Citizens for Justice and Peace
Jal, Jungle, Zamin: Glimpses into the March for Forest Rights A look into the "Sansad Gherao" organised on November 21, 2019
23-Nov-2019
On November 21, the nation’s Adivasis came to New Delhi in droves to stand before the Indian Parliament and demanded that their rights to jal, jungle, zamin be recognized by the State. The movement was organised by Bhumi Adhikar Andolan along with other forest rights groups such as All India Kisan Sabha, All India Union…
Mass protests & Sansad Gherao against continued Adivasi evictions on Nov 21 Despite SC stay, forest dwellers continue to be harassed by the government
23-Oct-2019
Bhumi Adhikar Andolan and forest rights groups have planned multi-level protests in response to the unrelenting violation of people’s rights and dilution of Forest Rights Act, despite a Supreme Court stay on evictions. From November 17, 2019 onward, state, district and village level actions have been planned by movement groups to protest these violations. The…
Stop forced eviction of Adivasis & Forest dwellers: UN to India UN urges India to implement FRA 2006
17-Sep-2019
A clearly worded communication sent by UN human rights experts to the government of India urges the rigorous implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA, 2006), suggests a more democratic and legal way of approaching individual and community claims under the law and points out the dangers of the imminent evictions of millions of…
Wildlife Conservation group Wildlife Trust of India withdraws challenge to FRA, 2006 Withdrawal a vindication of Adivasis’ claims of a symbiotic relationship with Forests
12-Sep-2019
In a significant step, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), India’s foremost nature conservation organisation, has withdrawn from the array of parties who filed a petition in Supreme Court as long back as in 2008 challenging the constitutional validity of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights), Act 2006 (FRA, 2006).…
Breaking: All Intervention Applications defending FRA, 2006 admitted by SC HRDs Sokalo Gond and Nivada Rana’s IA backed by CJP and AIUFWP also admitted, interveners to file written submissions
12-Sep-2019
In a major breakthrough for Adivasi organisations and advocates of rights of forest dwelling communities, the Supreme Court of India has admitted all the 19 intervention applications that had been filed before it urging it to stop the eviction of millions of forest dwellers. Filed by different sets of directly concerned individuals and organisations, all…
Maha gov’t blames DLCs for “unlawfully” rejecting Adivasis’ claims Says close examination of rejected cases has been “insightful”
12-Sep-2019
The state of Maharashtra has held the District Level Committees (DLCs), part of its own bureaucracy, accountable for “unlawfully rejecting the land claims” of lakhs of Adivasis and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs) as reported by Huffingtonpost on September 11. The DLCs comprise officers from Revenue, Forest and Tribal Affairs departments and three nominated members from…
Tharu Adivasis submit rebuttal against rejected land claims: Dudhwa National Park Forest dwellers had submitted community forest rights claims in 2013
11-Sep-2019
Adivasis and forest dwellers of a village in Dudhwa National Park offer a point by point rebuttal to the fallacious claims of the Forest Department submitted as “grounds” to reject community forest rights claims (CFR). The villagers had submitted the claims as long back as in 2013. On July 31, 2013, forest dwellers from 17…
No due process or formal communication to land claimants: MP govt State admits to flaws in rejecting land claims, launches Vanmitra app to address bureaucratic lacunae
09-Sep-2019
In a compliance affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in an on-going litigation by Wildlife First, challenging the constitutional validity of the law, Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA), the Madhya Pradesh (MP) government acknowledged the historical injustices and the marginalized nature of tribal communities and Other Traditional…
No procedure of eviction under FRA 2006: Chhattisgarh gov’t Analysis of state gov't affidavit submitted to SC
04-Sep-2019
In a crucial intervention in the on-going litigation by Wildlife First challenging the constitutional validity of the law, Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006, the Chhattisgarh state, in its affidavit filed in July 2019, not only recognises the lapses in recognition of forest rights, but also suggests the way forward. In its affidavit filed as a…
Forest Rights case: SC directs states to file Compliance Affidavits Sokalo Gond and Nivada Rana file Intervention Application backed by CJP and AIUFWP
06-Aug-2019
The Supreme Court has directed states that have not filed compliance affidavits on the matter of implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, to do so within a fortnight. Wild Life First v/s Union of India –a batch of petitions filed in 2008 challenging the constitutional validity of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 came up…