Bungle in the jungle-II
Source: By Kisor Chaudhuri: The Statesman
Initially, the emergence of large industries on forest land provoked the traditional dwellers to hold the forest authorities in contempt. They were seen to be carrying on the legacy of the long-departed Raj, and in a make-believe world. They considered themselves to be the ‘lords of the jungles’. Despite changing times, these descendents of colonial masters remained entirely oblivious of their ‘subjects’. Forest, police and revenue officials were identified by the disgruntled populace as perpetrators of unjust deeds (true to a great extent). They became convenient targets of tribal fury. Subsequently, such relentless expressions of anger or popular dissent against local state officials allegedly for the government’s failure to protect the body, property and inheritance of the people including restoration of their innate ‘natural’ rights on forest space and resources became a daily occurrence.
Equally, if not worse, is the violent response by the State with the support from the despicable militia, the Salwa Judum (since disbanded) and the SPOs, equipped with deadly firearms. It is a volatile scenario in the forests of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.
The hapless villagers, subsisting on two square meals a day, have to countenance the Maoist outfits on the one hand and the state-sponsored cadres of the Salwa Judum, SPOs and para-military forces on the other. After the demobilisation of Salwa Judum, the central forces have very conveniently filled the space. Last year, Chhattisgarh reported the killing of 124 civilians; Jharkhand registered the maximum of 149 innocents killed by the state.
After years of indecisiveness, the controversial Forest Rights Act, 2006 was enacted. It is a non-starter even seven years after its promulgation. Senior forest officers say that certain Sections of the Act would allow block-level officials to decide on the selection of forest areas for settlement of landless forest tribes.
The panchayat-level Gram Sabha members will be empowered to accord permission for the collection of minor forest produce. Usurpation of such authority by state and panchayat officials meant that the forest departments would lose ‘control’ over their terrain, hitherto regarded as inherited fiefdom.
However, the Act recommends adoption of policies to facilitate deregulation of non-timber forest produce (NTFP) and allow ‘trading’ (without the need of transit permits) of this crucial component of forests to favour free-market economics. Implementation of FRA started in January 2008, but even five years after its implementation, it has failed to benefit the targeted group ~ the forest-dwelling tribes.
Till 31 May 2012, more than 50 per cent of the claims filed by the forest dwellers for rights under FRA were rejected by the forest authorities in different states. Out of 946976 applications from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha only 378457 (40 per cent) were sanctioned.
In the decade that followed the opening of the Indian economy to the free-market realm, the forests in the Chhotanagpur plateau and Chhattisgarh were exploited for their mineral wealth. The extent of interference can be visualised from the fact that only in three mineral rich districts of Odisha and Jharkhand almost 75000 hectares of forests were cleared to accommodate open-cast mines for extraction of iron ore.
Such conversion of ‘habitats’ into ‘production lines’ had dangerous repercussions. Vast tracts of reserve forests (RFs) in these forested locations (notified under Indian Forest Act 1927 that had withdrawn all rights of the people and barred all non-forest activities in reserve forests) were de-notified by the Union government taking advantage of Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Considering the needs of the rich and powerful, the Central government continued to allow diversion of protected and reserved forest land for industrial purposes and creation of profit centres.
Over the past few years I have been requested by government agencies to critically evaluate several proposals from mining interests for the opening of excavation pits in the vulnerable forest habitats of Bastar, Singbhum and Keonjhar. Overall, the government was anxious to please the corporate houses, ignoring the inherent threat to the sustainability of life from these ventures.
Dissent is palpable across the jungles of central India. The forest-dwellers are protesting against a) involuntary dispossession of land; and b) denial of user-right on resources. Protesting villagers are manipulated into blind alleys and with their backs to the wall, they are compelled to be violent. On several occasions, such compelling situations have pleased our political masters to declare the villagers as “enemies of the nation” and wage an internal “war” on the citizens of this country.
While fighting this war of unequals, they were impervious to the frightening activities of project promoters who, to hasten the cumbersome process of land acquisition and eviction of settlers, have started taking the help of the self-appointed protectors of the poor ~ the Maoists. The war in the jungles is intended to silence the dissenting voices in mineral-rich areas where corporate giants are queuing up to have a share in the pie and also for the noble cause of getting rid of ‘poverty’. The new environment minister in Delhi is doing just that.
