Tribals in Dangs suffer a setback

SURAT, Aug 23: Dangs tribals, who claim to be cultivating forest land for decades, suffered a setback recently when the High Court vacate...

SURAT, Aug 23: Dangs tribals, who claim to be cultivating forest land for decades, suffered a setback recently when the High Court vacated a stay order empowering forest officials to initiate legal action on their eviction.

In fact, the Dangs forest department did not wait for the court order, having initiated action against forest land cultivators last month itself.

Last month, High Court advocate Girish Patel had served a contempt of court notice on Dangs forest officials for alleged harassment of 19 tribals. Though Patel maintains the stay exists, forest officials claim it has been vacated, paving the way for 8220;appropriate action against trepassers8221;.

On August 6, forest officials destroyed crops in one of the village of the district where tribals had 8220;been illegally cultivating forest land8221;.

These 19 tribals stand lose the land they had been cultivating. Earlier,they were protected by a High Court stay which had directed the forest department in 1995 to restrain from 8220;interfering with the peaceful possession and cultivation of forest land8221;.

With the stay having been vacated,the position of these tribals have become vulnerable. South Dangs DFO Ramkumar said all 8220;illegal cultivators8221; would be evicted. He asserted that the 19 tribals claiming to be cultivating waste land for many years could not be correct.

However, Patel still maintains that the stay has not been vacated. The Supreme Court order which seeks ban on all non-forest activities throughout the country was not applicable to Dangs, he claimed.

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However, he admitted that there was 8220;confusion about its interpretation8221;. 8220;The court order can be read either way8221;, Patel told Express Newsline on the phone from Ahmedabad. He said he would file a petition after which the court would have to clear whether the stay has been really vacated.

Meanwhile, the forest department has filed a caveat petition, requesting the High Court to hear them before passing any ex-parte order so far as the cultivation of the forest land by the tribals was concerned.

The Supreme Court had ruled that 8220;all ongoing activity within any forest throughout the country 8230; must cease forthwith8221;. The interim order passed on July 14, 1993, was vacated by order on January 10, 1996. The claim of 19 tribals was examined by the district committee and they were not found eligible for recommendation of forest land, claimed Ramkumar, adding that forest department had followed due procedure. Tribals who had been cultivating land prior to 1980 were given land ownership as per a state government scheme, the District Forest Officer said.

The Supreme Court order has far-reaching ramifications for tribal areas of the Gujarat state where a large number of tribals are fighting a losing battle against the forest department demanding regularisation of the forest land.

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