India should take action against state-backed vigilantes active in the central state of Chhattisgarh, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

India should take action against state-backed vigilantes active in the central state of Chhattisgarh, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.

India should take action against state-backed vigilantes active in the central state of Chhattisgarh, US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says.Since 2005, security forces and members of the Salwa Judum militia group have killed and raped villagers, HRW says.

Salwa Judum was launched in 2005 to fight the Maoist rebels in the area.HRW also says the Maoists have kidnapped and executed civilians and targeted people suspected of supporting Salwa Judum.About 6,000 people have been killed in violence linked to the Maoist rebels in India over the past 20 years.Eyewitness accountsChhattisgarh officials deny supporting Salwa Judum and describe it as a "spontaneous citizen's anti-Maoist movement".

"Human Rights Watch has found that since mid-2005 government security forces and members of the Salwa Judum attacked villages, killed and raped villagers, and burned down huts to force people into government camps," a new report released by HRW in Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh state, says.

The group says it has collected more than 50 eyewitness accounts of attacks involving government security forces in 18 different villages in Dantewada and Bijapur districts in Chhattisgarh."Judum and police came to our village... They beat the village official and the priest. They beat others also," the report quotes a villager who fled his village in Dantewada district as saying."The people who came to our village had bows and arrows, sticks, and the police had rifles. From our village they also raped a 20-year-old woman. They raped her and left her in the village itself," he said."At the same time," the report says, "the Naxalites (Maoists) have carried out bombings, and have abducted, beaten, and executed civilians, particularly those suspected of supporting the Salwa Judum."

Human Rights Watch called on the Naxalites "to immediately end all attacks against civilians and allow camp residents to return to their home villages".The report says the violence has displaced tens of thousands of people who are stranded in government camps in Chhattisgarh or in the forestlands of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state."The Chhattisgarh government denies supporting Salwa Judum, but dozens of eyewitnesses have described police participating in violent Salwa Judum raids on villages - killing, looting, and burning their hamlets," the report quotes Jo Becker, a member of the Human Rights Watch research team, as saying.DisplacedThe report - titled "Being neutral is our biggest crime" - is based on four weeks of ground research in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh in late 2007 and early 2008."The conflict has given rise to one of the largest internal displacement crises in India - at least 100,000 people have resettled in camps in southern Chhattisgarh or fled to neighbouring states, principally Andhra Pradesh," according to the report."Thousands of families have lost their land, homes, and livelihoods, and now survive in crowded and decrepit camps with little assistance," it says."Chhattisgarh officials should help restore the lives of those who wish to return to their homes, and improve conditions for those who fear returning."The report says both the Maoists and the police have also recruited and used children in the conflict."While the Chhattisgarh police have acknowledged this as an error, the government is yet to devise a scheme for... rehabilitating them," the report says

.Chhattisgarh police chief Vishwa Ranjan said the government would respond to the report after studying it.Maoist fighters, who are waging a violent battle in almost half of India's 29 states, have been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the single biggest threat to India's security.The rebels are active in states across east and central India.They focus on areas where people are poor but there is great mineral wealth.The rebels say they represent the rights of landless farmhands and tribal communities.

Source:commondreams.blogspot.com

DISPLACING TRIBALS

It is evident that the wildlife conservation paradigm in India has failed to consider those affected in the process.

For those living in the submergence area of the proposed Indira Sagar Project (Polavaram Dam project) in Andhra Pradesh, the writing appears to be clearly on the wall. To be executed at a cost of nearly Rs 13,000 crore, the project will submerge more than one lakh acres of agricultural land and the lives and livelihood of nearly two lakh people in about 290 settlements and villages. In line with history and earlier experience, nearly half the people to be impacted are scheduled tribes. Another 17.5 per cent are scheduled castes and nearly 15 per cent are from the backward classes.


