BJP govt evicting tribals from their land, denying their rights: Cong

Bhopal: In a joint press conference, LOP Umang Singhar, former Union Minister Arun Yadav, and Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel stated that tribals in the state are being denied their rights to water, forests, and land by the BJP govt.
The Congress functionaries said that, in gross injustice, tribals are being evicted from their land and suppressed with false allegations. The Congress cautioned that if the rights of tribals are not enforced within 15 days, the party will start a mass movement against the BJP govt.
Calling the policies of the govt anti-tribal, the three senior leaders said that the BJP has deviated from the issues of development and is now engaging only in the politics of religion.
LOP Umang Singhar alleged that the govt is depriving tribals of their traditional rights. "The land leases of thousands of tribal families were cancelled without any prior notice. It is clear from this action of the govt that it wants to snatch the rights of the tribals to water, forest, and land," LOP Singhar said.
He also mentioned that in Madhya Pradesh, only five leases were given in Jhabua district so far, which shows that the govt's intention is not to give the tribals their rights but to drive them out of their homes and forests.
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The LOP said that tribals talk about water, forest, and land, but the community is being divided into religions. "Tribals worship nature. Our identity is not with religion but with land and forest. The BJP RSS is going from village to village and dividing us because when BJP talks, it talks only about religion," Singhar alleged. "If the govt does not accept the tribals' demands for lease within 15 days, then a fierce movement will be launched.
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Umang Singhar claimed that it was 17 years since the Forest Rights Act (2006) came into force, but the BJP govt has not yet given lakhs of tribal families their legal right to ownership of forest land. "More than eight lakh forest rights claims are still pending across the country. This shows that the govt failed miserably in the proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act 2006," Singhar said. He further argued that the Madhya Pradesh govt rejected more than 3 lakh claims out of 6.5 lakh forest rights claims made by tribals till 2024 without citing any clear reason.
Quoting the Forest Rights Rules 2007, the LOP said that Rule 12A (6) states that it is mandatory for the govt to give reasons in writing for rejecting a claim. The Forest Rights Rules, 2007; Rule 12A says, "In the event of rejection or modification of a claim, the reasons for the same must be told in writing in the local language to the person concerned."
The LOP alleged that due to the abundance of mineral wealth in the forests of Nepanagar, the govt wants to forcibly displace the tribals there, so that the way can be cleared for private companies.
"The govt is falsely accusing the tribals of cutting the trees, while the truth is that they are protecting the forests and planting trees there. There are some other elements that are harming the forests, which the govt is ignoring," Singhar argued.
Former Union Minister Arun Yadav said that the govt is removing tribals from the Nepanagar forests even though these tribals were engaged in forest protection. He accused that this is a trick of the govt because it wants to serve corporate interests by evicting the tribals from the forests. Giving the Mohan Yadav govt 15 days, the Congress leaders made it clear that if within this period the tribal society members do not get their rights back, then the Congress party will start a mass movement, and the fight for the rights of the tribals will be fought from the streets to the state assembly.

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