Fear in the forests

The Madhya Pradesh government targets tribal people who resist its attempts to open up forests for commercial exploitation.

THE forests of Madhya Pradesh are eerily quiet these days. Most of the tribal people live away from their homes, fearing the police. Organisations working among them have accused the State government of committing atrocities against the Adivasis as part of its attempt to divest them of their sources of livelihood and open up the forests for commercial exploitation. It is no longer a story of "routine" harassment of the tribal people by Forest Department officials and the police, but of open attacks. The allegations include looting and destruction of tribal huts, molesting of women, arrest of activists on false charges and poisoning of the Adivasis' stores of grain and drinking water sources.

The attacks took place between March 28 and April 3 in the villages of Kadukiya, Potala, Patpadi, Jamasindh, Kutukiya and Mehendikheda in Bagli tehsil. On March 28, about 400 men belonging to the Special Armed Force and the Forest Department allegedly went on the rampage in Kadukiya. They fired in the air and at people. In protest, tribal people gathered in Mehendikheda on April 2. The police lobbed teargas shells to disperse them and they retaliated by throwing stones. The police opened fire allegedly without any warning, and four Adivasis were killed. Activists belonging to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) say that the use of teargas was an act of provocation.

On May 2, a group of Adivasis travelling to Dewas to participate in a protest against the April killings were stopped by a revolver-wielding Sub-Divisional Officer (Police). On May 4, the police opened fire in Kanad village and one Adivasi was injured. Activists allege that the firing was meant to dissuade tribal people from participating in an inquiry ordered by the State government. An Indian Administrative Service officer was to have heard them from May 9 to 11 in Udaynagar. The systematic terrorising of the tribal people seems to have worked: most of the Adivasis are now hiding in the forests.

According to Sunil, a Kisan Adivasi Sanghatana activist, there have been nine instances of police firing on Adivasis in the last six years. The NGOs allege that the firings were planned by the administration. Sunil says that they have access to the minutes of a high-level meeting held in Bhopal on February 19. He says: "The minutes make it clear that the atrocities committed on the tribals at Dewas were pre-planned and ordered from above. The meeting was chaired by the Chief Secretary and attended by officials of the Forest, Revenue and Police Departments as well as officials from the Dewas district administration. The minutes include a discussion on ways and means to suppress the tribal agitation. The relevant section reads: 'Take the suppression of activities in Dewas district to their logical end.' It seems that for the government shooting unarmed peaceful demonstrators is a 'logical end'." The activists and Adivasis say that the ordering of an inquiry was an attempt at whitewash.

The NGOs allege that the attacks were part of a larger plan to deny the tribal people access to forest produce. Sunil says: "The government has initiated Operation Clean in Dewas district so as to terrorise the tribal people. The Adivasis here are an organised lot. They know their rights and this prevents the government from steamrolling them and going ahead with the economic exploitation of the forests."

The tribal people are faced with a question that will have long-term implications for their lives: Who will control the forests of Madhya Pradesh, the tribal communities or the Forest Department? The Adivasis say that they have a prior claim since they have sustained the forests for generations and depended on them for their livelihood. The Forest Department, which was formed in 1864 and operates under the Forest Act of 1927, was instrumental in transforming a resource into property. Its primary function was to generate revenue by selling timber and forest produce. Since forests are deemed to be government property, Adivasis were debarred from collecting forest produce.

The stranglehold of the administration over the forests, which was a hallmark of colonial rule, was sought to be tightened further by the State administration by systematically alienating Adivasis from the forests and preventing them from collecting forest produce. The Adivasis' traditional rights were usurped by the bureaucracy, which periodically imposed "levies" in the form of money, poultry or locally brewed liquor. Sunil says that some officials even had the "right to cohabit" with newly married tribal women.

Since the 1980s, many independent organisations of tribal people have challenged these practices and succeeded in putting an end to them. The illegal levies have been removed and the Adivasis have rediscovered their symbiotic relationship with the forests. For example, thousands of acres of forest has been regenerated by the Adivasis of Alirajpur in Jhabua district. Working under the aegis of the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sanghatana, they have created structures of social security.

