11, Nov 2019 | Gayatri Korgaonkar

Bhumi Adhikar Andolan, a forest rights collective, held a planning meeting at Indian Social Institute regarding the action planned on November 21, 2019 to have a Sansad Gherao at Sansad Marg, Delhi. The Gherao, along with state, district and village level actions, have been planned to protest violations of people’s rights and dilution of Forest Rights Act.

Among its four pillars of action, the land and livelihood rights of Adivasis and traditional forest dwellers, is one. CJP, with its expertise in navigating cases of human rights violations in the courts and beyond has been active on the issue; partnering with the All India Union of Forest Working Peoples (AIUFWP) since 2017 to battle any setback to these rights in the courts. This includes legally fighting back against malicious prosecution of leaders of the community and defending the Forest Rights Act, 2006 in the Supreme Court. We stand with the millions of Forest Dwellers and Adivasis whose lives and livelihoods are threatened. Please support our efforts by donating here.

The two-hour long meeting witnessed a detailed discussion over various key issues. Mobilization processes were reviewed with various representatives of mass organizations. The meeting highlighted the fact that it is important to take the discussion to the public about Forest Rights Act 2006, and the current situation happening in the Supreme Court of India.

In the meeting, All India Kisan Sabha’s Hannan Mollah stressed on the fact that the central government is showing a blind eye towards the Supreme Court’s proceedings regarding the hovering question about the constitutional legitimacy of the Forest Rights Act 2006. He noted, it is very important to inform each and every citizen of this country about the importance of FRA 2006 in protecting the rights of the adivasi populace and forest dwellers.

He noted that the central government has not sent their legal representation to the Supreme Court on the hearing dates to defend the legitimacy of FRA 2006. Under the pretext of forest conservation, he said, the government is indirectly pushing forward their corporate agenda to appropriate forest land from the indigenous populace.

He further noted that these marginalized indigenous people have been living in India’s forests maintaining the flora and fauna of Indian forests. Evicting them from their forests is likely to leave a severe impact on the ecology of India’s forests. Therefore it is essential to expose the illegalities in the execution of central government to weaken the FRA 2006 to each and every citizen of India and globally.

Over 12,000 people all over India, at the minimum, will be joining the protest programme.

Picture Credit – Scroll.in

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