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Angry tribals protest against “atrocities”

BHOPAL: Tribals from two villages, Peepalkotha and Juni Badi, in Nepanagar tehsil of Burhanpur district sat on a protest dharna here for the third consecutive day on Monday under the banner of Jungle-Jeevan Adhikar Bachao Andolan (Campaign for protection of forest rights and right to life) protesting against destruction of their houses by a Forest Department team on January 11.

Gopal Bhai of Jungle-Jeevan Adhikar Bachao Andolan told The Hindu that they were thinking in terms of lifting the dharna later at night. They lacked resources and were in the process of deciding whether to continue the agitation or ask the villagers to return, he said.

The Forest Department personnel had swooped in on the villages to evict the tribals from land occupied by them for almost 30 years, said Gopal Bhai.

The eviction of the tribals from their village ran counter to the law of the land, he said, adding that instead of implementing the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, the State Government was bent upon uprooting the tribals.

Another activist, Manish Bhai said they had met State Forest Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah and conveyed to him how their houses were torched and property was looted. The Minister responded to their various grievances by announcing that an inquiry would be conducted within seven days to ascertain facts, he said, adding that this assurance came when they were expecting punitive action against the Forest Department personnel responsible for inciting violence and terrorising the hapless tribals.

The tribals are demanding that all the forest villages be identified followed by a fresh revision of the voters’ list to include those who had been left out. They are also demanding that the Gram Sabha (village general body) be allowed to function independently without any interference from the Forest Department.

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Angry tribals protest against “atrocities”

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