status, and the community already enjoys reservations in several categories, making the fresh demand “unjustified”.

“They have 40% reservation across different categories, and there is also a 4% reservation under PSP (Pahari Speaking Population) even as there are no reservations given on the basis of language,” he said.

Faisal pointed out that if the government increases their percentage under these reservations, the Paharis will have no problem, but including them in the ST reservation will impact other communities.

According to the 2011 Census, Gujjar and Bakerwals constitute as many as 15 lakh people in Jammu and Kashmir and were included as ST in 1992.

After the delimitation exercise was carried out in the aftermath of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, the Delimitation Commission reserved nine assembly seats for the ST population. It included three assembly seats of Poonch, two out of five in Rajouri, and one each in Reasi, Anantnag, Ganderbal and Bandipore districts. Since then, the Pahari-speaking population, around 9% of the region’s total population, amplified their reservation demands.

The regional political parties have been backing the demands of the Pahari-speaking population, with many of the regional mainstream leadership calling it genuine. However, the conflict between the communities has caused concern among the parties urging the community leaders to end it.

Arguing that the issue has made enemies out of brothers and caused tension in the Pir Panjal region, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti told reporters in Srinagar that the communities had lived together for centuries, and still, they are being pitted against each other.

“The Home Minister will come and leave. The BJP is here today, it will not be there tomorrow. First, they pitted Hindus against Muslims, and now they want the Gujjars and Paharis to fight with each other. It is forming a gulf between them. Your religion is one, you are the residents of the same place, so such fights should not happen,” Mufti, the president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), said.

Despite having reservations, the Gujjar and Bakerwal communities claim that they are facing harassment from the authorities as many of the members have been forcefully evicted from their residential areas since last year. Many have also accused the government of delaying the implementation of the Forests Rights Act (FRA) that empowers them.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The Uttarakhand High Court has directed authorities to ensure Van Gujjar families, who have been living in tents after being denied entry in the national park, are accommodated in ‘pucca houses’. 

Van Gujjars are a nomadic tribe who have been residing in forest areas of the state for centuries. The bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma observed that Article 21 of the Constitution of India forbids the State from reducing the lives of its people below the animal existence.

At a previous hearing on March 17, the court had come down heavily on the state government for constituting a committee that was not competent to examine the issues and rights of Van Gujjar community, and said that it did not appreciate the lacunae left by the government while constituting the Committee and neither did it appreciate the Committee forcing the petitioner to go before another competent authority to raise its grievances.

Petitioner’s affidavit

The petitioner, Arjun Kasana filed an affidavit highlighting that Van Gujjars, a forest dwelling community have been residing in the forest areas for last more than hundred years and are a nomadic tribe. During this time of the year, they come down to lower areas of the state and some families have migrated to Govind Pashu Vihar National Park, Uttarkashi, while holding valid permits to enter and make a living. 

The affidavit states that they have not been allowed to enter the park by the Deputy Director, Mr. Komal Singh and the families were hence, forced to live in tents and are living a hand to mouth existence as they are even unable to sell milk to neighbouring villages owing to the lockdown. The petitioner filed a supplementary affidavit with photographs of families living in tents in the open. The petitioner prayed that arrangements be made for these families by the District Magistrate and the park’s Deputy Director.

The Advocate General, SN Babulkar contended that their migration may endanger the wildlife and unless they test negative for Covid-19, they cannot be permitted to enter. To this, the petitioner responded that it is the government’s duty to conduct these tests and until such tests are arranged a reasonable arrangement should be made to save their lives.

Court’s observations

The court, after perusing, the photographs held that “Article 21 of the Constitution of India forbids the State from reducing the lives of its people below the animal existence. Every citizen not only has a right to live, but also has a right to live with dignity”, the court pointed to the callous attitude of the Deputy Director of the Park, and of the Civil Administration, which it said forced the families to survive in conditions, which are below the animal existence.

“A bare perusal of the photographs submitted with the Supplementary Affidavit clearly reveal that families are forced to live in open tents, in open field, under the open sky. The photographs also show small children, and new born babies, being wrapped in blankets, and sleeping on the ground. The photographs also reveal that some cattle are tied next to the tent, and some cattle have died,” said the court.

The court held that prima facie, the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution is being violated and hence, directed the Collector, District-Uttarkashi, and the Deputy Director of the Park to ensure that these families are comfortably accommodated in “Pacca houses”.

