BJP a Threat to Tribal Rights and Land: Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren

Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, on Saturday, made a strong political statement as he addressed the state assembly’s concluding session. He charged the BJP with being a threat to tribal communities by seeking to exploit their land and displace them from forest and coal-rich regions if not stopped in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing the state assembly’s concluding session, amidst the walk-out of BJP legislators, CM Soren emphasised the need to resist the BJP’s attempts to undermine tribal rights by amending existing laws. He highlighted the coalition government’s commitment to safeguarding tribal interests in the face of such challenges.

Particularly, CM Soren condemned the BJP’s amendments to laws protecting tribal rights, accusing the party of undermining the power of gram sabhas and seeking to alter legislation such as the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act and Chotanagpur Tenancy Act.

Expressing concern over the BJP’s purported agenda, CM Soren urged ruling alliance legislators to mobilize public awareness against the party’s intentions, highlighting the strategic implications of its policies for tribal communities.

Furthermore, he asserted that former Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s incarceration on land-related charges was a deliberate tactic employed by the BJP to suppress dissent, emphasizing the need to confront such tactics head-on. Underlining the coalition government’s commitment to socio-economic development, CM Soren reiterated the administration’s focus on ensuring food, clothing, and shelter for all citizens, as part of its efforts to strengthen the state’s education and welfare systems.

The Citizens for Justice and Peace and People’s Union for Civil Liberties has released a Human Rights Manifesto for all parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. In the section on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Adivasis/Forest Workers, the organisations have raised the following demand of the newly formed government:

[Articles 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 21 of the Chapter III of the Fundamental Rights & Article 48A of the Directive Principles of State Policy in Chapter IV of the Indian Constitution and Schedule V and VI of the Indian Constitution]

• Strengthen and implement the Forest Rights Act, 2006, The Panchayat (Extension of the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and other provisions of land and environmental laws and the Indian Constitution, in letter and spirit, to ensure free prior informed consent, participation in decision making and recognition of rights of the local and indigenous communities over their lands, traditional livelihoods, culture and way of life, and to stop forced displacement.

• Hold a special session of Parliament to discuss the adequate implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) in all declared forests in India

• Repeal the Indian Forest Act (1927), Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 as well as Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023
• Appoint a Judicial Commission, first in Uttar Pradesh, then in other states to examine all the false and arbitrary cases against Adivasis and other forest dwelling communities as a first step towards quashing these malicious prosecutions
• Stop the oppression, harassment, torture of, and police brutality against Adivasis, Dalits Muslim and all other ethnicities among forest dwellers and workers, especially women. The targeting often takes the form of being evicted from their traditional padas with no legal or commensurate rehabilitation for their cultivated lands.
• Ensure that no tribal or forest dweller is evicted from protected areas and critical wildlife habitats without following the procedures established under Forest Rights Act, 2006 and initiate strict action against officials responsible for these acts
• Make transparent and expedite the process of approving community land claims by forest dwellers and forest workers under FRA 2006; Institute strict accountability measures for authorities, including those reviewing these claims and ensure that the statutorily required representative bodies and committees are in place
• Ensure fair prices for Minor Forest Produce (MFP)
• Effectively implement PESA [Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996] and regular monitoring and advisories by Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA) should ensure that the recommendations by the Gram Sabha are scrupulously followed
• Dilution or distortion of PESA, for example in several states, including for example, in Maharashtra that allows the Collector to overrule the decision of the Gram Sabha, should be done away with.
• Repeal the 2015 amendments made to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation Act), 1957 that now allows the union government to grant indiscriminate mining rights on forest land.
• Repeal the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act, 2016 that promotes funds collection to replace forest land with agricultural land without the concurrence of the local people.
• Repeal the National Waterways Act, 2016 through which 111 waterways are included under this act. Infrastructure projects will be developed on these water bodies and complete commercialisation will take place leading to obstruction of life and livelihoods of people living along the banks.
• Withdraw the Draft EIA Notification (2020 Amendment to the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, 2006) – which sought to significantly dilute the existing provisions of law which itself were far from ideal; roll back the dilutions to the EIA Notification 2006 brought in by way of amendment notifications / office memorandums and circulars and put in place a strong law / Act mandating environment impact assessment for all impacting projects, without exemption.