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India, Letter to the President on eviction order of the Supreme Court of million tribals from their forest dwellings

India, Letter to the President on eviction order of the Supreme Court of million tribals from their forest dwellings

The Baiga and the Gond have been banned from the Tiger Reserve of Kanha, India, which has been their home for countless generations. © Survival

The Supreme Court of India recently ruled instructing State Governments to evict by July 2019 millions forest dwellers, mainly adivasis/tribals, who have no other home but their forests. The ‘Forum for Justice and Peace’ – a vast network of individuals all over the country – urge the President of India to act expeditiously defending and protecting the Constitution and its rule of law by instructing his Government to defend the rights of the adivasis/forest dwellers by going to Supreme Court and challenging the validity of the judgement.


The Honourable President of India

Rashtrapati Bhavan

New Delhi

Your Excellency,

We wish to draw to your kind attention the recent Supreme Court ruling (of 13 February 2019) instructing State Governments to evict forest dwelling communities if their claims to live in their forests have not been recognized under the Forest Rights Act (FRA).The evictions which are to be carried out in the next four months will mean the displacement of over a million forest dwellers (mainly adivasis/tribals) who have no other home but the forests.

We are simply appalled with this judgement! We are convinced that it goes against the spirit and the letter of the Constitution of India and above all it grossly violates the fundamental rights of our Adivasis  (indigenous peoples) and other traditional forest dwelling communities in the country.

The Supreme Court order would not only would lead to a concerted and fresh attack on millions of already beleaguered forest dwellers in India, but would also seriously undermine the historic Forest Rights Act, a landmark legislation that allows the millions of Adivasis and forest dwellers in India to continue being the stewardships of their forests. In particular, in instructing the state governments to evict ‘forest dwellers’ in cases of allegedly rejected forest rights recognition claims, the Supreme court of India chooses to ignore the centrality of Gram Sabhas  and its constitutional agency in all matters of forest rights recognition, including the rejection of claims.

Shockingly, there was no representation from the Central government and the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Ministry of Tribal Affairs or National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, to defend the rights of the forest dwellers. A moot question is why the Centre’s conspicuous absence was neither noticed nor commented upon by the Court? Was any notice issued to the Central Ministry given that the statute under judicial axe was one passed by Parliament? Besides, the language used in the judgement is extremely harsh; even regarding the adivasis and other forest dwellers who have been living in the forests since time immemorial as ‘encroachers’.

Your Excellency, we the undersigned are members of the ‘Forum for Justice and Peace’ – a vast network of individuals all over the country, wedded to the Constitution of India and deeply involved in ushering a society based on justice and peace. The vast majority of us work among the adivasis/tribals/forest dwellers of our beloved country; many of us are adivasis/tribals ourselves. We have just completed a national workshop in Guwahati entitled ‘In defence of the Constitution’ ; the draconian judgement on the adivasis/forest dwellers came up several times during our deliberations.

As the President of India, you have the responsibility and the authority to defend and protect the Constitution of India and its rule of law. We therefore urge you,  Your Excellency , to act expeditiously by instructing  your Government to immediately defend the rights of the adivasis/forest dwellers by going to Supreme Court and challenging the validity of the judgement.

We will be happy to furnish any further information and/or respond to any of your queries- if you so wish. Thank you!   

 

The mobilisation in progress

BJP Sarkar Jawab Do! Tens of Thousands Will Join National Andolan For Forest Rights
Today, the Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a national platform of adivasi and forest dwellers’ organisations, decided on a national Wave of Struggle over the next two weeks against the unjust attack on millions of people whose claims under the Forest Rights Act were rejected.

Supreme Court stays tribal eviction order
The states have time to file their affidavits till July 10, when the court will examine the matter.

SC Puts Eviction Order on Hold: Centre Finally Does Its Job After Nationwide Protests and Anger
  Today, in a step forward for millions of forest dwellers who were living in fear and uncertainty, the Supreme Court put its order of February 13th – in which it had directed the eviction of over a million claimants for forest rights – on hold. The eviction order was the direct result of the BJP government’s failure to argue in defense of the Act at all for the preceding four hearings. Indeed, the Court itself asked the Solicitor General, “Why were you slumbering for so long? Why didn’t you argue about any of this earlier?”


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