On 13the February ,The Supreme Court of India had directed at least 16 states to evict traditional forest and tribal dwellers whose claims over the forest land have been rejected by authorities.
The Supreme Court of India directed the state governments to evict more than 1 million adivasi families, claiming the forestland under the FRA( Forest Rights Act), before 27 July, 2019.
Tribal and Dalit rights organisation have called for a Bharat Bandh on Tuesday, protesting against the 13th February order by The Supreme Court of India.
Although the apex court put a stay on its order after a petition was filed by the Centre on 27 February. Rights groups have the demand that the government issue an ordinance to ensure that the rights of the marginalised communities are protected.
The government was previously accused of being lax by activists regarding the hearing of petitions challenging the Forest Rights Act.
Supreme Court stays its Feb 13 order, directing several states to evict forest dwellers whose claims over traditional forestland have been rejected under law. SC asks states to submit details of the process adopted to assess the claims. Next date of hearing is July 10. pic.twitter.com/WonR3gof86
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2019
Adivasi and tribal groups across the states have called upon the support of political and social activists and to join them in their march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar, Delhi as part of the bandh on Tuesday.
The aim is to highlight the issue of restoring the Forest Rights Act.They are also have the demand for an ordinance to be passed to ensure fair representation in UGC(University Grants Commission) faculty posts.
The Supreme Court, previously had upheld an Allahabad High Court order over reservation of SC/STs in the appointment of faculty members in universities.
Also they are demanding the Centre to establish the Indian Judicial Services under Article 312 of the Constitution, which will provide for inclusion of SCs, STs, OBCs, other minorities, and women in recruitment processes in higher judiciary posts.
The Centre had rushed to the top court for a modification of the order saying the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 was a “beneficial” legislation and should be construed liberally to help “extremely poor and illiterate people” who are not well informed of their rights and procedure under the law.
On 28 February, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra, Naveen Sinha and MR Shah stayed the eviction order and further directed the state governments to file affidavits citing the details of the process adopted in rejection of the claims by the Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDSTs) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs).
States to also inform Supreme Court about the procedure followed for determining the forest rights as well as whether the state level monitoring committees actually monitored the process or not. https://t.co/i2En40TUaC
— ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2019