Sunday, Feb 16, 2003
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Kerala
By P. Venugopal
It is more than a month since an ecologically very sensitive part of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary was taken over by activists of the Adivasi Gothra Sabha. ``Do you propose to do anything about this encroachment? Will the Government enforce the laws of the land there?'' he was asked at the press conference. Mr. Antony immediately got up from his seat and rushed for the door. This appears to be one issue he wants to duck. Just over a year ago, when the Adivasis pitched huts around the State Secretariat and went on a prolonged agitation demanding action to restore the land usurped from them by their `civilised' brethren, he called them for talks and promised them five acres of land per family. There was great celebration at that time. The Adivasis, overwhelmed by Mr. Antony's generosity, forgot all about their alienated land. Those who had tricked them off their land to raise flourishing plantations on the hills too breathed a sigh of relief. The threat of the 1975 State legislation for taking over the Adivasi land from the usurpers vanished overnight. The legislation had remained a meaningless one all these years due to the reluctance of the successive Governments to enforce it because of social and political implications. It had been, nevertheless, a potential threat to thousands of resourceful hill settlers who had driven the tribals from their ancestral land. More than a year after Mr. Antony had given them his promise, a large majority of the tribals are still without land. Forest areas having reserved status were earmarked to be distributed to the tribals. Flouting conservation laws, a few hundreds of the tribals were allotted forest land in Marayur and Kanthallur on January 1, 2002, when the Adivasi Land Distribution Programme was launched with great fanfare. Thousands of acres of forest land in Mathikettan, a pristine shola forest, was grabbed by land sharks in the free-for-all that followed. During the ensuing controversy, it slowly dawned upon the Government that the conservation laws and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest could not be totally sidestepped in carrying out its agenda. The land in possession of various Government departments cannot be used for the Adivasi Land Distribution Programme since every department has objection to surrendering its land for such a cause. For instance, in Vagamon, where the Government possesses over 1,000 acres of land, the Tourism Department has big plans for eco-tourism. Extensive tracts of estates with the Agriculture Department too cannot be given to the tribals since that department is unwilling to do the sacrifice. Mr. Antony seems to see the forests as the most convenient tool to get over the Adivasi land issue. Did not the Government promise them land more than a year ago? Can it blame them if they take over the forests now? Will not the Union Environment Ministry take a sympathetic stand when it is told of the seriousness of the issue, especially since it concerns the poor tribals? This, apparently, is the optimistic logic behind Mr. Antony's inaction over the forest encroachments. Create the right situation and then plead with the Centre. The wildlife warden of Wayanad had been sending reports on a daily basis to the Government, seeking permission to evict the encroachers. In his latest letter, he speaks of the situation getting from bad to worse, the encroachers stocking explosives in their tents and killing the animals.
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