Skip to main content

Put up 'credible' defense of forest dwellers in Supreme Court: CMs, Govt of India told

Counterview Desk
The Bhumi Adhikar Andolan (BAA), an alliance of more than 300 mass-based organizations working for forest and land rights across the country, has written a letter to several state chief ministers and the Union  minister for tribal affairs, urging them to put forward "credible defense" of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in the Supreme Court so that the order seeking the eviction of 11.5 lakh adivasis and other traditional forest dwellers is "annulled."
The letter, written ahead of the last day of the Supreme Court stay (July 10) putting on hold the eviction of forest dwellers,  regrets, "Despite the fact that the directions for eviction have been put ‘on hold’ by the court, the erroneous interpretation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) advanced by the writ petitioners that rejection of claims must, by definition, result in evictions, continues to hold the field.”
Insisting that "this interpretation of FRA is not only faulty, but also unsupported by law", the letter says, "It also tends to compound the very historical injustice that FRA seeks to undo." Hence,  it adds, there is an "urgent need to dismantle this interpretation of FRA and clarify the position of law."
Drawing attention to allegedly "tardy implementation of FRA", the letter says, "Performance of state governments with regard to recognition of community forest resource rights, habitat rights, as well as women’s forest rights, including single women, has been abysmal and flawed."

Text of the letter sent to UP CM:

We, as concerned citizens and as an alliance of more than 300 mass-based organizations working for the forest and land rights, across the country, would like to bring to your attention the issues related to proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and the ongoing judicial intervention in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
At the recently concluded national consultation on FRA in New Delhi on July 1-2, it was decided that we would reach out to you with an appeal to put forward credible defense of FRA in the Supreme Court in your affidavits and ensure that the order evicting the Adivasis and other traditional forest dwellers are annulled.
We urge you to give an undertaking to the Court that your government will implement FRA in letter and spirit and address the historical injustice meted to the Adivasis.
We believe that there is an impression that after the Supreme Court order dated February 28, 2019 staying its earlier order putting the orders for eviction ‘on hold’, there is no further need for the order dated February 13, 2019 to be recalled or modified.
However, despite the fact that the directions for eviction have been put ‘on hold’ by the court, the erroneous interpretation of FRA advanced by the writ petitioners that rejection of claims must, by definition, result in evictions, continues to hold the field.
This interpretation of FRA is not only faulty, but also unsupported by law. It also tends to compound the very historical injustice that FRA seeks to undo. Thus, there is an urgent need to dismantle this interpretation of FRA and clarify the position of law.
There is another reason why this interpretation of FRA needs to be challenged. It is well known that implementation of the Act has been uneven, and in many parts of the country there are vast sections of eligible forest dwellers who have either not filed claims at all, or who have not pursued the entire bundle of forest rights to which they are lawfully entitled.
Indeed, the performance of state governments with regard to recognition of Community Forest Resource rights, habitat rights, as well as women’s forest rights, including single women, has been abysmal and flawed.
The orders passed by the Supreme Court, having received wide coverage in the press and social media, will have a chilling effect on future rights recognition processes, on efforts by forest dwelling communities to protect their Community Forest Resource rights and Individual Forest Rights, and to secure their livelihoods.
For this reason, and to re-iterate the purpose of FRA towards correcting ‘historical injustice’ by acknowledging traditional rights, knowledge and governance of forest dwelling communities to forests, it is imperative that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs continue to press for the recall of not only the order dated February 13, 2019, but also the previous orders dated January 29, 2016 and March 7, 2018 as well.
For this purpose, we urge that the State Government of Uttar Pradesh should advocate this issue with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs at the Centre and must reflect the same in the Supreme Court in its affidavit.
 ---
Signed by: Hannan Mollah, Medha Patkar, Jitendra Chaudhary, Roma, Ashok Choudhary, Ulka Mahajan, Atul Anajan, Prafulla Samantara, Brian Lobo, Dr. Sunilam, Adv. Aradhna Bhargava, Dayamani Barla, Teesta Setalvad, Virendra Vidrohi, Suneet Chopra, Raghvendra, Vijoo Krishnan, Prem Singh, Satyavan, Anil Choudhary, Bhupinder Singh Rawat, Shweta, Madhuresh Kumar, Ashok Shrimali, Krishna Prasad, Virendra Vidrohi, Deep Singh Shekhawat, Satyam, Sanjeev Kumar, Anil Varghese and other representatives

Comments

TRENDING

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat*  The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia.  The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

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)

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.

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".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative   The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani*  A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid*  We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative  In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman  ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra*  Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das  Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.