Encroached Upon

Thirteen years aft er a historic law was formulated to give forest dwellers legal ownership of their traditi th onal land, their fate still hangs in the balance.A recent Supreme Court verdict, which almost made their eviction imminent, has brought the focus back on the tedious righhts recognition process under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

ISHAN KUKRETI reports from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarli and Delhi, with inputs from PRIYA RANJAN SAHU in Odisha

- Ishan Kukreti

ON FEBRUARY 13, India’s forest dwellers were left undefended as the threat of an eviction from their habitation hovered over them. The Supreme Court, hearing a petition filed by wildlife conservationists and former forest department officials, directed state governments to evict “encroachers” or the “illegal” forest dwellers. In the court room, one could see the aggressive petitioners, but not the defenders. The case was all about a Parliamentary Act, but its official defender, the state, had made a quiet exit.

The verdict’s unsettling message had a ricochet effect in the country’s forests, home to some 8 per cent of the country’s population. Close to 2 million forest dwellers faced imminent eviction from areas that were their only home (see “Forced out of forest”, p34).

Ironically, the order emanated from a case on the validity of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), which for the first time, 13 years ago, granted tribal communities the right of settlement in forest areas. Till then, they were “encroachers”. But getting legal right included an official process of settling them. Considering that 13 years is a long time to complete the official trail, the apex court inferred that people whose settlement rights had not been accepted must be evicted. It also ordered states to give a report on the action taken against the claimants whose claims had been rejected.

Immediately after the judgement, forest dwellers across the country came out in the streets to protest. Their target was not the apex court, but the government. As expected in the time of elections, political parties joined the chorus, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party came under fierce attack. After 15 days, on February 28, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (mota), the nodal agency to implement FRA, intervened with a review petition. The apex court stayed its own order.