“They shall be provided with food, water, and medicines. They shall also be provided with fodder for their cattle. It is further directed that all the families shall be tested for Covid-19. In case, they are found to be negative, and if they are valid permit holders, arrangements shall be made to permit them to enter the Park for the duration allowed by law,” the court ordered.

The court directed both authorities to file a compliance report with regard to substantial steps taken by them to implement these directions before June 15.

The matter will be next heard on June 16.

The order may be read here:

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The Uttarakhand High Court came down heavily on the state government for constituting a committee that was not competent to examine the issues and rights of Van Gujjar community. The bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice Alok Kumar Verma, vide order dated March 17, said that it did not appreciate the lacunae left by the government while constituting the Committee and neither did it appreciate the Committee forcing the petitioner to go before another competent authority to raise its grievances.

The court thus directed the government to re-constitute the committee with competent members and gave specific directions to the committee thus formed to submit its recommendations within 3 months.

Background

The court highlighted that vide order dated September 3, 2019, a coordinate bench of the court had discussed the scope and ambit of Section 61-A of the Indian Forest Act ad had directed that “the Van Gujjars, living within the Shyampur Range of Haridwar Division of Rajaji National Park, shall not be evicted except in strict compliance of the provisions of Section 61-A of the Indian Forest Act, 1927”.

At a previous hearing, on August 17, 2020, the court had directed the state government to constitute a Committee which would consider the problems of the Van Gujjars, necessary steps that are required to be taken for their rehabilitation and upliftment, as well as the rights which can be given to the Van Gujjars under the Indian Forest Act. Accordingly, the committee was constituted comprising 

(i) the Chief Forest Conservator, Wildlife as the Chairman of the Committee, 

(ii) Chief Wildlife Conservator as member, 

(iii) Director, Rajaji Tiger Reserve to be the Member Secretary as also 

(iv) a representative nominated by the Director, Wildlife Institute of India, and 

(v) a representative nominated by the WWF, World Wide Fund for Nature as members. 

The issues considered by the committee included:

1.       whether the legal proceedings being initiated against the Van Gujjars, such as removal of encroachment etc, can be stopped?

2.       whether the FIRs, which have been registered against the Van Gujjars, can be withdrawn/recalled, if the same have not been registered following the due process of law?

3.       to initiate proceedings to provide them legal rights under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

4.       to give them compensation, by following the legal procedure, for the rehabilitation done in the past.

5.       the conversion of that part of the forest land into a revenue village where this population of Van Gujjars is residing.

6.       to inquire into the steps taken by the officers against the Van Gujjars.

The petitioner, Arjun Kasana, termed the committee to be an eye wash as it failed to delve into the areas which were supposed to be examined, and to submit its recommendations. Further, with regard to the rights of Van Gujjars, the Committee asked the petitioner to raise its grievances before the District Magistrate, and before the Social Welfare Department, vide a letter dated February 15, 2021. The petitioner argued that the court did not expect the committee to merely pass the buck and compel the petitioner to run from pillar to post in order to highlight the plight of the Van Gujjars.

The court’s observations

The court observed that the tribal population in the state is large and they continue to live in forests in the harshest conditions. The court opined that it is the constitutional duty of the State to look after the tribal population and it cannot turn a Nelson’s eye towards them. The court further stated that the tribal population has as much Fundamental Rights, under Part-III of the Constitution of India, as the urban and rural population and they cannot be denied the same due to the state’s apathy and callous attitude.

The court observed that the State is duty bound to:

(a) take steps for the benefit of the tribal population

(b) to ensure that Fundamental Rights are concretised for the benefit of the tribal population

(c) to ensure that basic fundamental facilities are provided to the tribal population

(d) in light of the Directive Principles of the Constitution of India to improve the lifestyle and the condition of the tribal population, and

(e) to ensure that the tribal population improves its living standard to the extent it merges with the mainstream of the society, and becomes a part of the productive population of the State.

The court expressed its displeasure over the functioning of the committee which was given a particular mandate by the court which was to look into and examine the difficulties faced by Van Gujjars and to resolve the same by making recommendations. The further stated that the constitution of the committee was not up to the mark, “It was certainly not expected by this Court that the Committee, so constituted, would not even have the competent persons, and competent authorities within its constitution. Moreover, it was certainly not expected that the Committee would pass the buck, and would force the petitioner to run from pillar to post in order to highlight the problems of the Van Gujjars.”

