Fact-finding team’s demand
In Nabarangpur District, due to the Forest Department’s oppressive and arbitrary actions—destroying homes and razing crops under the pretext of “Meri Raay” policy—indigenous communities, Dalit, and forest-dwelling communities who have lived there for generations are now living in fear. A fact-finding team comprising Prafulla Samantara (President of Lok Shakti Abhiyan), Lingaraj Azad (leader of the Niyamgiri movement), Dr. Biswajit (Convenor, Gandhi Peace Foundation), Land Rights Researcher Sandeep Pattnaik, and Manas Pattanaik (State Convenor, Rashtriya Yuva Sangathan), under the coordination of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), Odisha chapter, visited various regions of Nabarangpur district and observed the plight of people being harassed without justification by forest officials.
Yesterday, this fact-finding team met Governor Haribabu Kambhampati and informed him about :
◆Demolition of 18 homes by the Forest Department in Hatibadi village of Jharigaon block.
◆Destruction of maize crops cultivated by primitive tribal families in Chacharaghati village of Chandahandi block, followed by afforestation (tree plantation) on that land.
◆Demolition of houses of 30 Adivasi, Dalit, and forest-dwelling families who had been residing for over 40 years in Mendabeda village of Umerkote block by the local tehsildar.
◆Setting fire to homes of 35 families and later bulldozing them into the ground in the forest area of Lakhanpur on the Chhattisgarh border under Raighar block.
◆The officials were so brutal that they destroyed a roadside tube well by smashing it, and even demolished the temporary hut of a disabled man who ran a cycle repair shop and another who sold saris in a local market. These families are now living under trees amid heavy rains.
Despite knowing all this, district authorities have taken no action nor provided any relief materials such as plastic sheets. This is a gross violation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which clearly states that any Adivasi or forest-dwelling person residing on forest land before December 2005 is entitled to individual or community land rights. Though many have applied under this Act, the administration has turned a blind eye.
Yesterday at Raj Bhavan, the under the coordination NAPM Prafulla Samantara (President of Lok Shakti Abhiyan), Dr. Biswajit (Convenor, Gandhi Peace Foundation), Land Rights Researcher Sandeep Pattnaik, and Manas Pattanaik (State Convenor, Rashtriya Yuva Sangathan), submitted a memorandum to the Governor, highlighting that such incidents are not limited to Nabarangpur. In Rairangpur, Mayurbhanj district, 43 tribal families were similarly evicted by the Forest Department without cause in the name of building an airstrip.
The team noted that while the President, Chief Minister, Nabarangpur MP, and local MLA are all from Tribal communities, such atrocities reflect the administration’s anti-tribal mindset.
At a press conference held today at Lohia Academy, NAPM made the following demands to the state government:
◆Immediate compensation and permanent rehabilitation for people rendered homeless during this monsoon.
◆Grant of land titles (patta) under the Forest Rights Act to eligible Adivasi and forest-dwelling families.
◆Stern action against the forest and revenue officers responsible for these heinous acts.
They also recalled that the Revenue Minister had earlier promised that no poor person would be evicted from their dwelling. However, from Nabarangpur to Mayurbhanj, poor Tribal and Dalit families are being rendered homeless, which constitutes a grave violation of human rights, as alleged by NAPM.