2005 - Indian Social Institute

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the commercial exploitation of forests and wild life, in the minds of all right thinking people through a baseless and motivated media campaign". (Times of India 6/5/05) NGO, tribals set to take on administration over rape case (6) Bhubaneswar: THE ALLEGED gang rape of a 16-year-old tribal girl under Sarat police station of Mayurbhanj district has snowballed into a major controversy with local tribals backed by an NGO gearing up to take on the administration. The president of Awareness, Mr Kailash Mishra, who has taken up cudgels on behalf of the tribals, on Friday threatened to intensify the agitation against the administration's alleged inaction in the matter unless police take immediate steps to arrest the culprits. So far, only one person has been arrested in connection with the incident. The young girl, who narrated her story before mediapersons here on Friday, foil into clutches of the culprits while returning from the local haat in a van. Instead of dropping her near her house, the miscreants, who are alleged to enjoy the patronage of some influential people in the area, took her to a deserted house where she was raped repeatedly .While the culprits drank and ate, the girl was kept starving. Her ordeal continued the next day when she was once again sexually assaulted. One of the alleged miscreants was finally caught when he came to drop the girl at the Chanakata turning where she would have boarded the bus to return home. Displaying exceptional courage in the face of adversity, the girl first pounced on the man and then raised an alarm attracting passers-by, who came to her rescue. After the man was handed over to the police on April 21, an FIR in connection with the gang rape was lodged at Kaptipada police station. However, other accused hi the case are yet to be arrested. The local administration showed realised the gravity of the situation only when the tribals and the activists of Awareness demonstrated before the Sarat police station on April 29. However, Mr Mishra alleged that the police instead of taking steps to arrest the culprits, have been harassing the members of his organisation active in the area. At the same time the incident is being used as an excuse to drive a wedge between the tribals and non-tribals of the area. (Pioneer 7/5/05) Plea to Sonia to recognise forest rights of tribals (6) DEHRA DUN: Avdhash Kaushal, chairperson of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra, here has urged the United Progressive Alliance chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, to ensure that the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005, is enacted at the earliest. This was important as a vested lobby of ex-maharajahs and an influential section of present-day wildlife planners most of whom are former hunters themselves are spreading word that the Congress party and its MP, Rahul Gandhi, were against giving fundamental forest rights to tribals as dreamt by Rajiv Gandhi, Mr Kaushal alleged This coterie of ex-hunters set off a. media hype about the decreasing number of tigers the moment they knew that this Bill was to be placed in Parliament. The Bill when enacted will restore the traditional rights of the tribals who have safeguarded the forest wealth since time immemorial and drastically curtail the powers and "illegal" activities of the forest and wildlife mafia going around as wildlife lovers, Mr Kaushal said. A known crusader for human rights and environment, Mr Kaushal cited examples of the rich diversity in virgin forests where only tribals lived and the massive destruction of tree and animal wealth wherever the corrupt bureaucrats and so called animal lovers were allowed to function as custodians of nature. Mr Kaushal wanted Ms Gandhi to keep in mind that India was a signatory to the International Convention ILO 169 of 1989 as well as the Rio Conference, which have categorized the recommended rights of nomads and pastoralists. (The Hindu 8.5.05) Steel company manager held for torturing tribals (6) RAIPUR, MAY 8: A FACTORY manager and a guard of a Raigarh-based steel company have been arrested on charges of torturing two adivasis, allegedly accused of stealing raw material. Daily wage earners Shyam Lal and Shadanand were allegedly forced to squat on hot iron plates for a confession. Police said on April 28, Rameshwar Steel's factory manager Dinesh Gupta and security guard Remaul Kujur forced the victims to sit on burning iron plates for more than half-an-hour after they pleaded innocence. Eye-witnesses said the youths were also forced to stand bare feet on the plates. While SP (Raigarh) P.S. Thakur claimed that neither the the two victims nor factory workers informed the police, reports suggest that their complaints were not entertained initially. "They didn't even go to the hospital despite serious physical burns", he says. Reports say the youths had reported the matter to local police at Gharghora police station but their complaint was not entertained. It was only a day after Chief Minister Raman Singh's gram-swaraj (rural campaign) started in the district that the issue received government
