Brewing tension in Nagarhole as tribals allege eviction amid FRA dispute
A fresh controversy is brewing in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve as the Forest Department and tribals are engaged in a tense standoff over land rights, forced evictions, and the dispute over the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA).
The triggering point for the current standoff is the entry of about 150 tribals from the nearby villages into their ancestral land on Monday to assert their rights to the forests and the construction of the sacred altar for their deities.
But on Tuesday, the Forest Department officials, staff members, and the police reached the place and thwarted their attempts, which have escalated the simmering discontent among the tribals over their forcible eviction decades ago and the failure of the authorities to recognise their claims under the FRA despite providing documents.
The Jenukurub leaders from Karadikallu argued with the officials to point out that they have waited for three months after furnishing the documents, and it is the Forest Department that has exceeded the notice period within which the rights are to be settled.
Sources said that such attempts to forcibly enter the tiger reserve to assert rights would be perceived as encroachment as the claims are yet to be recognised.
However, the tribals argued that their constitutional rights are being ignored. 'The FRA does not grant new rights — it affirms our existing ones. This is our homeland,' said J.A. Shivu, president of the Karadikallu forest rights committee and leader of the Nagarhole Adivasi Jammapale Hakku Sthapana Samiti.
S. Sreekanth of Development through Education said the tribals were not constructing an RCC structure but an altar made of materials like wood, etc., to worship the deity. Hence, the Forest Department's action was condemnable as it amounted to hurting the religious sentiments of the tribals.
He said that despite the recent instruction of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during his visit to the hamlets in H.D. Kote that tribals should not be disturbed, the atrocities by the authorities continue unabated.
Activists have demanded a review of the tribals' claims rejected by the Forest Department and an early recognition of their rights. Mr. Sreekanth said that if the issue is allowed to escalate without a peaceful resolution, it would reflect badly on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, as his directives are being flouted by the officials.
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