PRESS STATEMENT
CAMPAIGN CONDEMNS POLICE VIOLENCE AND REPRESSION IN SONEBHADRA,
UTTAR PRADESH
Calls on Government to Negotiate in Good Faith and On Basis of
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of
Forest Rights) Act, 2006
The Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a federation of tribal and
forest dwelling communities' organisations from eleven States, is
deeply concerned at recent reports of escalating police violence and
state repression in Sonebhadra, Uttar Pradesh. The Campaign condemns
such actions and calls on the government of Uttar Pradesh to settle the
issue through negotiations, founded on the principle of respecting the
rights of forest communities to their lands and livelihoods.
For several years now Sonebhadra district has been the site of a
struggle between the Forest Department and the Kaimoor Kshetra Mahila
Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (a member of the National Forum for
Forest Peoples and Forest Workers). The Samiti has been fighting for
the return of land that the local community claims as their traditional
gram samaj land, which has been illegally taken over by the Forest
Department. Repeated protests and clashes have ensued, while the Forest
Department has reportedly refused to negotiate the issue or recognise
the rights of local communities.
Over the past two weeks these clashes have escalated with the arrest of
four activists – Roma, Shanta, Lalita Devi and Shyamlal Paswan – and a
police assault on the Dalit village of Chanduli this last Friday
(August 10th), in which a reported 15 women were beaten up and a number
of houses demolished (with threats of further demolition). Recent
rumours in the local press point to the imminent application of the
National Security Act against the arrested activists.
The use of police forces and draconian laws against activists and
people's organisations is highly condemnable. It is the duty of the
State government to respond to a democratic agitation in a democratic
manner, not by resorting to brutal repression. Moreover, with the
passage of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, it is now legally clear that
the Forest Department can no longer simply evict people or deny their
rights on the basis of executive fiat, especially given that the said
legislation provides both for rights over land under current occupation
and for rights in case of past illegal evictions and denial of access
to community resources. The UP government must allow this Act to be
implemented locally and the rights of local communities to be settled
as per its provisions, instead of engaging in actions that would
subvert the purpose of the legislation.
The Campaign therefore demands the following:
- The release of arrested activists and a withdrawal of cases filed
against them, as well as an immediate halt to efforts to apply the
draconian National Security Act against the activists;
- Criminal prosecution of those responsible for the police assault
at Chanduli and a halt to further efforts at state repression;
- Negotiation in good faith with the local community to settle the
matter, in full recognition of the rights of forest dwellers and the
procedure for settling them under the Scheduled Tribes and Other
Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
On behalf of the Convening Collective