Crisis averted
Birju, a member of the primitive and protected Baiga tribe, was killed in Kawardha district of Chhattisgarh on February 9, 2003, by three members of the Gond tribe. The three were on the Van Suraksha Samiti formed under the Joint Forest Management programme. The incident took place in the presence of forest officials and police officers. They had gone to the settlement to evict 11 Baiga families from the Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Baigas have traditionally carried out shifting cultivation in the forest, which was banned after the 1980 Forest Conservation Act. They were not rehabilitated before shifting cultivation was banned, forcing them to stay on in the sanctuary.
The killing triggered protests by the Baigas and also Ekta Parishad, a network of non-governmental organisations. The parishad threatened to picket the state legislative assembly. On February 18, chief minister Ajit Jogi invited the parishad , led by its national convenor P V Raj Gopal, for talks to resolve the issue.
Subsequent to this meeting, the Chhattisgarh government has announced the creation of a state-level task force to review and resolve disputes related to land rights. All Baiga families in Kawardha would be given two hectares of land. The divisional forest officer has been suspended and a compensation of Rs 1 lakh given to Birju's family.
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