24 ‘ Session of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations
Palais de Nations, Geneva, Switzerland July 31 – Aug 5, 2006
Speaker: Mr. Francis Hembrom
Joint statement by the Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (ICITP) & All India Santa!
Welfare and Cultural Society (AISWACS).
I thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to speak on the issues pertaining to my community. It is a great privilege and honor for me to intervene in this 24th session of the WGIP.
Respected Chairperson, distinguished members of the Working Group, Govt. Representatives, Representatives of UN Agencies and my fellow Indigenous Delegates from around the World -1 bring greetings to you from the Adivasis, the Indigenous Peoples of India- JOHAR!!!! I speak on behalf of “Indian Confederation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples”, India
The Indian Army has been using Netarhat and other areas falling in the Adivasi (Indigenous) dominated districts of Gumla, Palamau and Latehar, in Jharkhand, for Heavy Artillery Firing Practice since 1965. During the firing drills, the local population is asked to vacate their houses or stay indoors. This goes on for a period of ten days, during which people have to either flee to the jungles or look for alternative shelter while their habitat is being bombarded with shells, often wounding and KILLING several people. The firing drill also causes enormous damage to the standing crops, fields, houses, trees and livestock in the region. There have even been reports and instances of rape and sexual harassment of tribal women by the army personnel. The “inconvenience” caused to the locals due to the firing practice by the Army is compensated with a measly amount of 1.50 rupees (now US$0.03) a day, barely the cost of 100 grams of rice, as compensation by the government. In this exercise the damage to wildlife, forest vegetation and the local ECO system is not even considered by the Government.
Two state orders dated 25th November 1991 and 25th March 1992, under section 9(1) of the Manoeuvres Field Firing and Artillery Practices Act, 1938, notified an area of 1471 sq. km (covering 245 villages in 6 blocks of 2 districts) for periodical field firing and artillery practice for ten years as the Netarhat Field Firing Range.
The above mentioned anti democratic and anti people State orders have been strongly opposed by the affected people. The protests from the locals took form of an organized movement in 1993 after the army put up a Pilot -Project proposal to the State of Bihar requesting for acquisition of land to set up a permanent Army Camp in the area. The Army claimed that only 206 Sq. Km of the 1471 Sq. Km notified for the Range covering 34 villages will be acquired, displacing approximately 29000 people (Times of India, 11-1-94). However, according to the Hindustan Times (Patna, 14-1-94) and the local people’s organizations, an area covering 1 laldi Sq. Km is proposed to be acquired, displacing more than 2,000,000 people, from 245 villages, of which nearly 78% are Adivasis i.e. Indigenous Peoples.
In a tripartite discussion in 1997, between the people, the state administration and the army, the government gave its word that no army acquisition project would come up and no firing would take place in the region against the wishes of the people. Despite the widespread protest and the word given to the people, the government of Bihar renewed the notification of the area for routine field firing for another twenty years, commencing from 2002 up to 2022.
Violations
Article 21 of the Indian Constitution – “right to live with dignity” Continuing to allow the firing practice in the area is a violation of this article.
Provisions under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution
This region has a large tribal population and falls under the 5th Schedule to the Constitution, which was intended to preserve tribal autonomy, culture and to ensure social and political justice, and economic empowerment. The Firing Range against the wishes of the people contradicts the spirit of the fifth Schedule.
The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act. 1996
The spirit of the 5th Schedule has been further encapsulated in the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. Section 4m (iii) gives the Gram Sabha the power to prevent alienation of land in scheduled areas and take appropriate action to restore any unlawful alienation of land of a schedule tribe. The 73rd amendment to the constitution recognizes the Gram Sabha as the supreme decision making body at the village level. However, not involving and seeking the consent of the local Gram Sabhas, which have strongly rejected the continuation of Firing Range, is a clear violation of the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act.
Recommendations
• WGIP and UN agencies like the UNHCHR make recommendations to the Government of India for relocating the Military Firing Range as India has no dearth of open space and let the Indigenous Peoples of the region live in peace with nature.
Francis Hembrom
Salomi Besra
Courtesy:www.docip.org
Posted by Joy Raj Tudu 
