Deprivation of forest rights of tribals and their intimidation by forest authorities continues to be reported across Jharkhand despite promises in the 2019 election manifestos of the ruling JMM-Congress and assurances of chief minister Hemant Soren.
This has come to fore from the reports collected by grassroot members of the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha — a coalition of progressive organisations, formed to facilitate efforts to defend people’s rights in the state — in the past two years.
Sharing the reports of the findings to the media at Ranchi on Thursday, mahasabha member Ellena Horo said: “The JMM and the Congress in their election manifestos had vowed to ensure the appropriate implementation of the Forest Rights Act. Additionally, the election manifesto also guaranteed the forest lease and comprehensive rights over the forests. After the current government came into power, there have been multiple announcements with respect to the same; however, the status of its implementation at the ground level is paradoxical.”
Incidentally, according to the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, communities that are dependent on the forest have numerous rights. One of these rights provides that the forest dwellers who have been farming for livelihood can qualify as the claimant for ownership of that land (4 hectares).
The mahasabha members said that recently two of such instances came up. In Gadgoma village in Bariyatu block in the Latehar district, 25 traditional forest dwellers after completing the due legal process along with the necessary records, submitted the application for individual forest leases and community forest rights at the (sub-divisional level) forest rights committee. However, they are yet to receive neither individual leases nor community forest rights.
“On December 7, 2021, a few representatives from the forest department arrived at Gadgoma with the intention for afforestation for which the application for the forest lease had been made. On protesting against this, the people were intimidated with the threat of cases being lodged against them. In 2022, on the orders of the forest department, pits began to be dug. On February 11, 2022, a few women from the village filled the pits back with mud. On the same evening, the police arrested two young men — Dinesh Rana (son of Pravesh Rana) and Ranjan Rana (son of Amrika Rana),” the members alleged.
“When the villagers went for police picketing at Bariyatu, the police mishandled them. Charges of filling the mud pit/ditch and obstructing government work have been filed against the two men and their fathers. The two men have also been sent to jail. The FIR filed by the forest department said the fathers of the two men were absconding. But they were present at the police station. The two men stayed in the jail for a month before being granted bail and their fathers live in constant fear of incarceration,” said Horo, adding that similar cases have been reported from other districts of Jharkhand.
“Section 4(5) of the Forest Rights Act 2006 has clearly specified that ‘Save as otherwise provided, no member of a forest dwelling Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete. From the above instances, it is clear that the forest department is in violation of the law,” said Father George Monipally, a member of the mahasabha.
“We demand from the chief minister to stop the displacement of people from the Adivasis-Moolvasis land under the garb of afforestation and arrange for immediate addressal of the pending forest rights claims, withdraw cases lodged against innocent persons by the forest department and initiate legal action against forest officials for the violation of the forest and human rights of Adivasis-Moolvasis,” one mahasabha member said.
