Coimabtore: As many as 23 families of Kallar-Kadar tribal community who were evicted from their settlement, Theppakulamedu, inside Anamalai Tiger Reserve August last year continue to stay in dilapidated quarters of the Thaimudi tea estate near Valparai.
Coimabtore: As many as 23 families of Kallar-Kadar tribal community who were evicted from their settlement, Theppakulamedu, inside Anamalai Tiger Reserve August last year continue to stay in dilapidated quarters of the Thaimudi tea estate near Valparai. Around 90 members of the ethnic tribe are staying in the old quarters of a tea estate at Thaimudi near Valparai since they were evicted from Anamalai Tiger Reserve on August 20. Their huts inside the reserve, around 25 km away from Valparai town, were damaged in heavy rain and landslides in August. Though they made huts at a new location, the Forest Department removed them with the help of police, forcing the residents to stay outside the forest at Thaimudi.
The Kallar-Kadars allege that sheer apathy from the side of the Forest Department has left them stranded outside the forest though they have the right to stay in their traditional dwellings. The families are yet to come to terms with the stay in the quarters. They also say no officials visit them or check their condition at the current dwellings. The residents continue to stay in the old quarters as they do not know how to get back to their forest settlement. The Forest Department should allow them to live in their settlement and accord them due rights, the tribals request. They say they have petitioned the District Collector, Valparai Tahsildar, and Revenue Department officials many times. They lament that despite these petitions, no action has been taken so far due to the lethargic attitude of the Forest Department. Following this, the Kallar-Kadar tribals have been visiting the Manampalli Forest Range and conducting protests in a peaceful manner.
SimpliCity spoke to a few tribals who exclaimed that how could they be refused their constitutional rights. They lament that the way they are treated is in stark contrast to the legal rights bestowed upon them by the Indian constitution.
The tribals said, "We are treated like slaves. The officials at Anamalai Tiger Reserve are on a mission to destroy our tradition, language, and culture. They have arrested our growth. They subject us to inexplicable suffering in the name of inspections. We were relocated when there was a natural calamity last year. We appreciate that, but we want to return to our roots. It is a pressing need. We have let the Forest Department know many times that we need to return to our homeland, but to no avail. Based on Forest Rights Act 2016, We passed a resolution in our village council and sent it to the government, but the Assistant Director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve has not examined our petition at all and continues to remain as a stumbling block."
They added, "The District Collector, the Sub-Collector, Revenue Department officials, police, political parties and tribal welfare movements are all cooperating and supporting us, only the Forest Department is at odds. We are stranded at Thaimudi for more than a year. What is rightfully ours is being denied to us. Isn't our land our right? Therefore, the forest department should rehabilitate our traditional residential area of Theppakulamedu and give it back to us so that we can live and cultivate there."
Even as we celebrate the 74th Independence day, our indigenous tribes have their homelands ravaged by relocation, illegal deforestation, industrial farming, mining, and unlawful occupation of their ancestral territories. The stark reality is that the tribes are waging a peaceful war for independence with the Forest Department and the Government.
The Kallar-Kadars allege that sheer apathy from the side of the Forest Department has left them stranded outside the forest though they have the right to stay in their traditional dwellings. The families are yet to come to terms with the stay in the quarters. They also say no officials visit them or check their condition at the current dwellings. The residents continue to stay in the old quarters as they do not know how to get back to their forest settlement. The Forest Department should allow them to live in their settlement and accord them due rights, the tribals request. They say they have petitioned the District Collector, Valparai Tahsildar, and Revenue Department officials many times. They lament that despite these petitions, no action has been taken so far due to the lethargic attitude of the Forest Department. Following this, the Kallar-Kadar tribals have been visiting the Manampalli Forest Range and conducting protests in a peaceful manner.
SimpliCity spoke to a few tribals who exclaimed that how could they be refused their constitutional rights. They lament that the way they are treated is in stark contrast to the legal rights bestowed upon them by the Indian constitution.
The tribals said, "We are treated like slaves. The officials at Anamalai Tiger Reserve are on a mission to destroy our tradition, language, and culture. They have arrested our growth. They subject us to inexplicable suffering in the name of inspections. We were relocated when there was a natural calamity last year. We appreciate that, but we want to return to our roots. It is a pressing need. We have let the Forest Department know many times that we need to return to our homeland, but to no avail. Based on Forest Rights Act 2016, We passed a resolution in our village council and sent it to the government, but the Assistant Director of Anamalai Tiger Reserve has not examined our petition at all and continues to remain as a stumbling block."
They added, "The District Collector, the Sub-Collector, Revenue Department officials, police, political parties and tribal welfare movements are all cooperating and supporting us, only the Forest Department is at odds. We are stranded at Thaimudi for more than a year. What is rightfully ours is being denied to us. Isn't our land our right? Therefore, the forest department should rehabilitate our traditional residential area of Theppakulamedu and give it back to us so that we can live and cultivate there."
Even as we celebrate the 74th Independence day, our indigenous tribes have their homelands ravaged by relocation, illegal deforestation, industrial farming, mining, and unlawful occupation of their ancestral territories. The stark reality is that the tribes are waging a peaceful war for independence with the Forest Department and the Government.