Editorial
Amendment of Forest Act
Address indigenous people's concerns
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed apprehension over the issue of the protection of the rights of indigenous communities under the Forest Act, 1927, currently being amended. Previously, indigenous groups voiced their concern over the fact that, being direct stakeholders of the process, neither they nor their leaders in the CHT Regional Council or Hill Districts Council have been consulted with regard to the proposed amendments. This directly contradicts the principle of "free, prior and informed consent" of indigenous peoples regarding potential development projects or other activities carried out on their lands, under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The indigenous people are, in fact, custodians of the forests, having inherited age-old knowledge about caring for the forests from their ancestors. However, they have been treated with neglect at best and, at the extreme, been subjected to violence when protesting the grabbing and destruction of their land. The Modhupur protests are a stark reminder of how far both sides -- the authorities and the indigenous groups -- are prepared to go.
The authorities, including the Forest Department, have often faced allegations of destroying the land with plantations such as eucalyptus monoculture and tobacco cultivation and the proposed establishment of eco-parks, under the pretext of protecting the forest and environment. The authorities must understand that no plantation, reserve forest or eco-park is worth the social, cultural and environmental cost of uprooting the indigenous people from their land and destroying their homes of generations. We urge the government -- under whom the CHT Accord of 1997 was signed to ensure and protect the rights of our indigenous people -- to keep this in mind and to include them in the decision-making process that will affect their survival.
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