Now lets finally get to the real stuff.
Originally when the British colonizers came to India, they thirsted insatiably for wood and teak – for shipbuilding, housing construction, etc. Among the reasons for colonization like spices or cotton or indigo, wood is much lesser known one (this was surprising to me)! So they established the Forest Department to regulate the forest industry so they could ransack the forests of the indigenous people for commercial use. In 1960, the Indian government took over the Forest Department after Independence. In 1860, about half of India was forestland. Now after the global demand for resources and India’s “development”, only 9.8% of India is called forestland, out of which 60% is cultivated land and not the jungles we think of when we think of “forest”. But farmers who have been cultivating agriculture for generations now have to pay the forest department in illegal taxes to use that land because it is wrongly labeled forest land when it is actually agricultural land.
So let’s talk about the conference. The conference at Banjaar was on addressing land displacement. The conference brought together activists from all over India engaged in land displacement struggles in various parts of the country. Some were middle /upper class people who joined the cause, others were individuals whose entire lives had been personally affected by displacement or the threat of displacement. We met a scholar astute in energy policy who vehemently opposes India’s investment in nuclear energy. I talked with an activist/doctor from South India, another from the Sonbhadra area where I am going now and will elaborate more. Many worked against nuclear plants, coal companies, thermal plants, cement corporations encroaching on their land etc.
For some very basic background info:
The entire legalization of property was a concept alien to tribal communities. Though they relatively designated that Aashna’s land ends here and your land starts there, the idea of someone owning a piece of land through legal documentation wasn’t fathomed, because honestly how can a human “own” a piece of the natural world? The conference talked about the Commons, where communities whose livelihoods revolve around natural resources and forests for shelter and food have this space available for all. The transition of land from Commons to commoditized property by privatization disempowers a huge majority of the rural community. In the name of development, the government uses the ancient Land Acquisition Act, passed during British rule, based in imminent domain to usurp tribal land and hand it over to private companies. The people who have inhabited the land for generations and depend upon it for their livelihoods don’t receive adequate compensation or proper rehabilitation. There has been some effort to address this cause through the Forest Rights Act. However, there are still numerous problems at the core of the crisis hasn’t been addressed nor is the implementation adequate.
The introduction to the conference written by the Programme for Social Action based in Delhi stated, “The Forest Rights Act passed in 2006, though came late, is part of this process of recognition. Communities across India have been resisting against “land grab”, private control over Commons, and forest peoples are relentlessly fighting for the implementation of FRA. While the thirst of capital for minerals and fossil-fuels magnifies, so does the resistance to protect these vast tracts of land that are under forest cover and inhabited traditionally by adivasis and other forest dwellers dependent largely on forest produce”.
Interestingly, fisherman call for regulation of the fishing industry, those who use forest resources want to regulate jungle traffic. Why? Because overfishing and overgrazing –
any depletion of the resource that is fundamental to their own existence only hurts them, and they obviously know this. Certain tribal knowledge, wisdom of the natural world that has been accumulated and perfected for centuries, is deemed useless by the capitalist profit maximization by the modern world. Whereas the Brits were able to extract every last ounce of a resource of a coastal community and then move on, surpassing villages, districts, even nations, the locals didn’t have that luxury. The same situation occurs now –globalization is not a recent phenomenon… international corporatism is the second wave of Western colonialism.
Now for something interesting:
An thought-provoking story about tigers demonstrates the need to pay attention to local, native knowledge. Forest officials want to create distinct tiger sanctuaries, forcing humans to move outside of tiger areas to their own colonies. However, there is a deep sense of coexistence and symbiosis between the two. Those who are willing to listen to what the indigenous community says will understand that without humans, the tiger will starve to death. Why? Tigers have a horrendous sense of direction. They can’t locate watering holes by themselves, so instead they follow human footsteps. The tiger will follow a shepherd and his sheep to the watering hole, keeping a safe distance behind them. Why isn’t the shepherd shit scared? A freakin Shere Khan whose hungry and thirsty is lurking in the shadows. Because the man knows that the tiger will not attack him. If he was in a field, then he and his sheep might be in mortal danger. But the tiger’s survival depends on his human comrade so he won’t charge. The friend who told me this warned me not to romanticize the tale. Yeah its kinda beautiful, but he’s right. It’s a simple, obvious fact of life that those in power don’t give a damn about.
Anyways, I’m writing this as fast as I can! We are on our way to the train station for an overnight train to Sonbhadra! They’re yelling! Gotta go…
