Skip to main content

Violent clashes displaced 4.48 lakh in India; communal, caste conflicts led to "smaller" displacement: Norway report

By Our Representative
Estimating that a whopping 4.48 lakh people were displaced in India due to internal conflicts and violence in India last year, a new report, jointly prepared by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has said that there are 7.96 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country.
Pointing out that displacement caused by violent secessionist movements has primarily been associated with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland and the Assam movement, as well as the ongoing war between militants and the state in Kashmir”, the report states, “Identity-based autonomy movements have also caused displacement in many parts of India, including the states of Telangana and Assam.”
However, the report does not believe communal and caste conflicts in have led to large-scale displacements. It says, “Localised inter-communal violence between Hindus and Muslims, for example in Gujarat, has resulted in smaller-scale displacement, as have caste disputes in states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.”
Pointing out that most of the displacements in India are taking place because of development projects “as part of India’s rapid development and industrialization”, the report, which is titled “Global Report on Internal Displacement”, says, “The large-scale acquisition of land and the eviction and displacement of tens of millions of people over the past decades, not only for the purpose of building dams, mines and industrial plants, but also for other objectives such as urban renewal and environmental conservation.”
Especially singling out “the most controversial cases is the Sardar Sarovar dam”, the report states, “Approved in 1984, the project had displaced an estimated 350,000 people in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra by 2015.”

“In addition to the government’s indifference to the adverse impacts of displacement, extreme inequality in land ownership, insufficient implementation of laws and policies to protect indigenous lands, the power imbalance between project implementers and the affected communities, and the government’s severe approach to dissent are some of the key factors that enable and perpetuate displacement in the context of development projects”, the report states.
Pointing out that “there is a strong link between development projects and conflict”, the report says, “Most of India’s land conflicts arise from state takeovers, often on behalf of private investors”, adding, “The adverse social and environmental impacts of development projects implemented through large-scale land acquisitions with minimal (if any) consultation and compensation have fuelled tensions, violence and conflict over land access and use.”
“As a result”, it says, “Non-state armed groups have gained support from some marginalised communities affected by development projects. Meanwhile, despite numerous state-level housing policies and schemes, limited access to adequate housing in urban and rural areas continues to increase people’s vulnerability to displacement associated with natural hazards.”
Estimating that about 70 million people were displaced development projects between 1947 and 2010, and regretting that data on those displaced since 2010 is not available, the report underlines, only about “a third of the displaced people have been resettled in a planned manner, but their locations are unknown and their resettlement is not a durable solution.”
As for the reminder, the report says, they have “to fend for themselves”, adding, “Many of those who were not settled elsewhere ended up living in informal settlements surrounding New Delhi, Kolkata and other cities, or moving in with nearby relatives, and some have returned in cases where projects have not materialised. Compensation has been paid in cash or land in some cases, but it has often been insufficient for people to restart their lives.”

Comments

johanna said…
India has witnessed a number of conflicts in the past couple of years,it is very important to distinguish between conflict induced IDPs and development induced IDPs. conflict induced IDPs are an invisible lot whom the government does not give any legitimacy.There are policies and schemes that take care of development induced IDPs and hence quantifying these IDPs is not an herculean task. India has had a long history of conflict and there has been displacement which is not even recorded, states like Gujarat have visible colonies of displaced persons, states like Assam, Telengana, Orissa who are often engulfed with conflict still do not have these colonies.. The phrase "conflict induced IDPs" is still a very alien concept to the government of India and this population does not lack of laws and polices will always keep these people in oblivion and their citizenship rights will continue be denied. The thrust has to be to formulate polices and measures to quantify this population, frame polices and schemes and make the government responsible towards this population. Conflicts which are state sponsored are hate crimes against humanity and the repercussions of these hate crimes leads to massive displacement. These need the attention of policy makers. Cases where the state is the perpetrator the government should ensure that no impunity is given to such states.
EASWARAUVACHA said…
Every other State and every other people are discussed. Somehow, Kashmir and Pundits remain invisible to the eyes of all analysts. No kind of ethnic cleansing covers them. They are never viewed as destitute deprived of their home and belongings. This is not to ignore or dilute the attention on the plight of other people. Any issue must be discussed without bias and prejudices. Lack of objectivity is what kills the credibility of platforms which do a good job in highlighting perspectives which do not figure in the mainstream, but overdo it to the exclusion of the mainstream. Mainstream and fringe are not mutually exclusive. They, together, constitute the composite whole.
Jag Jivan said…
The above comment appears to show utmost ignorance. Please refer to the following US state department report http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/253175.pdf

