A joint committee of Members of
Parliament had submitted a draft
legislation, which will no doubt pass
because it has the over-enthusiastic
support of the communists, which seeks
to make over valued forest land over
to the tribal population. The concept
is that the tribals have been ancient
guardians of the forests and have
learnt to use the land effectively
without compromising the delicate
ecological balance. What follows is
that with the land under their
control, their net worth goes up,
increasing their social standing, and
therefore upgrades them into the
modern world.
Well, that is theory. The reality is
that many of the tribals are
illiterate and essentially under the
control of the politician who is also
a land mafiaso, a murdering criminal,
and an extortionist who can operate
with impunity. While conceptually the
land is owned by the tribals, there is
no protection from coercion, threats,
and retribution for not “selling” the
land to the “real estate” agents who
are really operatives of the
politician. Moreover, the tribal has
no control over those who enter their
land as they will not get even the
nominal support of the under-trained
and under-equipped forest guards. What
cannot be protected are endangered
animals, old growth forests, and the
lives of the tribal poor. Therefore,
the politicians are impatient to get a
law passed that will in essence write
themselves large tracts of mineral and
resource rich land waiting to be
exploited.
