Honey-gathering tribe protest against eviction from Indian tiger reserve
Thomson Reuters Foundation A group of Indigenous people – known for gathering honey – are protesting against their eviction from an Indian tiger reserve, a flashpoint in an ongoing legal battle that has pitted wildlife conservationists against land rights groups across the country. The Jenu Kuruba tribe, which traditionally gathers honey and other forest produce, […]
Kashmir to enact India’s forest rights law 14 years on, in boost for nomads
Thomson Reuters Foundation Authorities in India’s Jammu and Kashmir will implement a law to grant land rights to forest dwelling communities 14 years after the legislation was enacted nationwide, a long-awaited move that may better protect nomadic tribes, human rights activists said. The Forest Rights Act of 2006 aimed to recognise the rights of at […]
India drops plan to let forest officials use force after protests
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation India has dropped plans to give forest officials the right to use force against Indigenous people and open up more land for commercial plantations after nationwide protests. Proposed amendments to a century-old Indian Forest Act aimed to give officials the power to arrest and shoot at encroachers and earmark more land […]
As legal fight over forest rights drags, millions more risk eviction
Udaipur, IndiaThomson Reuters Foundation Millions of Indigenous people face eviction in India after states stopped processing new land claims under a law that is being challenged in the country’s highest court, land and human rights advocates warned on Friday. Earlier this year, India’s Supreme Court stayed its ruling that ordered the eviction of millions of […]
Explainer – India’s top court to rule on eviction of millions from forests
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation India’s top court on Wednesday resumes hearing a case against millions of forest dwellers and indigenous people who face eviction under a federal law that conservationists say hurts wildlife and causes deforestation. The Supreme Court issued an order in February to remove forest-dwellers in 21 states where nearly two million land […]
Court battles underline complexity of India’s myriad land laws
BangkokThomson Reuters Foundation Recent court rulings have underlined the complexity of India’s numerous land laws, which have sparked conflicts and made it harder for poor farmers and indigenous people to access justice, analysts and lawyers said. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that indigenous people in Meghalaya state owned their land and its resources, and […]
INDIA: ENSLAVED FOR DECADES, INDIGENOUS PEOPLE FREED BY LAND TITLES
ANURADHA NAGARAJ, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
More than 11 million face eviction, displacement as India booms
Thomson Reuters Foundation At least 11 million people in India risk being uprooted from their homes and land as authorities build highways and airports and cordon off forests, activists said on Tuesday, undermining a government push to provide housing for all citizens by 2022. The estimate includes about 1.9 million indigenous families whose land claims […]
Government plea sees India’s top court halt eviction of millions of forest-dwellers
Thomson Reuters Foundation India’s Supreme Court on Thursday stayed its earlier ruling that had ordered the forced evictions of millions of indigenous people whose land claims were rejected, after the central government said states needed more time to examine claims. Earlier this month the Supreme Court issued an order to remove forest-dwellers in 21 states […]
India forest dwellers to fight mass eviction order with protests
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation India’s forest-dependent communities are to petition and protest against a court order to evict more than one million Indigenous people whose land claims were rejected, land rights campaigners said on Monday. Earlier this month, India’s Supreme Court asked officials in nearly two dozen states to submit details of claims that were […]