attention. Now the SP says: "Police has arrested the manager and guard on charges of torture and atrocities against tribals. This incident comes barely a week after four security guards of a leading industrial group — Jindals — were accused of killing a villager. (Indian Express 9/5/05) Kishanganga over our bodies, say J-K tribals (6) SRINAGAR, MAY 8: AT A time when India and Pakistan are ironing out differences over the Kishanganga project, 25,000 Dard Shin tribals of Gurez valley, fearing displacement, have pledged they will resist attempts to destroy their homeland and identity. "Work on this project will start only on our dead bodies. The Government cannot decide the fate of our people without consulting us," said Nazir Gurezi, representative of the Dard Shin constituency in J-K Assembly. "This project will submerge our homes, dislocate us and come as a blow to our unique culture and shina language." J&KPower Minister Mohammed Sharief Niaz said, "They (Dard Shins) have to be dislocated. It is essential. We will adjust them somewhere else." Asked about the impact of the project on the tribe and environment, he said, "If we think in these terms, then we will have to shut down all our projects." The 330-MW project proposes construction of a dam on the Kishangana or Neelam river. The proposed 103-metre reservoir threatens to submerge most parts of Gurez Valley, which includes 25 villages, sk summer high altitude habitats for shepherds and eight camping sites. The first phase of the project would displace around 10,000 tribals. On its part, the J&K Government has claimed that the plan incorporates an "attractive" relief and rehabilitation package for the tribes. "There is no question of displacement of the tribes without proper rehabilitation," said Basharat Ahmad Dhar, Commissioner & Secretary, Power. "The Government will look for an alternate site, where a new colony with all facilities will be set up." Dhar also confirmed receipt of a no objection certificate for acquisition of the land from the forest department. (Indian Express 9/5/05) A different war: Ex-armymen block tribal ritual hunt in Orissa forest (6) Bhubaneswar: COME APRIL, the sun-bleached hills of Simlipal are vulnerable to a different kind of threat - one posed by humans. It is the time of the ritualistic Akhand Shikar, an ancient tribal tradition, showcasing the skill of the ethnic lot as traditional hunters. Hundreds of tribals from all over the state and even neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand storm the hills, armed with bows, arrows and countrymade guns, killing whatever comes their way. The ritual goes against the spirit of wildlife conservation and the pitch has been rising for a blanket ban on the hunt. A dedicated band of ex-servicemen and green activists has succeeded in doing what the combined might of the forest department and the police failed to do over the years. Acting in close cooperation, they have turned Akhand Shikar, in the Similipal forest into a non-event this year. Akhand Shikar, a month-long event beginning mid-April each year, is the scourge of Similipal, declared a biosphere reserve a few years ago. Tribals brandishing guns and bows and arrows march into the reserve forest killing animals at will. The hunters had been defying a longstanding ban and entering the sanctuary by dodging police cordons and forest guards. Fed up with its failure to stop the practice, the government enrolled a team of ex-servicemen to guard the sanctuary during the shikar period. Assisted by the Sabuja Vahini, a green group, the former army-men have turned the sanctuary into an "impregnable fortress" with hardly any major incident of hunting reported from the area so far. Sources said a few stray attempts by the hunters to penetrate the security cordon were effectively repelled. (Pioneer 10/5/05) Tribals' land rights will be protected, says Minister (6) NEW DELHI: Union Environment and Forests Minister A. Raja on Tuesday informed the Lok Sab-ha that the Ministry had issued directions to all State and Union Territory Governments in December last not to resort to eviction of tribal people from forest land in the absence of verification and determination of their rights. The information was provided by the Minister in the face of repeated demands from a cross-section of members that the rights of tribals to forest land should be respected during a calling attention motion on the situation arising out of non-implementation of instructions and guidelines by the State Governments issued by the Environment and Forests Department for regularising forest land being cultivated by farmers prior to 1980. In a detailed reply that traced the prolonged struggle of tribals to forest land from the time the Forest (Conservation) Act was enacted in 1980, the Minister sought to allay fears about the law being prohibitive. "It is only a regulatory Act," he said. Also, according to him, the Ministry had been pursuing with the State and Union Territory Governments to look into the settlement of land rights of forest dwellers/tribals, including regu-larisation of pre-1980 encroachments on forest lands proactively and adopt
Page 1 and 2: TRIBALS - 2005 Compiled by K. Samu,
Page 3 and 4: Return our land, demand tribals (6)
Page 5 and 6: Tsunamis: 1,400 island tribals died
Page 7 and 8: Forbidden by church, priest looks f
Page 9 and 10: NEW DELHI, APRIL 10. Carrying forwa
Page 11 and 12: encroachments on forest land in the
Page 13: Tribal MPs claim Sonia to protect F
Page 17 and 18: "The evolution of the tribes may be
Page 19 and 20: ATTAPPADY (PALAKKAD): Protest is mo
Page 21 and 22: sleeping in my small thatched house
Page 23 and 24: akha samitis had accordingly been f
Page 25 and 26: National Human Rights Commission, a
Page 27 and 28: of a few," he added. Blaming the Mi
Page 29 and 30: ``The reason is simple. The Maoists
Page 31 and 32: Nagaland and the adjoining state of
Page 33 and 34: (UPA) was committed to grant rights
Page 35 and 36: An angry en vironment ministry then
Page 37 and 38: the region. "The fight between the
Page 39 and 40: 45,000 homeless, Gogoi under fire (
Page 41 and 42: Sheela who ekes out a living as a h
Page 43 and 44: Prof Joshi, the dis trict administr
Page 45: government has not formulated any p

2005 - Indian Social Institute

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