Reducing tribal communities to ‘encroachers’

Over 10 lakh Scheduled Tribes and other forest-dwellers are to be evicted from their forest homes by 
July 27, as per a Supreme Court directive to 20 states. Going by the official figure of claims rejected, impending evictions may number 19.39 lakh, some say even higher.

This rather extreme judicial order, reprising a similar one nearly two decades ago, has come about on a petition filed by the NGO Wildlife First and others who claim the Forest Rights Act, 2006, was faulty and has accelerated deforestation. Tribal rights groups and opposition parties claim the government did not adequately defend or argue in favour of the UPA-era law that recognised the rights of adivasi communities and others dwelling in forests for generations.

Now, state governments have been read the riot act by the court—“encroachers”, that is, those who could not prove their traditional claims over tribal land have to be evicted. The court, in its wisdom, has ordered the Forest Survey of India to undertake a satellite mapping of “encroachment positions” to ensure compliance. 

The battle between wildlife and humans is not new, but the urgency of well-heeled experts to preserve forests against those who have lived in them for centuries is certainly new. Forests and wildlife need to be protected, for the planet’s sake. But from whom? Is reducing tribal communities to “encroachers” on their ancient homes the answer? And pray, where would these lakhs of evicted forest-dwellers go? Across the world, even in the famed Masai Mara and Serengeti of Africa, traditional tribes have been incorporated into conservation efforts.

Deforestation and human-animal conflict is real, but the blame lies on expanding agriculture, not to speak of more modern economic activity. Just the other day, dense forest “the size of 800 football fields” was cleared for mining in Chhattisgarh. When the apex court hears the inevitable appeals, it might want to revisit its definition of “encroacher”.