IN 1995, at a time when the Third World's untapped natural resources were the focus of world powers' interest, the State government conceived the Madhya Pradesh Forestry Project (MPFP), which was financed by a loan of Rs.800 crores from the World Bank. It was projected as a plan to enhance the productivity of forests. In effect it meant replanting existing forests to produce timber, which had great export potential. Although it seemed economically rewarding, the plan clearly sought to divest Adivasis of their traditional rights over the forests. The underlying presumption was that Adivasi communities were responsible for the degradation of forests. One of the main programmes under the project was the Joint Forest Management Programme. Although the project envisaged the involvement of Adivasis in managing forests, in reality it excluded them. Also at stake were issues such as wildlife conservation (since the plan was operational in 24 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries) and control over water sources that originated in the forests.

It was during the first phase of the project (from 1995 to 1999) that many instances of the police opening fire on the tribal people were reported (see table). Adivasis were attacked in Dainala in the Gurungpur forest division of Khandwa district and in Katukia village in the Bagli forest division of Dewas district. In Mandla and Dindori, huts and crops were destroyed and Adivasis were beaten and jailed. In Hoshangabad district, a tribal girl was allegedly raped by a Ranger.

Thousands of acres of 'newad' land traditionally cultivated by the tribal people, were alienated. Adivasis had no title to these lands because of the problems of land settlement and the failure to convert forest villages to revenue lands.

Organisations such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the Kisan Adivasi Sang-hatana, the Shramik Adivasi Sanghatana, the Adivasi Mukti Sanghatana, the Adivasi Morcha Sanghatana, the Shramik Mukti Sanghatana and the Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangh launched a joint struggle against the forestry project. In the face of popular protests, the World Bank cancelled the second tranche of the loan.

The Madhya Pradesh government and the World Bank are expected to make another attempt to tap the enormous forest resources of the State. According to informed sources, the State government is discussing with the World Bank and other funding agencies the possibility of reviving the MPFP, with a new face. Anurag Modi of the Shramik Adivasi Sanghatana says: "The Joint Forestry Management Programme has a bad name now and the Bank may not want to be associated with it. So it is possible that the funds will now come for a Community Forestry and Poverty Alleviation Programme." It is believed that the Bank is willing to renew the project, provided the State government formulated a new forest policy. The government has indeed drawn up a modified forest policy without a public debate on the matter. It is feared that the modifications will drastically affect the interests of the Adivasis. The right to collect forest produce ('nistar') has been curbed further. Under the modified policy, people living in villages that are more than 5 km from the forest have to collect produce from the Forest Department's depot and not directly from the forest. Since there is a concerted effort to move villages further away from forests, the new policy direction will make the forests out of bounds for all tribal villages. This will not only alienate tribal people from forests but also increase the possibility of their exploitation by Forest Department officials.

For a variety of reasons, the Forest Department is eager to implement the MPFP. Anurag Modi says: "The fund flow mechanism for the project is very attractive since funds go directly to the executing authority, that is, the Divisional Forest Officers and the Conservators of Forests." Equally attractive are the Van Suraksha Samitis (forest protection committees) that were formed under the Project. The Samitis allegedly plunder forest wealth. Sunil says that most of the functionaries of the Samitis are in the timber business. The government's keenness to implement the Project is evident from the fact that Chief Minister Digvijay Singh has invited the Chief Ministers of all States to a meeting on June 5 and 6 to discuss the issue of amending the Forest Conservation Act, 1988. According to him, the Act is a hindrance to development.

It is feared that the Madhya Pradesh Special Area Securities Act, which was enacted recently by the State government with the stated objective of fighting naxalites, will become one more tool in the hands of the government to act against organisations opposing its policies. The Act is awaiting presidential approval. Anurag Modi says: "The government is worried that the Adivasis are organised and are preventing the misuse of the forests. They realise that if they hit out at organisations like ours, they will be able to divide the movement and push the second phase of the Project through."

Says Sunil: "The government is so keen on those World Bank funds that were stopped owing to popular protest that it will go to any length to restart the Project. It was a Rs.800-crore project and Rs.250 crores has been spent in the first phase. On the one hand they speak of protecting forests. On the other, they destroy 50,000 hectares of forest for the Narmada dams and denotify large tracts of forest under the guise of development. The slogans of Joint Forest Management and people's participation in forest welfare have been exposed as farcical and as being a cover for governmental corruption."