The court’s directions

The court then came down on the government for not including in the committee concerned District Magistrate(s) and the Principal Secretary, Social Welfare Department as members since the task was related to the community’s rights under the Forest Rights Act. The court, thus directed the government to re-constitute the committee and to ensure that competent authorities are included as members, otherwise it would just be a mirage and an eye wash. The court further directed that the District Magistrate of the concerned districts, the Principal Secretary, Social Welfare Department, and the Secretary, DLSA of the concerned districts to be included in the committee.

The court then gave specific directions to the committee:

·call the petitioner organisation and shall seek their views on the six points that the Committee has to examine.

·meet once every month to deliberate on the six points explicitly mentioned in the order dated October 1, 2020

·give its report to the State Government with regard to these six points within a period of three months.

·A copy of the recommendations, and the report of the Committee shall also be filed before this Court for its perusal.

Further, in order to ensure that the Committee is functioning as per the present order, the court directed the registry to list the case every month and assigned dates for the same: April 28, May 19 and June 9.

The complete order may be read here:

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The Uttarakhand Government has decided to form a five-member committee to look into the eviction and rehabilitation problems faced by the nomadic tribe of Van Gujjars in the state, as reported by The Hindustan Times. The High Court of Uttarakhand was informed about the formation of a committee by the State on October 20, 2020.

The committee comprises Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Wildlife, Uttarakhand; the State chief wildlife warden; field director, Rajaji Tiger Reserve; a person nominated by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII); and a person nominated by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The committee is also supposed to factor in the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, a legislation that recognizes the historical abuse meted out against the tribal communities of India.

Background

A bunch of PIL’s were filed at the High Court by Arjun Kasana of Think Act Rise Foundation, Himalayan Yuva Gramin Vikas Samiti, Van Adhikar Samiti Dudhala highlighting the troubles faced by the community with respect to their forest rights and illegal eviction.

On August 17, 2020 in the matter Think Act Rise Foundation vs State of Uttarakhand and others (WP [PIL] No. 140 of 2019) and all other PIL’s clubbed together, acting Chief Justice Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath and Justice NS Dhanik had said, “On a prima facie, consideration of the contention advanced, we are of the view that the rights of the van gujjars require to be considered appropriately. Various allegations have been made by the petitioner against the State and their agencies with regard to enrichment and various other acts of commission and omission committed by the State. We are of the view that the legal rights of the van gujjars as available in law requires to be protected. They require not only the protection of the law, but the benefit of the law also.”

They directed the respondent State to constitute a committee and come out with a proposal with regard to the scope of the committee, the extent to which the inquiry will be done by the committee and the period within which, a report or a solution will be offered by the committee for the entire dispute at large by September 28, 2020.

On September 28, the court further directed the State counsel to “apprise this Court as to whether the order dated 17.08.2020, by which a Committee has to be formed, has been complied with or not” and listed the case after 3 weeks. Finally, the court was informed about the panel on October 20.

Submissions made in favour of the Van Gujjars

The submissions made by Think Act Rise Foundation states that the Van Gujjars, who are forest dwelling semi-nomadic communities, have been staying in the various ranges of forests in Uttarakhand for several years and are dependent on the forest for their bonafide needs. It was further submitted that they are being forcefully evicted contrary to the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 insofar as it is applicable to the State of Uttarakhand.

SabrangIndia has also extensively reported on the plight of the Van Gujjars. They state that the written submission further mentions international conventions that speak about forest rights, such as the UN Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Population, the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the General Conference of International Labour Organization which spoke about protection and integration of indigenous and tribal populations into national community and the Indigenous and Tribal Population Convention, 1957. Article 12 of the 1957 Convention states that the indigenous, tribal and semi-tribal population shall not be removed without their free consent from their habitual territories except in accordance with national laws and regulations for reasons relating to national security or in interest of economic development or of the health of these populations.

Earlier in August 2018, the High Court had ordered for the eviction of the Van Gujjars from national parks, reserved forests and protected forest areas in Uttarakhand. However, the Supreme Court had stayed this order in September 2018.

CJP’s fight in defending Tribal rights

Citizens for Justice and Peace, along with All India Union of Forest Working Peoples (AIUFWP) has been actively working to protect the land and livelihood rights of Adivasis and all forest dwelling communities of India.

In July, 2020 the two organizations moved National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission for Women (NCW) and National Commission of Scheduled Tribes (NCST) against police personnel and forest officials of Rajaji National Park, Dehradun in Uttarakhand. The police and forest officials destroyed the shelter of members of Van Gujjar community and physically assaulted women and men including gendered custodial violence.