Initially, the emergence of large industries on forest land provoked the traditional dwellers to hold the forest authorities in contempt. They were seen to be carrying on the legacy of the long-departed Raj, and in a make-believe world. They considered themselves to be the ‘lords of the jungles’. Despite changing times, these descendents of colonial masters remained entirely oblivious of their ‘subjects’. Forest, police and revenue officials were identified by the disgruntled populace as perpetrators of unjust deeds (true to a great extent). They became convenient targets of tribal fury. Subsequently, such relentless expressions of anger or popular dissent against local state officials allegedly for the government’s failure to protect the body, property and inheritance of the people including restoration of their innate ‘natural’ rights on forest space and resources became a daily occurrence.
Equally, if not worse, is the violent response by the State with the support from the despicable militia, the Salwa Judum (since disbanded) and the SPOs, equipped with deadly firearms. It is a volatile scenario in the forests of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand.
The hapless villagers, subsisting on two square meals a day, have to countenance the Maoist outfits on the one hand and the state-sponsored cadres of the Salwa Judum, SPOs and para-military forces on the other. After the demobilisation of Salwa Judum, the central forces have very conveniently filled the space. Last year, Chhattisgarh reported the killing of 124 civilians; Jharkhand registered the maximum of 149 innocents killed by the state.
After years of indecisiveness, the controversial Forest Rights Act, 2006 was enacted. It is a non-starter even seven years after its promulgation. Senior forest officers say that certain Sections of the Act would allow block-level officials to decide on the selection of forest areas for settlement of landless forest tribes.
The panchayat-level Gram Sabha members will be empowered to accord permission for the collection of minor forest produce. Usurpation of such authority by state and panchayat officials meant that the forest departments would lose ‘control’ over their terrain, hitherto regarded as inherited fiefdom.
However, the Act recommends adoption of policies to facilitate deregulation of non-timber forest produce (NTFP) and allow ‘trading’ (without the need of transit permits) of this crucial component of forests to favour free-market economics. Implementation of FRA started in January 2008, but even five years after its implementation, it has failed to benefit the targeted group ~ the forest-dwelling tribes.
Till 31 May 2012, more than 50 per cent of the claims filed by the forest dwellers for rights under FRA were rejected by the forest authorities in different states. Out of 946976 applications from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha only 378457 (40 per cent) were sanctioned.
In the decade that followed the opening of the Indian economy to the free-market realm, the forests in the Chhotanagpur plateau and Chhattisgarh were exploited for their mineral wealth. The extent of interference can be visualised from the fact that only in three mineral rich districts of Odisha and Jharkhand almost 75000 hectares of forests were cleared to accommodate open-cast mines for extraction of iron ore.
Such conversion of ‘habitats’ into ‘production lines’ had dangerous repercussions. Vast tracts of reserve forests (RFs) in these forested locations (notified under Indian Forest Act 1927 that had withdrawn all rights of the people and barred all non-forest activities in reserve forests) were de-notified by the Union government taking advantage of Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Considering the needs of the rich and powerful, the Central government continued to allow diversion of protected and reserved forest land for industrial purposes and creation of profit centres.
Over the past few years I have been requested by government agencies to critically evaluate several proposals from mining interests for the opening of excavation pits in the vulnerable forest habitats of Bastar, Singbhum and Keonjhar. Overall, the government was anxious to please the corporate houses, ignoring the inherent threat to the sustainability of life from these ventures.
Dissent is palpable across the jungles of central India. The forest-dwellers are protesting against a) involuntary dispossession of land; and b) denial of user-right on resources. Protesting villagers are manipulated into blind alleys and with their backs to the wall, they are compelled to be violent. On several occasions, such compelling situations have pleased our political masters to declare the villagers as “enemies of the nation” and wage an internal “war” on the citizens of this country.
While fighting this war of unequals, they were impervious to the frightening activities of project promoters who, to hasten the cumbersome process of land acquisition and eviction of settlers, have started taking the help of the self-appointed protectors of the poor ~ the Maoists. The war in the jungles is intended to silence the dissenting voices in mineral-rich areas where corporate giants are queuing up to have a share in the pie and also for the noble cause of getting rid of ‘poverty’. The new environment minister in Delhi is doing just that.
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