Bill in making, battle for land begins in UP tiger reserve

‘‘Our villages don’t exist on India’s map. We don’t even have ration cards. Why should we respect IPC or CrPC? We are not tribals but we must have land and other rights and revenue village status. We have no fight with the forest staff but if they come in our way, they will pay for it. We know a bill is being passed by Parliament and we won’t let anyone deprive us anymore,’’ warns VGAM activist Md Fayam Ansari of Bichhiya Bazaar.

Forest officials are feeling the heat. In just one month, there have been several clashes, department facilities have been burnt down and both sides lodged police complaints against each other. Boycotted at the local market, forest staff have to travel 30 km for daily vegetables.

‘‘Instigated by outsiders, these villagers abducted and severely injured some of our staff. Hoping for a blanket regularisation, they are trying to encroach on land,’’ says Nishangara range officer CKP Chaudhury. ‘‘They have 50,000 livestock and want our grasslands for grazing. They even killed one leopard while we could rescue another. Since the police and the district administration are sitting on our FIRs, our ground staff feel insecure.’’

Officials at Sujauli police station explain that ‘‘investigation is on and such cases take time.’’ Bahraich District Magistrate S L Pandey says the problem is “part of a national issue.” ‘‘We can tell the police to expedite investigation. We can also offer protection to the forest staff if they request,’’ he says.

The ruling Samajwadi Party, too, has something at stake here. While Nanpara’s ex-MLA Devta Deen, who lost the seat to the BJP, is backing the VGAM, state Labour Minister Waqar Ahmed Shah has promised the villagers prompt action including withdrawal of cases and transfer of forest officials.

Sitting at his Bahraich residence, Shah denies any political motive: ‘‘I am all for conservation but I must also listen to the people. The corrupt forest officials are working beyond their powers and they mismanaged the whole thing. The state government has no powers to give revenue village status to these settlements but we are trying to allot them ration cards etc.’’

While most of these forest villages were set up in the last century when the department moved labourers for forestry work, Bichhiya Bazaar came up in the mid-’60s as a local market. Together, these villages now have about 9,000 people. There are also ‘‘encroachers’’ who were asked to settle on the forest land by the district administration after the devastating floods in the mid-’70s.

While the VGAM was set up to seek land rights, its demand for transfer of Divisional Field Officer (DFO) R K Pandey and the range officers has raised other issues as well. ‘‘The DFO joined here last year and the new rangers came soon after. They conducted three crucial raids on timber and poaching mafia. About a dozen people were convicted. Obviously, it suits these mafia if the VGAM weakens the forest department,’’ argues Dabeer Hasan, one of the few locals who oppose the movement.

VGAM activist Kadam Rasool agrees that DFO Pandey has weakened the mafia but questions his methods: ‘‘If you stop all activities inside the forest, you will surely get some results. But his (DFO’s) restrictions have made life tough for us.’’ Adds Maya Ram of Bhawanipore village: ‘‘Many of his subordinates are corrupt and keep harassing us for money.’’

DFO Pandey denies the charges but agrees that the living conditions in the forest villages are pathetic. ‘‘These people really need development which is not possible in forest villages. But violence is no solution. There is also a government-run seed farm inside the sanctuary which holds 3,200 hectares and the issue of removing it is pending before the high court. So I chalked out plans for relocation of the farm and these villages. Before we heard from the government on the proposal, this misguided movement came up,’’ he says.

Many forest villagers here don’t rule out the option of relocation ‘‘if the deal is good.’’

But those at Bichchiya Bazaar insist that they be given land rights where they stay.

Explains Dr Jitendra Chaturvedi of the Bahraich-based Developmental Association for Human Advancement (DEHAT), an NGO that “guides” the VGAM: ‘‘While other villagers have agricultural land, those at Bichchiya Bazaar are small shopkeepers. They are not sure if they will have business at a new location.’’

Is he worried that the movement has taken a violent turn? ‘‘They have waited far too long,’’ justifies Chaturvedi, ‘‘They can’t compromise their rights anymore.’’