The issue of the Polavaram dam clearly has multiple implications and significance. One that stands out starkly is the ongoing acrimonious debate over the Scheduled Tribes and other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act that was recently passed and now stands challenged in the courts by ‘conservation organisations’ and ex forest officers on grounds that its implementation will be the final nail in the coffin of the India’s remaining forests.For those living in the submergence area of the proposed Indira Sagar Project (Polavaram Dam project) in Andhra Pradesh, the writing appears to be clearly on the wall. To be executed at a cost of nearly Rs 13,000 crore, the project will submerge more than one lakh acres of agricultural land and the lives and livelihood of nearly two lakh people in about 290 settlements and villages. In line with history and earlier experience, nearly half the people to be impacted are scheduled tribes. Another 17.5 per cent are scheduled castes and nearly 15 per cent are from the backward classes.


The issue of the Polavaram dam clearly has multiple implications and significance. One that stands out starkly is the ongoing acrimonious debate over the Scheduled Tribes and other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act that was recently passed and now stands challenged in the courts by ‘conservation organisations’ and ex forest officers on grounds that its implementation will be the final nail in the coffin of the India’s remaining forests.


The case of the Polavaram Dam only reinforces that reality. The specific issue in this context is of the forest land to be submerged by the dam - this is about 37 sq km of reserved forest land and another 17 sq km inside the Papikonda Wildlife Sanctuary that is itself spread over 590 sq km in the West Godavari, East Godavari and Khamman districts of Andhra Pradesh. The matter has been before the Supreme Court for a while and one of the important submissions to the court in the matter is the November 2006 report of the court’s own Central Empowered Committee (CEC). It can only be a considered powerful reinforcement of the conflicts and contradictions that have come to underline wildlife conservation in the country.



Among the conditions suggested by the CEC for the final approvals to be granted to the dam is that nearly 500 sq km of forests adjoining the Papikonda Wildlife Sanctuary be added to the sanctuary and this then be declared a national park. According to India’s Wildlife Protection Act no one is allowed to live inside a national park and all traditional rights and livelihood dependencies on the forests are completely extinguished. The contradictions are painfully evident. Additional displacement is being created as a condition to ensure that the main displacement will take place in the first instance. “The state (government) has also agreed in principle,” the CEC report says,” for the relocation of the isolated villages falling within the sanctuary and notifying the sanctuary as a national park. This notification would be a pre-condition to any clearance to use/divert sanctuary land.”


While there is no respite for the two lakh-odd people who will be directly displaced because of submergence caused by the dam, an additional category of displacement is being created in the name of wildlife conservation, a “conservation offset,” and the justification, ironically, is that this will create a well preserved water catchment for the region. It is well known that Polavaram is not an exception. A slew of such projects are being proposed, pushed and approved across the length and breadth of the country. In Orissa, for instance, thickly forested hills, sacred to the local tribals and rich in diverse species of wildlife, are being handed over for mining; in the south a huge ‘scientific’ project with an investment of a few hundred crores might come up amidst prime tiger habitat and in the North East, huge dams are slated to submerge pristine forests in a region that is seismically very volatile.
The conservation debate in India has often slipped (even dragged) into being a tribal versus tiger one. The blame for the destruction of India’s forests and the decimation of its wildlife has willy-nilly and repeatedly been placed at the door of the tribal.


What’s happening with the Polavaram Dam project in Andhra Pradesh, in Niyamgiri (and other parts) in Orissa, in the Mudumalai forests of Tamil Nadu, in the thickly forested river valleys on North East India and in numerous such situations elsewhere will hopefully provide us a window into a slightly different reality.

Source: cgnet.in

LIFE WITH SALWA JUDUM......

A photo essay on the plight of tribals in Chhattisgarh because of the conflict between militia and the Naxalites

Harikrishna Katragadda, Mint

New Delhi On a cloudy evening, Madkam Kose prepares to leave Durla village in Dantewada in Chhattisgarh. She wants to head back with her family to the nearby Dornapal relief camp, her home for the past three years. "There is nothing to do in the camps during the day," she says. "We just come back to our gutted house during the day and pick mahua flowers in the forest."


Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh is a hotbed for Maoist insurgency. Decades of government neglect and oppression by the forest officials gave Maoists entry into villages and a swelling cadre of angry tribals.

To counter the Maoist influence, a government-backed militia—Salwa Judum—was let loose on the tribals in Dandakaranya forests of Chhattisgarh. Waves of forced migration followed when tribals were forced into relief camps, guarded by security forces and paramilitary groups. Nearly 150,000 tribals have been displaced since 2005, when the conflict began. Some fled to relative safety in nearby Andhra Pradesh, while those who resisted were abducted, tortured, raped and killed.


This week, the non-profit Human Rights Watch, an international agency that has been monitoring events in the region, released a report highlighting the failure of governance, and social and economic lapses as the root cause of the Naxal problem. The report documented the violence and abuse of local communities in Chhattisgarh by both Salwa Judum and the Maoists, and recommended that the Salwa Judum be disbanded.

source:cgnet.in

A NEW STRATEGY TO HANDLE THE BASTAR WEBSITE ISSUE

The Adivasi Sangharsh Morcha has called for a rally and peaceful demonstration in front of the Bastar Collector's office, to protest against the approach of the Govt. towards the Bastar website issue.The demonstration is to be held on the 17th of july as announced by the Adivasi Morcha co- ordinatior Shanti Salam.If the State govt.continues its ignore policy, they would be forced to intensify their protests by rallies on 21st in every block of Bastar division and a bandh on 28th july.


Not to be silenced by this, the enquiry committee set up by the govt. , headed by B.L.Thakur has played its trump card. They have called for all the people who had filed an objection regarding the website with adequate proof on the same day i.e. 17th of July 2008 to Raipur , at the collectorate room no 149 at 12:00 noon.A very intelligent move by the beaureaucracy to stall the demonstration and break the protest movement.


Why else would one call for a meeting in Raipur ? Why should the complainants present evidence ?Isnt it the duty of the enquiry committee to delve deep into the issue and gather 'evidence' and 'proof' for themselves?


Since time immemorial, every tribal uprising or demonstration has been crushed ruthlessly by the ruling class, the Koi Revolution(1859), The Muria Insurrection(1876), The Great Bhumkal(1910) to name a few.

Now ,this ploy by the so called 'enquiry committee'..

This shows how threatened they feel by the warriors of Bastar......May their tribe increase

ANOTHER BLUNDER...THIS TIME BY HITAVADA REPORTER!

The July 11th 2008 edition of the Hitavada carried an article on the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Parishad lambasting the State govt. over their passive approach to the 'gotul' issue., where very objectionable matter was on a govt. run website.

The reporter covering the issue has now given rise to a new controversy by referring to the gotul as 'a wedding custom popular in the tribal community'. The least one could have done was ensured proper information about a sensitive issue as this before reporting about it.

TRIBALS TARGETTED AGAIN....NOW IN TAMIL NADU

Tribe faces eviction for failing to stop forest fire
Kanis Have Forfeited Right To Stay: Forest Dept New Delhi: If one day you ‘fail’ to help the fire service in dousing a fire in your neighbourhood or do not assist the police in catching a dangerous culprit, should you be turfed out of your house in order to be taught a lesson?

The Tamil Nadu forest department seems to believe so. It feels they have the legal power to eject irresponsible citizens from forestlands, even if this were not so easy in cities.

Underlying the move by the forest department to target the scheduled tribe, Kani, on the grounds that its members were lax in preventing a forest fire seems more an attempt to displace them from the forests in violation of the recently operationalised Forest Rights Act than anything else.

In an astonishing notice sent to Kanis of Kalakad Mundunthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) the forest department has claimed the schedule tribe forest dwellers have forfeited their right to stay in the forests as they allegedly did not help the department officials in preventing a forest fire that they are ‘required to do’ under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act. The notice, sent by the deputy director of the tiger reserve, also blames them for not providing any ‘useful information’. In the notice, in Tamil, the forest department has said: “Only those who respect the law and assist the Forest Department are eligible to live and obtain rights in the forest”

. The deputy director of KMTR, C Bhadrasamy, told TOI, “We were short of staff when the fire occurred but they did not come to help se we sent them the notice.” The Kani, now a scheduled tribe, were forcefully brought to the forests under the colonial rule starting in 1910 to run their and the then zamindar’s plantations. Some of these Kani now live in four hamlets in the heart of what in 1962 was declared a tiger reserve and eke a living out of the forest.

