Delhi-based tribal rights outfit Indigenous Rights Advocacy Centre (IRAC) has written to President Droupadi Murmu and the chief ministers of tribal-dominated states demanding a review of “all the cases” lodged against tribals and withdrawal of false and frivolous cases.

The letter emailed on Friday, on the eve of Human Rights Day, with copies to the Union home ministry has also proposed the constitution of a commission or committee headed by a retired Supreme Court or high court judge in every state for reviewing the cases against tribals and ensuring release of tribal undertrials in a time-bound manner.

“So far we have mailed letters to the chief ministers of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. We will be mailing letters to other states soon,” said Dilip Chakma, executive director of the IRAC.

The IRAC has stated that criminalisation and lodging of false cases against poor tribals are too frequent in India. Hundreds of tribals are languishing in jail only because of their inability to access the justice system or are too poor to pay their bail amount.

“Despite having special constitutional and legal protection, many tribes have been victims of criminalisation, violence and false prosecution which has destroyed their lives. They are criminalised for defending their collective rights to “jal, jameen, jungle” (water, land and forest resources).

Activists who have opposed land acquisition for industrial or mining projects without the consent of the local gram sabha have often faced State violence, which is very unfortunate”, Chakma said.

“In the conflict-affected districts, the tribal villagers who lead impoverished lives have been sandwiched between the security forces/ police and the Maoists. While the Maoists kill, kidnap and torture them, the police lodge false cases against them on mere suspicion of being Maoist cadres or supporters. Several Adivasis have been charged/ arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and other laws,” the letter stated.

“Apart from terror cases, a lot of tribals have been falsely implicated by the police in theft cases or other petty crimes. Similarly, innocent tribals have been falsely implicated in forest/ wildlife-related offences, arrested and tortured. In Karnataka, a tribal named Kariyappa alias Kariya (49) was allegedly tortured to death in October 2022 in the illegal custody of forest officials after he was arrested for allegedly hunting and possessing deer meat,” it added.

“The lodging of false cases against poor tribals and/ or their prolonged incarceration have upended their lives and those of their dependents. The family has to spend its entire resources (which is, in any case, very little) to fight the court cases, as litigation is quite expensive and cases drag on for years.

“On the other hand, if the breadwinner is jailed, the family is pushed into complete impoverishment as well as social indignity. Yet, there is no scheme to compensate the victims who have been framed in false cases and lose many years of their lives in jail before acquittal,” the letter said.