Forest Department officials break down the shelters of Jenu Kuruba people who had reclaimed their old village inside Nagarhole Tiger Reserve [Pix: Survival International]
HUNDREDS of Indian forest guards and police officers raided an indigenous settlement inside a tiger reserve today, following a historic mass return to their ancestral land.
More than 250 forest officials and police stormed Karadikallu Atturu Kolli village in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, which the Jenu Kuruba people reclaimed on May 5.
It is believed to be the first time that indigenous people in India have returned en masse to land inside a protected area after eviction.
Security forces destroyed seven shelters where women, children and older people had been living.
The Jenu Kuruba were forcibly evicted over 40 years ago to make way for the reserve.
They say that their return is a legal assertion of their rights under the Forest Rights Act, which recognises indigenous claims to ancestral lands.
Survival International director Caroline Pearce said: “The authorities must stop this persecution of the Jenu Kuruba, who are just trying to live in peace on their own land.
“As we’ve seen time and again, conservation — in this case a Tiger Reserve — is being used as a pretext to violate indigenous rights. It is time to stop this abusive and colonial model of fortress conservation.”