But, today Kani are politically more conscious and connected. They sent a reply to the deputy director accusing him of mala fide intent. They pointed out that Act did not apply in the region because it was a tiger reserve. They alleged that the official had criminally threatened them before sending the notice and that the notice had been sent to the entire Kani community and this, together with other Acts, violated the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

But hinting at the underlying motives, they pointed out that rouble began when they protested against declaring the reserve as a critical tiger habitat (which would allow the government to relocate them) under the Wildlife Protection Act, in violation of the laws and by ignoring the recently passed Forest Rights Act, that would gives them legitimate rights in the forests they have lived in now for decades.

Curiously, the deputy director wrote back to them warning that their letter was in English so he presumed the ‘tribals’ didn’t even know what they had written. He warned that if they accepted they were aware of what they had written, he would take action against them for using ‘bad language’ against him

. Talking to TOI, the official presented an odd defense for his action, “They have problems with the non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act by the Tamil Nadu government, but they are targeting me, so I wrote to them this second letter.”

SOURCE: THE TIMES OF INDIA

HOMAGE TO A GREAT MAN

More than a week has elapsed since the 'birthday' of Bastar 's last king,Pravir Chandra Bhanjdeo and nobody has remembered him. Born on June 25, 1929 he was truly an' adivasi God'.With due respect to Rani Durgavati , her balidaan diwas was celebrated all over.Did anybody recall the sacrifice made by Pravir chandra Bhanjdeo? What makes him very important even today is the concern he had for his praja, the adivasis who are a tormented lot today.Exploited by local businessmen, torn apart by political games like the salwa judum, hunger, poverty ,disease, land grabbing by big industrial giants and finally a great slap on the face by the govt. websites which call them wild and animal like, drunkards and sex maniacs! They have nowhere to go. My homage to a great ruler, who if there today could have changed the entire fate of Bastar!

As a rule hands of clocks all over the world show movements from left to right ,but an exception to the rule is the Gondwana clock.Probably the only one of its kind in the world, this clock moves from right to left.Manufactured by the Gondwana samaj in Bilaspur it has its own explanation.

The farmer while ploughing moves from right to left,even during offerings to agni the offerings are rotated from right towards left.Normally when asked to run around in circles we tend to move from right to left.With all this in mind and according to the gond culture the clock rotates in opposite direction to the other clocks.

The elders in the community claim that initially all clocks moved this way, but the Englishmen changed the original directions.

source: chattisgarh daily

The Mawasi Korku tribes of the satpura ranges follow a culture very similar to the madias of bastar.The korkus are also a part of the vast group of the gonds.It is also said that the whole of central india and neighbouring orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra pradesh were all Gondwana landTtherefore the tribals of all these regions share a very similar culture and tradition.

The tribals in Bastar erect memory pillars to honour the departed souls.The Korkus also believe that within ten years of death if a memory pillar,, is not made then the soul of hte deceased does not attain peace.

A plank of wood of mango tree or a stone is shaped into a large tablet and it is inscribed with the name, family name of the deceased.It is also decorated with pictures of elements of nature like sun, moon, birds etc. The entire family then arrange for a celebration , where mahua flows freely,festive food is prepared, music and dance go on till late evening. The tablet is then placed in the sacred place where lot of other families have placed their pillars too.One such sacred place exists in Pachmari where these memorials can be seen.....where they pray for the peace of their ancestors to Gond Baba.A warning sign there also warns tourists against touching any of these sacred items....as one can be affected adversely bu it.

The lure of city life prompts these tribals to live a different life , but death often brings one back to reality!