Wise counsels

The April issue of your magazine is superb. I am in total agreement with your assessment on our pollsters today. I wonder why they miserably fail in their predictions on our electoral verdict . Contrary to their forecast in the recent Assembly elections, the saffron Bharatiya Janata Party brigade had an unprecedented clean sweep in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The premier Congress Party had it only in Punjab. Manipur and Goa gave no clear mandate to either. The new self-styled righteous Aam Aadami Party came nowhere near what they had expected in Punjab and Goa. You have also rightly observed that our parliamentarians are still unfamiliar with the art of accepting defeat with grace.
I hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take note of the commendable suggestions you have made in this issue of the magazine . You have rightly counselled the Prime Minister must distance himself from a coterie of sycophants around him. He must show his skills to foster development on the ground. India has a reservoir of talented people in all walks of life and economy. It just requires modern tools and appropriate infrastructural support for their development. India today is looking for a better future . Prime Minister Modi has promised this to the people of the country. He must take appropriate action in this regard.
I hope the victory of the BJP in India's biggest state will help the Prime Minister usher in a new era of happiness in the country. I am sure new UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would be an asset to him Yogi is a man of action. He can help Prime Minister Modi in bringing about a silent revolution to fulfill the aspirations of the millions in his province.

Sundaram Pillai
Chennai

Tribals rights

The March 28, 2017 directive from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to all Chief Wildlife Wardens of all Tiger Range States is a gross violation of the rights of tribals and forest dwellers. The directive states: " no rights shall be conferred in Critical Tiger Habitats... " In her letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Communist Party of India (Marrxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat has rightly written that no such conservation areas can be so designated "unless the process of recognition of the rights of tribals and other forest dwellers is complete." Under the Forest Rights Act these rights are applicable "to all forest areas." The rights of tribals and other forest dwellers may be " modified or resettled" but only after (a) " the process of recognition and vesting of rights" is complete. But the said directive seeks to 'modify" the rights of tribals and other forest dwellers without the process of recognising them in the first place. It is thus not "modification" of rights but denial of rights. The NTCA's order is grossly illegal. Any officer of the State or Central government who obstructs the recognition of forest rights in this manner is committing a criminal offence under the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Forest Rights Act. Prime Minister Modi must review the directive.

A Citizen

Defending Adivasi rights

We express our concern and anguish at the recently released Annual Report 2016-17 of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has linked the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) with 'Maoist' organizations. The report states that Maoists 'guide' the activities of the NSS
The Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti is a collective of the Dongria Kondh adivasi people and other local communities who have been organizing themselves for more than a decade against bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills (Odisha), which is their only home. The continued targeting of the Dongria Kondh community (with a population of less than ten thousand people) in reports like these, and in continued state actions on the ground, raises serious doubts: is this being purposely done to break their continued resolve to oppose the mining of the Niyamgiri hills?.
The resistance of the Dongria Kondh to the mining proposal is based on several grounds: Niyamgiri is their traditional and ancestral home, it is a sacred landscape, it is the source of their livelihood and culture, they have special rights guaranteed in the Constitution, and they have full rights to it under the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and the Forest Rights Act, both laws passed by the Indian Parliament. In fact , under the Forest Rights Act, the community has the right and is empowered to protect their habitat, and natural ecosystems in it, which is precisely what they are doing in resisting the mining. All this was recognized by the NC Saxena Committee set up by the Government of India in 2010, which strongly recommended against mining in the hills.1 Subsequently the Supreme Court too recognized these aspects.
We have observed with great perturbation the repeated attempts by the state government to reintroduce the proposal and to start mining in the region. Recently, the Odisha Mining Corporation filed a petition in the Supreme Court to reopen the mining. The Supreme Court refused to admit the petition.
Apart from these attempts, there has been constant intimidation and violence on the community by security forces. In the last 2-3 years, several Dongria Kondh youth and elders have been arrested, harassed, and killed, and one has committed suicide after repeated harassment and alleged torture by security forces. In none of these cases, have the forces been able to produce evidence linking them to so-called Maoists.
The Ministry of Home Affairs appears to have ignored the overwhelming response of the Dongria Kondh, when Maoist organisations told them to oppose or boycott the gram sabha meetings organised by the state at the behest of the Supreme Court order of April 2013. Hundreds of Dongria Kondh had flocked from village to village to take part in the meetings, openly defying this call.2
The Government should also pay heed to the wisdom of the Supreme Court expressed in the case of Nandini Sundar and Ors vs The State of Chhattisgarh (WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 250 OF 2007), also referred to as the Salwa Judum Judgement. In this it reiterated that the current social order which treats any person speaking for human rights and questioning the current paradigm of the State, as a 'Maoist' or a 'Maoist' sympathizer, has become a serious problem affecting our nation. It noted that any peaceful dissent or dissatisfaction which is a positive feature of democracy, is often not recognized by the authorities and is met with severe repression.
The MHA appears to be questioning the credibility of the Supreme Court's orders and observations in the above matters; and additionally of the Indian Parliament by ignoring the Dongria Kondh's rights under PESA and FRA. Actions such as what the state is doing in the Niyamgiri hills, and language such as that used in the MHA report, only serve to undermine democracy. Apart from the suffering and injustice that the state's repressive actions cause, they also push people who are peacefully exercising their freedom of speech to turn to violence, which helps no one.

