The Forest Rights Act

The government "deliberates": should it uphold the law or be a hired gunman?

Vedanta vs the Law: Does the Government Believe in the Rule of Law or the Rule of Looting?

Three months ago, the Prime Minister declared that the Forest Rights Act is a “landmark legislation”. Home Minister P Chidambaram repeats ad nauseam that he is deploying lakhs of troops to adivasi areas in the name of the “rule of law.” But today, their government is “deliberating” over whether it should uphold the law, or forget its constitutional duties and act as a hired gunman. The government of Orissa (see below) has already twisted the facts to justify brazen illegality. Will the Central Ministry of Tribal Affairs follow?

Vedanta Resources Ltd wants to mine the Niyamgiri mountain in Lanjigarh, Orissa. The mountain is a sacred part of the traditional habitat of the Dongria Kondh community, an impoverished adivasi community who worships the mountain and depend on it for their water supply, for minor forest produce and for the fertility of their lands. The Dongria Kondhs also have rights to the mountain under sections 3(1)(c), 3(1)(e), 3(1)(i) and 3(1)(l) of the Forest Rights Act. Under that law, their consent is also required before the forest land can be used for any other purpose.

A report by an Environment Ministry committee is clear – mining the mountain will violate the Forest Rights Act and “threaten the existence as a tribe” of the Dongria Kondh. The Orissa government is also clear; never mind the law, no claim forms have been filled, so we can destroy the mountain. It also says that no one lives on the mountain, so no one's rights will be affected.

• Did the government inform the adivasis of the Act? No.
• Did it distribute forms for community rights and follow the procedures for inviting claims? No.
• Did it notice that no one lives on the mountain precisely because the Dongria Kondhs protect the mountain for water, food and as part of their faith? No.
• Did it implement the parts of the Act that deal not only with where people live, but with their rights over the forest they depend on? No.

When it Is well known from history books and many reports that the Dongria Kondhs have rights, it is the government's duty to ensure that those rights are recognised, not to come up with excuses for ignoring them. Moreover, has the Orissa government taken the consent of the people?

This is a test case. Reports now say that the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has been asked whether the Forest Rights Act has been implemented in the area. If Vedanta is given clearance now, it will prove yet again that this government cares nothing for the rule of law – and all the tall talk about justice, human rights and democracy is just a fig leaf for rapacious robbery.