Aspects of India´s Economy / By Sudha Bharadwaj
The following is a note on the work and experiences of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (Mazdoor Karyakarta Committee), Labour Camp Jamul, district Durg, Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh has a population of about 20 million, with significant proportions of tribal and dalit communities (32 and 12 per cent, respectively). Of the area of 135,000 sq. km., 45 per cent is forest land.
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Scroll.in / By Anand Teltumbde
The actions of the police and the media during the April 2 bandh against changes in the Atrocity Act demonstrates that prejudice runs deep.
On April 2, in an unprecedented show of solidarity, Dalits across India observed a Bharat Bandh to protest against the March 20 judgement of the Supreme Court that effectively took away whatever teeth the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had been left with.
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Counterview / By Sudha Bharadwaj
There would be little doubt in the mind of even the most cursory observer of contemporary events in Chhattisgarh, that the most burning issue agitating the peasantry and adivasis there today, is displacement on an unprecedented scale – for mining, setting up of industries, dams, sanctuaries, four laning of highways, the posh capital region, and even army and air bases.
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India Environmental Portal / By Janhit Peoples’ Legal Resource Centre (Sudha Bharadwaj a.o.)
In the entire mineral rich region of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, where even non-Naxal areas (Posco, Kathikund, Kalinganagar, Narayanpatna, Potka) are seeing brutal police repression, mining seems to be the motivating factor for a ground clearing of the adivasis – if necessary by war, as in Dantewada. However, the present note does not seek to document the above in any detail, but only deals with a very specific aspect of the above process, namely the legal framework in which it is sought to be legitimized, and some of the serious issues that the “legal face” of this land grab raises.
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