Police raid Indigenous settlement inside tiger reserve

© Survival

Forest Division officers break down the shelters of Jenu Kuruba individuals who had reclaimed their outdated village inside Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

This morning greater than 250 forest guards, tiger drive members and police raided Karadikallu Atturu Kolli village, the settlement at Nagarhole Tiger Reserve which Jenu Kuruba individuals reclaimed on 5 Could. It’s believed to be the primary time Indigenous individuals in India asserted their rights to return en masse to their properties after being evicted from a Protected Space.

To this point, the safety forces have torn down seven forest shelters the place girls, youngsters and older individuals have been staying. 

“They’re forcing individuals to destroy their very own properties on their very own lands. This can be a grave violation of human rights in addition to the rights assured below the Forest Rights Act (2006),” mentioned a supply from contained in the village.

The Jenu Kuruba had been violently evicted from Nagarhole greater than 40 years in the past to make manner for a tiger reserve. They’ve returned to claim their claims to their ancestral villages in accordance with the Forest Rights Act (2006). The Jenu Kuruba had lived alongside and worshipped tigers for numerous generations.

“It’s outrageous that the Jenu Kuruba are being thrown out of their residence as soon as once more. The authorities should cease this persecution of the Jenu Kuruba, who’re simply attempting to stay in peace on their very own land,” mentioned Caroline Pearce, director of Survival Worldwide. “As we’ve seen again and again, conservation – on this case a Tiger Reserve – is getting used as a pretext to violate Indigenous rights. It’s time to cease this abusive and colonial mannequin of fortress conservation.”

Please get in contact in the event you want updates or interviews with our researchers. We are able to additionally put you in contact with individuals on the bottom in Nagarhole. Picture above is from this morning’s motion. (Credit score: Particular association.) 

This can be a growing story. Members of the neighborhood are asking journalists and different observers to come back to the scene to witness the motion and probably forestall using violence. Additionally, they ask that involved people name these authorities officers to assist cease the invasion. 

A.S. Ponnanna, member of the Legislative Meeting
+ 91 9845006241 (WhatsApp)
Shri Seema PA
Deputy Conservator of Forests & Director, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, Forest Campus, Hunsur 
+91 8222252041
[email protected]
Venkat Raja
District Deputy Commissioner, District Justice of the Peace
+91 8272225500
[email protected]