The Centre should immediately pass an ordinance to counter the Supreme Court order that would see the eviction of over one million tribals from their traditional forests. The Tamil Nadu Government should file a review petition against the Supreme Court order, said P. Shanmugam, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam here on Tuesday.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Shanmugam said the order was a violation of the constitutional rights of tribals and others non-tribal communities dependent on the forests.
The Supreme Court, on February 13, ordered the States to evict tribals and other forest dwellers whose claims to forest lands were rejected under the Forest Rights Act. However, this order had been widely criticised by activists, who have pointed to the faults in the processing of the claims, and the failure of the appeals systems for rejected claims.
According to Mr. Shanmugam, the BJP Government at the Centre has overseen vast dispossession of lands of farmers during its tenure. Farm lands in the Delta and elsewhere were being lost to State led dispossession for the hydrocarbon project, 8 lane and 4 –lane highway projects and for high tension power line project. The coming elections will witness the demands of the farmers taking the foreground, Mr.Shanmugam said.
