JHARKHAND MIRROR

By Gladson Dungdung

Tehelka.com
29 February 2008

“The State must restore the rights of tribal people to resources they’ve been denied for years”

Forty eight year old Rohan Pahadia has a family of five and lives in a mud house at Nirjhor village in the hilly jungles of Dumka district in Jharkhand. He cultivates on a small piece of land. The income from his farm sustains him and family merely for 3 months in a year. For the other nine months he works as a labourer to sustain his family. If he does not get any work during this period, he collects dry twinges from the forest and sells it in the nearest town. Over the last few years Rohan has been cultivating maize on the small patches of land in the hills as a result the forest officials often harass him by abusing and demanding bribes, and when he is unable to pay them, they threaten him to put behind the bars.

The similar experiences were shared by the 150 tribal activists of “Jharkhand Jungle Bachao Andonal”, a mass organization working for the ownership rights of tribals on forests in Jharkhand. They had gathered at Ranchi on January 30 to discuss on the matters of implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 and the community forest management. They also welcome the historic step of the central government for recognizing their rights over forest, which they call the ownership rights but at the same time, they are very much concerned as even after the enactment of the Act, 22 tribals were booked by the forest department in Churchu of Hazaribagh district blaming them as the encroachers. Read more…

By Gladson Dungdung

Indian Currents 11 April, 2004

“Our people have lived here since the dawn of creation. We have never been the lords of the earth. The earth is our mother. We are all her children. We are the trustees of this land. It is our responsibility to see that the land continues to sustain future generations that we have not even imagined. This is our heritage. Then how can you, British, an alien race, declare yourselves the lords and masters of the forests that sustain us and give us life? How can you deny us entrance to the only home we have ever known? We will die before we accept this rule.” These are the brave words of noted tribal leader Tilka Manjhi during the colonial days. Today, these words are not only relevant but overwhelming in daily lives of tribals. They are resisting opperession, injustice and discrimination in every corner of the country. Read more…