------by Roma
Right to life and liberty with
human dignity is enshrined in our constitutional provision of article
21 that ensures protection of life, livelihood for every citizen
of this country. But Uttrakhand government has recently not only
violated this fundamental right as human rights available to vangujjars
communities living inside the forests but has not even bothered
to respect the prestigious forest rights act 2006 that commits to
mitigate the “ historical injustices” on the tribal
and other forest dwelling communities in its preamble. Vangujjars
and nomadic tribe scattered on the shivaliks hills of the Uttrakhand
has been living in these forests since last three centuries. They
always received step motherly treatment by all the governments whosoever
ruled UP or Uttrakhand. But from October 2008 the attack on vangujjars
has become more intensified and blatant. More than 100 hutments
known as ‘deras’of vangujjars were totally smashed by
the Rajaji National Park administration. The brutal eviction by
the park director S.S Rasily and Deputy Park director J.Siddiqui,
just before any settlement of the rights of vangujjars and contempt
of High Court order by the park administration has brought wrath
of forest dwelling communities who have decided to wage a decisive
struggle against the forest department and the State government.
Vangujjars is a very distinct,
only muslim nomadic tribe of India who are scattered in the entire
Himalayan region spreading from Jammu & Kashmir to Shivaliks
hills of UP and Uttrakhand in India and from Pakistan, Afganistan
to Iran and Iraq. They still maintain nomadic life with their buffaloes
and travel between higher reaches of Himalaya in summer to lower
Himalaya in winter. This particular tribal community has a very
rich cultural heritage making them very different from other muslim
communities. They don’t obtain ‘Pardah’ among
women. Being a pastoralist community they were never brought into
mainstream and no proper planning for their rehabilitation was done
in States except Jammu & Kashmir. In J&K also the second
largest population gujjars had to fight a long battle for the recognition
of Schedule Tribe status. However they have ST status in Himachal
Pradesh too but the Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh government has
yet to grant them the ST status.
After sixty one year of independence the tribal nomadic vangujjar
community still lives in bondage of colonial forest department and
they have yet to experience right to freedom, life and liberty.
In these areas the forest department still holds the colonial legacy
and consider themselves above Constitution. It is extremely shameful
that after so many years of independence the right to education,
health and shelter is denied to this community. Even the teachers
and doctors arranged by the community are denied entrance in the
park area as the forest department considers themselves as landlord
of the national parks.
The Scheduled Tribe and other Forest Dweller (Recognition of forest
rights) Act 2006, popularly known as Forest Rights Act was enacted
by the Parliament on 15th Dec 2006 and enforced on 1st Jan 2008.
All the states were bound to enforce this act in their respective
states by passing Government Order’s to all the districts.
But no such enforcement of the act has been done by the Uttrakhand
government though most of the neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh
have started the process of implementing the act in whole of the
State. The Uttrakhand government has only passed a departmental
order from Social Welfare Ministry for forming the forest rights
committee. No Government order has been issued and neither the government
is showing any political will to implement this act despite the
fact that UttraKhand has more than 65% forest cover and around 80%
of its population is entirely dependent on the forest rather than
agriculture. BJP led Khandori government is totally apathetic regarding
this act even though the other BJP ruled states are trying to become
champion in enacting this act e.g. Madhya Pradesh is going to elections
by campaigning on this act. Gujarat state was the first state to
start the process of implementing this act. But Uttrakhand government
is not showing any interest in implementing this act as the political
condition of the government is quite volatile and secondly the state
bureaucracy and the wild life lobby are conniving hand and glove
with each other in spreading confusion among the larger society
and the tribal community that the act is not applicable in national
park and sanctuaries. A lie which they have been telling in order
to complete the process of eviction before settling the right of
the people living inside the forest and people dependent on the
forest.
Now the Rajaji National Park
which is the famous tourist spot for the middle and upper class
people of Delhi and Dehradun has become the battleground of forest
dwelling communities versus the forest department. The forest department
planned to evict around 500 families this October and targeted the
deras of the leaders of vangujjars who were active in forming their
organization and fighting a legal case against eviction by forest
department in High Court. The first target was Jahoor hassan of
Gholna beat, Dholkhand Range, his dera was smashed by the goons
of forest deparment and was forcibly evicted while he had gone to
Nainital High Court to collect the order that was in favor of vangujjars.
There was no male member in the house while his house was attacked,
little children and the women of the family were so scared that
Jahoor’s mother who was a heart patient ran away to forest
and was missing for three days. All his belongings were looted by
forest department and were thrown out of the forest mercilessly.
Than dera of Noorjamal of Dholkhand Range and 107 deras of Ramgarh
range was totally smashed and they were too thrown out of the forest
areas. Four youth Binyamin, Mustaq, Yamin and Aliyahmed were arrested
in false charges u/s 353,506 of IPC and u/s 27 of Wild Life Protection
Act, 1972, while they were grazing their animals, they were not
aware why they were being arrested. All such atrocities took place
when the forest rights act 2006 has been enacted and implemented
by the Central government. But unfortunately no action has been
taken by the state government against the forest department.