TRENDING

'Enough evidence' in Indian tradition to support legal basis for same-sex marriage

By Iyce Malhotra, Joseph Mathai, Sandeep Chachra*  The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage provides space for much-needed conversations on issues that have hitherto remained “invisible” or engaged with patriarchal locker room humour. We must recognize that people with diverse sexualities and complex gender identities have faced discrimination, stigma and decades of oppression. Their issues have mainly remained buried in dominant social discourse, and many view them with deep insecurities.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Victim of communal violence, Christians in Manipur want Church leadership to speak up

By Fr Cedric Prakash SJ*  The first eleven days of May 2023 have, in many ways, been a defining period of Indian history! Plenty has happened in a rapid-fire stream of events. Ironically, each one of them are indicators of how crimes and the criminalisation of society has become the ‘new norm’; these include, the May Day rallies with a focus on the four labour codes which are patently against the rights of workers; the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Annual Report on 1 May stating that conditions for religious freedom in India “continued to worsen in 2022”; the continued protest by the Indian women wrestlers at Jantar Mantar for the expulsion of the chief of the Indian Wrestlers Federation on very serious allegations; the Elections in Karnataka on 10 May (with communalism and corruption as the mainstay); the release of the fake, derogative and insensitive film ‘The Kerala Story’; the release of World Free Press Index on 3 May which places India

Polygamy in India "down" in 45 yrs: Muslims' from 5.7 to 2.55%, Hindus' 5.8 to 1.77%, "common" in SCs, STs

By Rajiv Shah Amidst All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) justifying polygamy, saying it “meets social and moral needs and the provision for it stems from concern and sympathy for women”, facts suggest the the practice is down from 5.7 per cent of Muslim families in 1961 to 2.55 per cent in 2006.

India joining US sponsored trade pillar to hurt Indian farmers, 'promote' GM seeds, food

Counterview Desk  As many as 32 civil society organisations (CSOs), in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) and India joining the trade pillar, have said that its provisions will allow the US to ensure a more favourable regulatory regime “for enhancing its exports of genetically modified (GM) seeds and GM food”, underlining, it will “significantly hurt the livelihoods of Indian farmers.”

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam*  The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

Modi govt 'wholly untrustworthy' on Covid data, censored criticism on pandemic: Lancet

By Rajiv Shah*   One of the world’s most prestigious health journals, brought out from England, has sharply criticised the Narendra Modi government for being “wholly untrustworthy on Covid-19 health data”, stating, the “official government figures place deaths at more than 530 000, while WHO excess death estimates for 2020 and 2021 are near 4·7 million.”

Undermining law, breastfeeding? Businesses 'using' celebrities to promote baby food

By Rajiv Shah*  A report prepared by the top child welfare NGO, Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI), has identified as many as 15 offenders allegedly violating the Indian baby food law, the Infant Milk Substitutes Feeding Bottles, and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 1992, and Amendment Act 2003 (IMS Act), stating, compliance with the law “seems to be dwindling by the day.”

Delhi demolitions for G-20 summit: Whither sabka saath, sabka vikas?, asks NAPM

By Our Representative  Well-known civil rights network, National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), even as expressing solidarity with “thousands of traumatized residents of Tughlakabad and some other bastis in New Delhi whose homes have been demolished and whose lives have been ravaged both prior to as well as in the lead-up to the G-20 Summit”, has said this is in utter disregard to “their minimum well-being and gross violation of their rights.”