[WSMDiscuss] Fwd: BJP Govt Wants to Declare War in Forests – Are Tribals and Forest Dwellers the Enemy? (Campaign for Survival and Dignity)

Fri Mar 22 18:36:54 CET 2019

Friday, March 22, 2019

India in movement…

[India is approaching its General Elections in April and May – and whereas the situation for the already marginalised and oppressed was already pretty bad, this ‘new’ moment seems to producing some really devastatingly polarised and violent results… The latest news is what seems to be the state declaring war on forest dwellers, by declaring forests – which, and their peoples, have historically been relatively ‘protected’, in various ways, among other things recognising the contributions that forest peoples make to the sustenance of forests – ‘open game’ (and in the course of this, giving draconian powers to shoot and kill to its forces); and where corporates will be the only winners.  The state acting as agent for corporates has a long history; but here, instead of ‘taking on’ forest by forest, individually, the government seems intent on opening up the entire frontier. 

[In that sense, this decision threatens - unless stopped in its tracks - to be breathtaking and ‘historic’ / history-making in terms of its ambition, and on par with earlier – and disastrous decisions that the same government has taken, such as demonetisation : All which seem intent on systematically breaking the backs of ordinary working peoples, just as (to use an example that is familiar to many just because of how colonised we all are) the forcible takeover, and consequent tragedy, of the commons in England and Ireland in the 18th century; or the imposition on large parts of what is today India of the regime of Permanent Settlement by Britain in the 19th century as coloniser :    

BJP Govt Wants to Declare War in Forests – Are Tribals and Forest Dwellers the Enemy ?

Campaign for Survival and Dignity 

“But just as the backdoor attempt to get the Forest Rights Act weakened in court <https://forestrightsact.com/2019/02/28/sc-puts-eviction-order-on-hold-centre-finally-does-its-job-after-nationwide-protests-and-anger/> failed, this attempt too will fail. Protests are continuing and will intensify. The struggle goes on.”

            In solidarity,

            JS

fwd

> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: C.R.Bijoy <cr.bijoy at gmail.com <mailto:cr.bijoy at gmail.com>>
> Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2019 at 03:17
> Subject: BJP Govt Wants to Declare War in Forests – Are Tribals and Forest Dwellers the Enemy?
> To: 
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: Campaign for Survival and Dignity <forestcampaignnews at gmail.com <mailto:forestcampaignnews at gmail.com>>
> Date: Fri, Mar 22, 2019 at 12:37 PM
> Subject: BJP Govt Wants to Declare War in Forests – Are Tribals and Forest Dwellers the Enemy?
> To: <forestrights at yahoogroups.com <mailto:forestrights at yahoogroups.com>>

BJP Govt Wants to Declare War in Forests – Are Tribals and Forest Dwellers the Enemy?

Just weeks after facing massive protests <https://forestrightsact.com/2019/03/06/tribals-forest-dwellers-rise-in-protest-across-the-country/>, the BJP government at the Centre sent all States a proposal for a sweeping set of amendments <https://forestrightsact.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/proposed-amendments-to-ifa-dated-7032019.pdf> to the Indian Forest Act. These amendments would give forest officials the power to shoot people without any liability (with the same legal protection as soldiers in disturbed areas under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act); allow forest officials to restrict or cancel legal rights and to relocate people against their will; presume that people they accuse of crimes are guilty if certain materials are claimed to be found on them (a provision similar to anti-terror laws); to hand over forests to private companies for afforestation, and to grab other forests in the name of "carbon sequestration"; and on and on.

If passed, these amendments will make forest officials de facto dictators, with more powers than any other government official (more powers, in fact, than those that are given to soldiers, who are at least legally required to hand over anyone they arrest to the normal police).

This is nothing short of a declaration of war in forest areas. Who then is the enemy?

Is it the country's tribals and forest dwellers? Consider what some of the amendments say:

Forest officials can use firearms to "secure forest produce" or for even more frivolous reasons; and if their firing is even "purported" to be done under the law, they cannot be prosecuted; this is the same provision as in the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (proposed new section 66(2))
The legal rights of tribals and forest dwellers can simply be taken away by paying arbitrary cash payments and people can be forced to relocate (22A(2))
Forest officials can inflict British-style collective punishment on all rights holders if they feel "fires are being caused willfully" (26(3))
Forest officials can simply deny all rights - if they feel enough forest is "left over" - by declaring any area a "conservation reserve" (30(b))
If one 'participates' in any of the sham participatory schemes under the Forest Department, one cannot claim legal rights (29(3))
The amendments also provide for "production" forests (34C), for ending shifting cultivation entirely (despite it being both more ecologically friendly and socially equitable), and so on.

The clear goal of these amendments is to turn India's forests - almost a quarter of the country's land area - into a police state where the interests of forest bureaucrats and private companies will reign supreme. As the Forest Rights Act itself says, these areas were seized by colonial and post-independence governments in a "historical injustice" against forest dwellers. Now this government wants to double down on that injustice. This is a wholesale attack on the rights of India's twenty crore forest dwellers.

But just as the backdoor attempt to get the Forest Rights Act weakened in court <https://forestrightsact.com/2019/02/28/sc-puts-eviction-order-on-hold-centre-finally-does-its-job-after-nationwide-protests-and-anger/> failed, this attempt too will fail. Protests are continuing and will intensify. The struggle goes on.

Campaign for Survival and Dignity

www.forestrightsact.com <http://www.forestrightsact.com/>, forestcampaign at gmail.com <mailto:forestcampaign at gmail.com>

______________________________

Jai Sen

Independent researcher, editor

jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900) 

Current associations : www.cacim.net <http://www.cacim.net/> / http://www.openword.net.in

CURRENT / RECENT publications :

Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance. Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?, Indian edition. New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>, MOM1Flipkart <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>, and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
Jai Sen, ed, 2016a  – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ? and Jai Sen, ed, 2016b – The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance (both then forthcoming from New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press), open access ADVANCE PREFINAL ONLINE MOVEMENT EDITIONS @ www.cacim.net <http://www.cacim.net/>
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