The vangujjar community of Rajaji
national park has been fighting a very long battle since 2004 for
recognition of their rights. The park authorities have only recognized
512 families and have resettled them in Pathri, Hardwar which is
not built according to the needs and environment of this tribal
community. According to Ch. Bashir Ahmed Khatana from J&K, President
of All India nomadic gujjar Association “the pathri colony
is not at all suitable to vangujjars, the planning of the colony
is faulty. The roads are narrow, stall feeding sheds are very small
and the houses are not according to their traditional designs. Moreover
still the pattas of these lands have not been granted to the vangujjar
community. Forest department has no authority to grant pattas to
these community, if the lands are not regularised the settled gujjars
could be thrown out again by the colonial forest department.”
“Over the years the families
have multiplied and now there are another 1390 families that needs
to be settled. We have approached Nainital High Court in 2005 requesting
the H’ble Court to give recognition to these families”
Nooralam, Chillawalli range, petitioner. The H’ble Court in
its order in petition no. 275/2006 decided the case in favor of
vangujjars and directed the park authorities to settle the families
according to the new forest rights act 2006. When park administration
refused to abide by the HC order, vangujjars filed contempt against
park director Mr. Pandey as a result of which he was removed from
the director post.
This was not an ordinary victory
for the illiterate tribal community, gathering the confidence from
the Court’s attitude the vangujjar community created another
landmark victory when they approached the H’ble HC to get
the order for enforcement of the act which the State government
was liable to do. National Forum of Forest People and Forest workers
(NFFPFW) on behalf of vangujjars filed public interest litigation
under Article 226 of the Constitution to issue ‘Mandamus’
to the State government to implement the forest rights act 2006.
In its order dated 29/09/2008 H’ble HC in its historical judgment
ordered the Uttrakhand State government to implement the forest
rights act 2006 within 60 days by forming the forest rights committee
so that the rights of the vangujjar’s could be settled according
to the act.
The delay in enforcement of
the act created lot of problems for the vangujjar community as the
new park director S.S Rasily was much more ruthless than the one
before. His only mission was to throw the vangujjars out of the
forest without settling their rights. Even after all such orders
in their favor, vangujjar’s faced the worst eviction ever
in October 2008.
. Vangujjar Kalyan Samiti leader
Srikant Verma who helped vangujjars fighting the case is HC says
that “the forest department staff in the leadership of park
director hobnobbed with the local police stations and used massive
police force to evict the tribal community”. When the representatives
of National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers approached
the Superintendent of Police Hardwar, they were told that no such
orders were given to police to assist forest department to forcefully
evict the tribals. Forum’s representative conducted a fact
finding on 26-27th October 2008 and submitted their report to District
Magistrate Hardwar. The delegation of Forum also met Chief Secretary
Mr. Indu Kumar Pandey and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest
Mr. Raghubir Singh Rawat and submitted the fact finding report and
CD of interviews of Jahoor hassan and Noor jamal. Chief Secretary
said he was not aware of such eviction but added that if such eviction
has taken place without any rehabilitation than it was illegal and
a high enquiry will be conducted. PCCF on other hand said that ‘they
have no orders for forceful eviction, if it has happened than I
beg apologies from the tribal community’.
It is very clear from all such
responses from the top level bureaucrats that there was no instruction
to park administration to forcefully evict vangujjars but the state
government could also neither intervene in this process immediately
to stop evictions. Ex Forest Minister Mr. Md. Aslam Khan has sharply
reacted to these evictions and requested Chief Secretary to immediately
intervene in this serious matter which could create Constitutional
crisis if not addressed properly. On 3rd November 2008 thousands
of vangujjars, forest villages and other forest dwellers from 11
districts of UK challenged the State government and protested in
front of State Secretariat, Dehradun to stop such illegal evictions,
implement the forest rights act immediately and reestablish all
the 110 evicted families in Rajaji National Park. The forests communities
have announced that if their demands are not met than they will
start the movement to reestablish their deras in their oringinal
place form 16th November 2008 onwards. Ashok Chowdhury the founding
member of NFFPFW observes that “If the situation is not handled
properly by the State government than it may turn into a serious
conflict between the forests dwelling communities of Uttrakhand
with the State”.
Roma
NFFPFW (Kaimur) / Human Rights Law Centre
Purab Mohal, Near Sarita Printing Press, Munsifi Chauraha
Robertsganj,
District Sonbhadra 231216
Uttar Pradesh
Tel : 91-9415233583, 05444-222473
Email : romasnb@gmail.com/ hrlkaimoor@gmail.com
