Delhi people's organizations' meet protests proposed changes in India's forest and environmental laws

By A Representative
A broad spectrum of civil society and people’s organizations under the Bhoomi Adhikar Andolan (BAA) has demanded from the Government of India to work for the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 in its letter and spirit, even as ensuring that collective rights of tribal communities are upheld.
Simultaneously asking the government to “stay away from making any changes to the Act”, a BAA statement issued after a mass demonstration in Delhi insisted on the need to strengthen India’s environmental laws by withdrawing Environment Law (Amendment) Bill, 2015.
A BAA communiqué issued after the meeting said, “Over 500 people associated with different social movements, democratic struggles and trade unions from different states of the country gathered at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on the historic day of enactment of FRA in 2006.”
Following the meeting, a delegation from BAA met Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram, who “assured” the protesters that he would “raise” these issues in Parliament.
Calling the FRA 2006 “a landmark in the history of indigenous people in this country whose rights have time and again been neglected by the state”, the BAA said, “The FRA was enacted to correct this historic injustice meted to our people and restore their rights over their forests, land and water.”
“The Act ensures individual tenure rights over cultivable land and more importantly collective ownership rights over all non-timber forest products (NTFP) and forest-based resources to the Gram Sabhas and those duly elected by the community members”, BAA added.
“However”, it alleged, the government has “neglected in effectively implementing the progressive Act meant to bring about a structural change in forest governance.”
Referring to the tenth ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Nairobi, Kenya (15-18 December). BAA said, “WTO has repeatedly pushed forward the agenda of the developed nations and has sidelined the real concerns of developing nations like India.”
Addressing the meet, Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan said that BAA has been formed to collectively “denounce the proposal of change of law in FRA.” She blamed the government for not implementing them even after the gram sabha passed a resolution for it.” She added, “Though the negotiations would have started in Nairobi, we hope the government does not proceed to sell off our lands there.”
Roma, General Secretary, All-India Union of Forest Working People, said the reason for the meeting is “to remind the government that the people will oppose the governmental move to sell of our lands to the corporates. The government thinks that we will be content with the declaration of FRA, but we will not end our struggle until it is properly implemented.”
Dr Sunilam of the Kisaan Sangharsh Samiti blamed the lack of political will in government for the non-implementation of FRA till date. Referring to the struggle in Chindwara, Madhya Pradeshagainst the Adani Group’s control over tribal land, he said, “The government assumes that they can stop us from democratic struggles by imposing 144.”
Ashok Chowdhary of the All-India Union of Forest Working People said, “Water, food and land are some of our main issues, and everything has to be addressed together.” He added, “Siding with corporates will only ruin our country.”

Comments

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Subaltern voices go digital: Three Indian projects rewriting history from the ground up

By A Representative A new wave of digital humanities (DH) work in India is shifting the focus away from university classrooms and English-language scholarship, instead prioritizing multilingual, community-driven archives that amplify subaltern voices . According to a review published in the Journal of Asian Studies , projects such as the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the Oral History Narmada archive , and the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre are redefining how the country remembers its past — often without government funding or institutional support.

Beyond Lata: How Asha Bhosle redefined the female voice with her underrated versatility

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The news of iconic Asha Bhosle’s ‘untimely’ demise has shocked music lovers across the country. Asha Tai was 92 years young. Normally, people celebrate a passing at this age, but Asha Bhosle—much like another legend, Dev Anand—never made us feel she was growing old. She was perhaps the most versatile artist in Bombay cinema. Hailing from a family devoted to music, Asha’s journey to success and fame was not easy. Her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, had already become the voice of women in cinema, and most contemporaries like Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, and Noor Jehan had slowly faded into oblivion. Frankly, there was no second or third to Lata Mangeshkar; she became the first—and perhaps the only—choice for music directors and all those who mattered in filmmaking. Asha started her musical journey at age 10 with a Marathi film, but her first break in Hindustani cinema came with the film "Chunariya" (1948). Though she was not the first choice of ...

Search This Blog