People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 47
December 01,2002
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVI No. 47 December 01,2002 |
RESOLUTION
Withdraw
Anti-Tribal
Circular
THIS
All
India
Tribal
Convention
organised
by
the
CPI(M)
demands
the
withdrawal
of
the
May
3,
2002
circular
issued
by
the
Ministry
of
Environment
and
Forests,
Government
of
India,
which
orders
eviction
of
all
illegal
encroachments
in
the
forest
land
estimated
to
be
around
12.55
lakh
hectares.
The
government
has
done
so
in
the
name
of
implementing
the
Supreme
Court
decision
of
November
23,
2001
in
the
forest
case
which
restrained
regulation
of
encroachments.
This,
in
effect,
means
throwing
out
ten
million
tribals
from
their
natural
habitat
and
depriving
them
of
their
inalienable
right
to
the
forest
and
to
the
produce
of
the
forest.
Criminally,
the
circular
does
not
even
refer
to
the
issue
of
rehabilitation
and
resettlement.
The
circular
differentiates
between
pre-1980
and
post-1980
encroachment.
This
conceals
the
real
differentiation
that
should
be
made
in
encroachment,
that
is
between
the
use
of
the
forest
land
by
their
natural
owners,
the
tribals
and
other
landless
poor
on
the
one
hand
and
non-tribals,
land-owning
encroachers
and
richer
sections
who
have
and
are
exploiting
the
forest
for
commercial
purposes
on
the
other
hand.
The
clarificatory
circular
issued
by
the
Ministry
of
Environment
on
October
30,
2002
does
not
address
this
crucial
issue
and
only
limits
itself
to
clarifications
that
pre-1980
eligible
encroachments
and
disputed
claims
may
be
settled.
This
will
bring
no
relief
to
the
tribals.
No
concrete
measures
have
been
taken
to
resolve
the
claims
and
disputes
raised
by
tribals,
most
of
whose
claims
have
been
rejected.
Moreover,
since
large
sections
of
tribals,
who
would
be
included
in
the
pre-1980
settlement
have
unrecorded
rights
and
have
been
deprived
of
land
deeds
or
any
proof
of
such
settlement,
they
too
would
be
faced
with
eviction
under
the
order
of
such
circular.
The
orders
are
a
violation
of
the
constitutional
spirit
in
favour
of
affirmative
action
for
tribals.
It
is
contradictory
to
several
other
earlier
government
circulars
in
the
post-1988
period
that
emphasise
relationship
between
tribals
and
the
conservation
of
forest.
It
goes
against
the
SC/ST
Commission
recommendations.
Various
organisations
and
tribal
groups
are
actively
campaigning
against
this
retrograde
circular.
The
united
movement
for
this
should
be
strengthened.
This
convention
also
calls
upon
democratic
organisations
all
over
India
to
wage
a
determined
struggle
to
force
the
government
to
withdraw
the
said
circular,
to
resist
any
eviction
of
the
tribals
that
may
be
attempted.
