Tribals protested to stop Gujarat government in taking land in the name of development

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

On Sunday, tribals from almost 14 villages close to the Statue of Unity, Gujarat, and created human chains and protested that the state government should immediately stop and take away their lands in the name of development.

In 2007, on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The protesters from 50 tribal talukas spread across 16 districts in the eastern portion of Gujarat, demanded cancellation of the recently-enacted Statue of Unity Area Development and Tourism Governance Act, which authorizes the government to obtain village lands in the name of development around the SoU. The protest was arranged by the Adivasi Samanvay Manch. It was peaceful, said activist Praful Vasava, and claimed that the state government was acquiring land forcibly, thereby relocating the tribals, and creating tremendous danger to the indigenous culture of the land.

“We demand that the government grant us rights under the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act,” he said.

Narmada district Superintendent of Police Himkar Singh explained that the event near the SoU was part of similar protest movements arranged in other areas of Gujarat by the tribals to mark the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Day.

“It was organised all over the district and other parts of Gujarat. They wanted to present their point. They just came out of their houses on the road to protest and they did so peacefully,” he said.

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