Since June 2020, CJP actively facilitated the use of technology to ensure monthly meetings with district and village activists to chalk out strategies for struggle and further mobilisation to ensure protection of rights of the forest dweller. They have also been involved in webinar trainings with AIUFWP to discuss the legal and Constitutional rights, the Adivasi freedom struggle and the filing of community forest claims for forest dwellers of Chitrakoot and Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, Sunderbans, Kalahandi, Orissa, Dudhwa and Rajaji National Park regions of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Kaimur, Bihar and Maharashtra.

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Shivalik Saharanpur’s Van Gujjar community sent as many as 13 letters to central and state officials on October 15, 2020 to complain about forced eviction, illegal creation of a tiger reserve and an army firing range.

Following discussions earlier on Thursday, community members sent letters to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Forest and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, State Minister of Forest and Environment and Zoos Dara Singh Chauhan, State Human Rights Commission and other Saharanpur officials.

In the letter, they narrated how the Army had, in recent years, started practising firing in Shivalik’s forest areas, endangering lives of the community people and cattle. Nearly 1,800 Gujjar families and their cattle depend on the forests of Badkala range, Shakumbari range and Mohand range for their survival.

“We have come to know that these areas are proposed to be turned into a tiger reserve. However, our community has not been officially notified about this. We oppose the creation of such a reserve until our forest rights have been assured. Accordingly, we have written our complaints and wish that our grievances be properly addressed,” said the letter.

They also informed officials about the local administration’s threat of forced eviction which violates the rights assured to the Gujjar community under the Forest Act of 2006.

“On December 13, 2005, the Parliament recognised the rights of Scheduled Tribes and traditional forest-dwellers under implied provisions of the 2006 and 2007 Acts,” they said, asserting that Gujjars could not be arbitrarily evicted from their ancestral land.

Further, they reminded the officials that as per a Supreme Court judgement, Van Gujjars cannot be evicted unless they are rehabilitated to other places. In light of all these arguments, the community appealed to officials to take swift action to resolve their predicament.

The letter may be read here: 

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Rights of Van Gujjars should be secured before creating a tiger reserve in Shivalik forest, said members of the Van Gujjar Yuva Sangathan and Forest Rights Committee of Shivalik Saharanpur on the morning of October 15, 2020.

The demand was made during a ‘Van Gujjar Discussion’ meeting to discuss the issue of tiger reserve and the forced removal of the community from the forest area – a blatant violation of the Forest Rights Act of 2006. Hundreds of angry Van Gujjars came to the meeting from far flung areas of Shivalik to denounce the forced removal from their ancestral land.

Saharanpur MP Haji Fazlur Rehman who attended the event promised his support to the community.

“I am with you all the way. I will present your grievances before the Parliament. I would like you to draft a memorandum detailing your problems with which I can present your argument,” he said, following which the Youth Committee took up the responsibility of creating a questionnaire.

Similarly, All India Union of Forest Working People’s (AIUFWP) General Secretary Ashok Chaudhury also voiced his solidarity with the forest-dwellers.

“You [Van Gujjars] have protected the forest and kept it safe. The forest department was created to sell this land. You all are the real guardians. For this service, the AIUFWP completely supports you,” he said.

The participants resolved to send letters to the district administration expressing their non-consent for the creation of a tiger reserve. Moreover, they stated that if the administration tried to force their consent, the community would observe a protest at the District Magistrate’s office.

Earlier, the community had complained to the Lucknow administration that the Saharanpur administration had threatened to evict them if they did not assent to the creation of a tiger reserve. However, they insisted that the government must first remove the illegal firing ranges which pose a real problem in tiger reserves.

The Shivalik mountain range is the ancestral home of many Van Gujjars in Saharanpur, Haridwar, Dehradun, Bijnor and Himachal Pradesh. Their community enjoys a cultural title unique from Adivasis and depends heavily on forests for their pastoral livelihood.

Yuva Sangathan member Ameer Hamza said his organisation decided to hold a meeting with the Shivalik Gujjars after receiving their complaints on September 29.

Related:

The forest is ours and will remain ours: Adivasi man’s letter to CJP

Give forest rights not tiger reserves: Van Gujjar forest-dwellers in Uttarakhand

UP Adivasis oppose land grab attempt, get death threats

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