A civil rights group, Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, has sharply criticised political leaders in Madhya Pradesh for what it describes as the continued repression of tribal communities while using them for political gain. In a statement, released under the headline "Leaders should stop baking their political bread by displacing Adivasis," the organisation alleged that from former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's two-decade tenure to the present day, the Forest Rights Act has been blatantly violated.
It said that even 18 years after the law came into force, repression against Adivasis continues across the entire state, and not just in Shivraj Singh Chouhan's region, demanding that instead of offering cosmetic sympathy, the government must implement the Forest Rights Act on a war footing.
The organisation alleged that the government is consistently bypassing the Forest Rights Act of 2006, running bulldozers over Adivasis to render them homeless, trampling their crops, harassing them with beatings and false cases, and seizing their farmlands to establish plantations on them.
It claimed that during former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's 20-year tenure, similar repression against Adivasis continued unabated. It further alleged that forests were submerged in the name of projects, citing the Ken-Betwa project under which more than 6,000 hectares of sanctuary area is to be submerged, and that land was handed over to companies for mining, citing the Adani coal mine in Dhiroli in Singrauli district.
Signed by Harsingh Jamre and Nasri Bai Ningwal, the statement accused leaders across political spectrum of merely pretending to sympathise with Adivasis while focusing on securing their own political fortunes, and said no one is talking about the correct and effective implementation of the law.
Calling the displacement of Adivasis from Kosmi village in Budhni tehsil of Sehore district the latest example of this government injustice, the release said that after an uproar broke out, the Chief Minister gave assurances to the Adivasis of Sehore district, but pointed out that the state's Adivasis have been hearing such assurances for two decades. It questioned whether announcing relief for a handful of families would end the suffering of lakhs of Adivasis across Madhya Pradesh, warning that more than two lakh Adivasis in the state face the looming threat of eviction.
The statement said that Adivasis displaced last year during the rains from the Khivni sanctuary in Dewas have been waiting for a year for action on the assurances given to them. It alleged that reports of illegal eviction of Adivasis accompanied by brutal violence continue to emerge from all tribal areas, including Baladi panchayat in Burhanpur, Bhilaikheda in Khandwa, and Burhanpur, Damoh, Mandla and Dindori districts.
Turning to political leaders, the organisation said it wants to ask Shivraj Singh Chouhan and leaders of all other parties where they were when, with their complicity, lakhs of tonnes of timber were smuggled, citing Burhanpur and Khandwa, and when, with their approval, thousands of acres of forest were submerged, citing the Ken-Betwa and Punasa projects, or sacrificed for mines, citing the Dhiroli mines in Singrauli. It said the same question is being posed to the Forest Department, which it accused of failing to save forests and instead perpetrating brutal violence against Adivasis.
The release stated that in 2019, the Madhya Pradesh government had admitted before the Supreme Court that there were flaws in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act and had promised to re-examine forest rights claims, but noted that of the six lakh forest rights claims in Madhya Pradesh, more than half, or 3.6 lakh claims, have been rejected to date.
The organisation alleged that the government holds programmes in the name of revolutionaries such as Birsa Munda, Tantya Mama and Bhima Nayak to court Adivasi votes, while their descendants face eviction, violence and exploitation on a regular basis.
It said the Adivasis of the state are watching the hypocrisy of the Madhya Pradesh government and all its leaders clearly and are strongly opposing it. The release was issued on behalf of the Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan by Harsingh Jamre and Nasri Bai Ningwal.
Comments