Meenal Tatpati/Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh
New Delhi



		EDITOR'S MAIL MATTERS OF PUBLIC POLICY MARCH OF AYODHYA INDIAN PRESIDENCY REALPOLITIK FOR CREDIBLE OPPOSITION A GAME CHANGER DEFENCE MODERNISATION STATE OF EDUCATION DELHI MCD POLLS FRANKLY SPEAKING SACRILEGE IN PUNJAB KASHMIR WATCH CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN POLL-YEAR HIMACHAL KERALA UNDER LDF CHANDIGARH DIARY U.S. FOREIGN POLICY AMERICAN DIARY JADAV ISSUE INDO-BANGLADESH TIES CIVIL AVIATION HITS & MISSES TEST CRICKET SPORTS BOOK BAZAAR SIGNS OF THE TIMES MIGRATION & WOMEN'S RIGHTS YOGA IN DAILY LIFE-XIII ART OF LIVING Issue:May' 2017 Subscribe Now	EDITOR’S MAIL Wise counsels The April issue of your magazine is superb. I am in total agreement with your assessment on our pollsters today. I wonder why they miserably fail in their predictions on our electoral verdict . Contrary to their forecast in the recent Assembly elections, the saffron Bharatiya Janata Party brigade had an unprecedented clean sweep in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The premier Congress Party had it only in Punjab. Manipur and Goa gave no clear mandate to either. The new self-styled righteous Aam Aadami Party came nowhere near what they had expected in Punjab and Goa. You have also rightly observed that our parliamentarians are still unfamiliar with the art of accepting defeat with grace. I hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi would take note of the commendable suggestions you have made in this issue of the magazine . You have rightly counselled the Prime Minister must distance himself from a coterie of sycophants around him. He must show his skills to foster development on the ground. India has a reservoir of talented people in all walks of life and economy. It just requires modern tools and appropriate infrastructural support for their development. India today is looking for a better future . Prime Minister Modi has promised this to the people of the country. He must take appropriate action in this regard. I hope the victory of the BJP in India's biggest state will help the Prime Minister usher in a new era of happiness in the country. I am sure new UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would be an asset to him Yogi is a man of action. He can help Prime Minister Modi in bringing about a silent revolution to fulfill the aspirations of the millions in his province. Sundaram Pillai Chennai Tribals rights The March 28, 2017 directive from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to all Chief Wildlife Wardens of all Tiger Range States is a gross violation of the rights of tribals and forest dwellers. The directive states: " no rights shall be conferred in Critical Tiger Habitats... " In her letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Communist Party of India (Marrxist) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat has rightly written that no such conservation areas can be so designated "unless the process of recognition of the rights of tribals and other forest dwellers is complete." Under the Forest Rights Act these rights are applicable "to all forest areas." The rights of tribals and other forest dwellers may be " modified or resettled" but only after (a) " the process of recognition and vesting of rights" is complete. But the said directive seeks to 'modify" the rights of tribals and other forest dwellers without the process of recognising them in the first place. It is thus not "modification" of rights but denial of rights. The NTCA's order is grossly illegal. Any officer of the State or Central government who obstructs the recognition of forest rights in this manner is committing a criminal offence under the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Forest Rights Act. Prime Minister Modi must review the directive. A Citizen Defending Adivasi rights We express our concern and anguish at the recently released Annual Report 2016-17 of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has