JAMMU, Aug 13: The All India Adivasi Congress on Thursday accused the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration of neglecting the identity and constitutional rights of Adivasis and vowed to intensify its fight for their rights, including protection of Jal, Jungle and Zameen.
AICC National Coordinator Ritu Meena said attempts to describe Adivasis as “Vanvasi” amounted to an assault on their identity and alleged that such efforts were aimed at depriving the community of its basic rights.
“BJP and its Centre-led government are ignoring the basic rights and identity of Adivasis. Attempts to call Adivasis ‘Vanvasis’ are a serious assault on their identity,” Meena told reporters in Jammu.
Meena, who was accompanied by JKPCC Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma and former minister Shabir Ahmed Khan, also criticised the BJP leadership for allegedly not extending greetings to the Adivasi community on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9.
She said the Congress was committed to safeguarding the constitutional rights of Adivasis, promoting development in tribal areas and ensuring better education and employment opportunities for tribal youth.
The Congress leader also raised concerns over the implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006, in Jammu and Kashmir. Citing figures from a recent Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs report, she claimed that out of 46,242 claims filed under the FRA in J&K, 39,898 had been rejected while only 6,172 were approved.
Meena demanded that the FRA be implemented in “letter and spirit” and that all eligible tribal families be granted their forest rights without further delay.
She also accused the Centre and the UT administration of neglecting tribal-dominated areas, particularly Rajouri and Poonch, in terms of road and railway connectivity, healthcare, education, infrastructure and employment opportunities.
Former minister Shabir Ahmed Khan alleged that hundreds of tribals and other forest dwellers had been displaced from forest land they had traditionally occupied and used since August 2019.
He demanded reconsideration of rejected FRA claims in accordance with the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on Tribal Affairs.
Khan further said that proper implementation of the FRA over the past several years could have prevented the need for repeated directions regarding tribal forest rights in J&K.
JKPCC Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma also condemned an alleged incident in Haldwani in which a right-wing outfit reportedly conducted a “purification” ritual using Ganga water at a venue where Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had addressed a rally.
Sharma termed the incident “shameful and condemnable”, saying such acts reflected a regressive mindset and were contrary to constitutional values.
Choudhary Hussain Ali Waffa also accused the BJP-led Centre and the UT administration of neglecting the rights and developmental needs of tribal Gujjar and Bakerwal communities.
The Congress leaders called for a special development plan for tribal-inhabited areas, with a focus on connectivity, healthcare, education and employment generation.
They also urged the Centre to expedite the Jammu-Akhnoor-Sunderbani-Nowshera-Poonch railway project, which they claimed had remained pending for more than 12 years.
