People's Democracy

Tribal Activists Delegation Meets PM

Demands Introduction Of Tribal Forest Bill Immediately

A DELEGATION of tribal activists and leaders belonging to the CPI(M) met the prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh on November 24, 2006 and demanded that the Tribal Forest Rights Bill be brought before the parliament in the ongoing winter session itself.

The delegation, led by Polit Bureau member and MP, Brinda Karat, stressed that the Bill be brought with the changes suggested by the parliamentary committee which studied the Bill and before whom some of them appeared and gave their opinions.

The delegation comprised of Jyotin Soren, Praful Lindah, Bal Singh, Oli Patnaik, J Murmu, P Shanmugam, Sanjay Parate, Kera Ram, Duli Chand and Ch Narsingarao. Later Brinda Karat addressed the media at AKG Bhavan along with the delegation members.

The following is the full text of the memorandum submitted by the delegation to the prime minister on this occasion:

WE tribals representing organisations working in different states including Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan would like to congratulate the UPA government for its initiative to bring a Bill to recognise our rights in forests and undo the historical injustices that we have faced for centuries. In some of the states where we are working we face evictions in many areas, we are denied access to forest produce and in many cases we face harassment from forest guards. We earnestly request you to ensure the legislation without delay so as to protect us and our livelihood.

Most tribals have no proof of residence because we have never been given the land pattas. Many of us have faced displacement from our land in the forests not once but twice and even thrice in some cases because of projects, mining etc. so we have had to shift to new areas in the forests where we now live. We request you to recognise our rights on the land as this is our only hope for survival. A cut-off date of over two decades ago, i.e. 1980 will mean mass eviction of tribals. We earnestly request you Sir, please do not have such a cut-off date because then instead of helping us the Bill will be used to evict us. 

We understand that earlier other forest dwellers who were recognized as such will now be evicted from the forest. We think that this will be a great danger for us as we have lived together for many decades and now if these families are removed after the Bill is passed it will cause great unrest in the forests. Please throw out the big timber contractors and others like that but those who have lived in the forests for decades should not be evicted.

Sir, tribal women have had to face many humiliations, beatings and sexual assault. If we have our land and other rights in the forests we can be sure that no one will be able to use our vulnerability to exploit and hurt the women.

We have been accused by some interested quarters of destroying the forests. This is like accusing us of destroying our own families because tribals living in the forests are dependent on the forests and cannot survive if the forests do not survive. We are and will always protect the wealth of our forests and our wild life.

We appeal to you to bring the Bill with the changes suggested by the parliamentary Committee which studied the Bill and before whom some of us appeared and gave our opinions.