Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh is notorious for frequent dispossession of tribal communities- who, along with Scheduled Castes, make up 40% of its population. Since 2004, the district Administration along with the Forest Department of Government of UP have been conducting Land Reclamation procedures. Land reclamation refers to a process where there is forceful clearing of forestland, which historically and customarily belonged to the community. District Administration in collusion with revenue and land Department and influential individuals have been manufacturing land records over common land in the latter’s favour in Sonbhadra.
In 2004, the women of Darma village tilled some 200 hectares overnight to claim their land. Darma is in the foothills of the Vindhyas, near Kaimur, a village of tribals. Over the years, people have reclaimed more than 8,000 hectares of forestland in Kaimur region under the banner of Kaimur Kshetra Mahila Mazdoor Kisaan Sangharsh Samiti. They challenge the historical injustice of land distribution and the control of land mafia on large tracts of forestland in the region. In 2006, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, (Recognition of Forest rights) was passed which ensures land rights of traditional forest-dwellers on disputed forestland. All India Union of Forest Working People is spearheading the tribals cause using the slogan "Jo zameen sarkari hai, woh zameen hamari hai".
Many women have become the strong voices of the struggle. Women like Lalti Devi Paswan and Shoba Bharti have been fighting for land rights under the Forest Rights act. For this, on several occasions, they have been jailed. This is also evident in Kaimur region of the Sonbhadra district. In 2011, the tribal community members of Kaimur protested against the Forest department funded by Japan based company JICA's Plantation drive. "The JICA project is being imposed to obstruct the implementation of FRA, that gives community land rights to forest people", according to Roma Malik from All India union of Forest working people, .
In 2011, a Plantation drive was started by women to assert their community rights over forest. A massive rally was taken out by tribal women on 4th July 2011 to assert their community rights over forest. Dressed in Red and green sarees each one of them had brought sapling, while they traveled to Robertsganj, head quarter of Sonbhadra District, to plant the sampling outside the office of Depute district Collector. The plantation was done with lot of enthusiasm, as a festival with beautiful songs sung by women. The message behind the protest was that forest people will reassert their rights over forest and will not allow any company, Forest department and others to take over their forest. Women have also challenged the State that if their community rights are not recognized than they will themselves draw maps and identify their boundaries of forest land to take over the possession from Forest Department.
In July 2019, the historical and continued non-recognition of customary tribal rights in common lands led to 10 Gond tribals being killed and 28 injured by the village pradhan, Yagya Dutt, and his associates of the upper case Gujjar community. The land in dispute was of about 130 bighas in Umbha village where the Gond community had been cultivating the lands for multiple generations but with no legal title. However, since 1955, the ownership of the land has been recorded on paper in favour of the local district magistrate, then to a shell company Adarsh Cooperative Society and then back to a local officer. According to a report, the relevant revenue records were recorded under the name of Yagya Dutt in 2017 after ostensibly purchasing the land from an IAS officer who owned the land. The sale transaction is claimed to be illegal by the Gond tribals who have filed a civil case. The massacre was reportedly planned, as over two dozen armed people were specially brought in from Jharkhand and Bihar to take possession of the land. As of now, the charge sheet for the killings has been filed on October 14, 2019 and names Dutt and his associates as accused. Despite nationwide attention to these murders, no effort has been made to recognize traditional land rights of tribal.
Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Demand for legal recognition of land rights
Other Demand/Contention of the Affected Community
Dispossession of land
Region Classification
Rural
Type of Land
Common
Forest and Non-Forest, Non-Forest (Grazing Land)
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Details of sources (names of accused, names and numbers of any lawyers, names of any police officers contacted)
Status of Project
Original Project Deadline
Whether the Project has been Delayed
Significance of Land to Land Owners/Users
Whether the project was stalled due to land conflict
Source/Reference
Total investment involved (in Crores):
₹
Type of investment:
Year of Estimation
Has the Conflict Ended?
When did it end?
Why did the conflict end?
Categories of Legislations Involved in the Conflict
Legislations/Policies Involved
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Whether claims/objections were made as per procedure in the relevant statute
What was the claim(s)/objection(s) raised by the community?
What was the Decision of the Concerned Government Department?
Legal Processes and Loopholes Enabling the Conflict:
Non-implementation/violation of FRA
Forced evictions/dispossession of land
Legal Status:
In Court
Status of Case In Court
Disposed
Whether any adjudicatory body was approached
Name of the adjudicatory body
Name(s) of the Court(s)
Allahabad High Court
Case Number
WRIT - C No. - 28242 of 2006
Main Reasoning/Decision of court
Major Human Rights Violations Related to the Conflict:
Killing
Torture
Sexual violence/sexual harassment
Arrest/detention/imprisonment
Blackmail/threats/intimidation
Whether criminal law was used against protestors:
Reported Details of the Violation:
In July 2019, 10 members of Gond Community were murdered by village Pradhan
Date of Violation
July 16, 2019
Location of Violation
Government Departments Involved in the Conflict:
District Administration of Sonbhadra, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department, Government of UP
PSUs Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Government Authorities for Comments?
Name, Designation and Comment of the Government Authorities Approached
Corporate Parties Involved in the Conflict:
Did LCW Approach Corporate Parties for Comments?
Communities/Local Organisations in the Conflict:
Tribals
What was the action taken by the police?
How many people did the police detain or arrest?
What is the current status of the detained/accused persons?
Did the person face any violence while in police custody?
If any arrests took place, were the accused persons produced before a judge within 24 hours of the arrest?
If the accused was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, or not produced at all, what were the reasons?
Legislation under which the accused was charged
Was the accused person informed of their right to legal representation? Did the accused person have access to legal aid?
In cases where the accused person approached the court for bail, was bail granted?
Why was bail granted or rejected? If granted, what were the bail conditions and quantum of bail?
Were there any other notable irregularities that took place, or other significant details?
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