Hunting the natives

Local police stations have not registered any complaint filed by these adivasis. Most of the casualties have been in the villages of Chimnapur, Davali, Jhanjar, Bomiliaput, Jamunala and Hasanpura in Nepanagar Tahsil, where adivasi houses were destroyed as part of the eviction drive. The monsoon rains have further affected the condition of these adivasis, who along with their children have become shelterless.

According to the Adivasi Ekta Sanghatan (AES) based in Nepanagar, the land possessed by local adivasis should be regularised as per the Central Government Orders of September 1990 authorising the State authorities to regularise the pre-1980 settlements on forest land. Many adivasis have proof, in the form of showcause notices sent to them by the forest department to evict the forest land in 1979, clearly establishing that they have been occupying these lands prior to the cut-off date mentioned in the order.

It is well known that adivasis are the indigenous inhabitants of these forests and share a symbiotic relation with the forests and the surrounding eco-system. The National Forest Policy of 1988 clearly recognises the fact that the life of tribals and the rural poor, living within and near forests, revolve around these forests. So the current drive to evict adivasis from their habitat is not only illegal, but also an attempt to deprive them of their traditional rights.

Hence, there is urgent need for action. There must be an immediate end to the eviction and atrocities on these adivasis. FIRs should be registered in the police stations against human rights violations. The land of adivasis who settled before 1980 should be regularised, as per Government Order vide 13-1/90/-FP (1) dated September 18, 1990. Relief and compensation for the losses incurred by the adivasis during the eviction drives by the forest department must be provided.

The wounds of the adivasis will heal only when the whole process becomes transparent, no longer concealed under official garb. The suspicious condescension of the State to those who are the inheritors of the earth has meant that modern India remains tragically unaware of adivasi values. The ill-treatment of adivasis reveals the extent to which independent India remains imprisoned by the colonial mindset.

Charkha Byline Development Communication Network