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NFFPFW condemns violent conflict in the Indian forest

The National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers of India (NFFPFW) has condemned the Indian Forest Department for the death of a tribal youth at the hands of a Patrol Unit in West Bengal.


In early February, in the Buxa Tiger Reserve near Alipurduar, West Bengal, India, four young men from the North Poro forest village went into the forest to collect fuelwood. According to the NFFPFW, as the young men returned with fuelwood, they were stopped for questioning by a Patrol Unit of the Forest Department. During the interrogation, a Patrol Unit member shot Samen Raya in the head at close range, killing him instantly. The other three youths fled, and the Patrol Unit then tried to bury the body.


India’s Forest Rights Act of 2006 protects the rights of forest peoples like the Rava Tribal community to utilize forest resources for their livelihoods. Critics of the FD accuse the department of consistently flaunting the provisions of the Forest Rights Act.


Read the full report from NFFPFW on the Forest Peoples Programme website here.


 

 

Posted By Colby Clabaugh at 8:18am on March 29, 2008


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