linked the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) with 'Maoist' organizations. The report states that Maoists 'guide' the activities of the NSS The Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti is a collective of the Dongria Kondh adivasi people and other local communities who have been organizing themselves for more than a decade against bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills (Odisha), which is their only home. The continued targeting of the Dongria Kondh community (with a population of less than ten thousand people) in reports like these, and in continued state actions on the ground, raises serious doubts: is this being purposely done to break their continued resolve to oppose the mining of the Niyamgiri hills?. The resistance of the Dongria Kondh to the mining proposal is based on several grounds: Niyamgiri is their traditional and ancestral home, it is a sacred landscape, it is the source of their livelihood and culture, they have special rights guaranteed in the Constitution, and they have full rights to it under the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and the Forest Rights Act, both laws passed by the Indian Parliament. In fact , under the Forest Rights Act, the community has the right and is empowered to protect their habitat, and natural ecosystems in it, which is precisely what they are doing in resisting the mining. All this was recognized by the NC Saxena Committee set up by the Government of India in 2010, which strongly recommended against mining in the hills.1 Subsequently the Supreme Court too recognized these aspects. We have observed with great perturbation the repeated attempts by the state government to reintroduce the proposal and to start mining in the region. Recently, the Odisha Mining Corporation filed a petition in the Supreme Court to reopen the mining. The Supreme Court refused to admit the petition. Apart from these attempts, there has been constant intimidation and violence on the community by security forces. In the last 2-3 years, several Dongria Kondh youth and elders have been arrested, harassed, and killed, and one has committed suicide after repeated harassment and alleged torture by security forces. In none of these cases, have the forces been able to produce evidence linking them to so-called Maoists. The Ministry of Home Affairs appears to have ignored the overwhelming response of the Dongria Kondh, when Maoist organisations told them to oppose or boycott the gram sabha meetings organised by the state at the behest of the Supreme Court order of April 2013. Hundreds of Dongria Kondh had flocked from village to village to take part in the meetings, openly defying this call.2 The Government should also pay heed to the wisdom of the Supreme Court expressed in the case of Nandini Sundar and Ors vs The State of Chhattisgarh (WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 250 OF 2007), also referred to as the Salwa Judum Judgement. In this it reiterated that the current social order which treats any person speaking for human rights and questioning the current paradigm of the State, as a 'Maoist' or a 'Maoist' sympathizer, has become a serious problem affecting our nation. It noted that any peaceful dissent or dissatisfaction which is a positive feature of democracy, is often not recognized by the authorities and is met with severe repression. The MHA appears to be questioning the credibility of the Supreme Court's orders and observations in the above matters; and additionally of the Indian Parliament by ignoring the Dongria Kondh's rights under PESA and FRA. Actions such as what the state is doing in the Niyamgiri hills, and language such as that used in the MHA report, only serve to undermine democracy. Apart from the suffering and injustice that the state's repressive actions cause, they also push people who are peacefully exercising their freedom of speech to turn to violence, which helps no one. Meenal Tatpati/Ashish Kothari, Kalpavriksh New Delhi