Darjeeling, 21 March: Activists belonging to the 'Forest Rights Movement' in north Bengal have
decided to exercise the ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) option in the
upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The activists claimed that around 40,000 voters, all residents of forest villages in north Bengal, will press the NOTA button on the electronic voting machines and "reject the political parties in the fray."
"None of the major political parties have mentioned the rights of the forest villagers in their manifestoes," said an activist, Lila Kumar Gurung, the secretary of the Himalayan Forest Villagers' Organisation (HFVO).
"There are 250 odd forest villages in north Bengal, where more than 150,000 people live. Of them, more than 40,000 are eligible voters," another forest activist, Swarup Saha, a member of the Uttar Banga Van-Jan Shromojivi Manch (UBVJSM), said. In Darjeeling alone, there are more than 160 forest villages, the activists claimed.
"Before we made any official announcement of our decision (taken earlier), the information got leaked. Since then, we have been receiving calls from many political parties, pleading for our support in the polls," the activists said.
They have started the ‘Forest Rights Movement in north Bengal’ to protest the alleged non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 in the region.
"The FRA has not been implemented in Darjeeling district at all, and in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar, the implementation completely violated the laws," Mr Saha said. "Ever since the India government implemented the FRA in 2006 in West Bengal, and which talks about protecting the rights of the forest dwellers, the provision has not been properly implemented," said Mr Gurung. "This law legally and constitutionally protects the forest dwellers’ rights over their houses, cultivable land and other land in the village and also over the forests they and their ancestors have created, nurtured and protected," Mr Saha said. A press release issued later states: "The non-implementation of the FRA means that forest villagers still have no papers to prove that they now legally own and possess their land. Because they are on forest land, many forest villages have been denied civic amenities even proper access to roads, supply of drinking water." "We demand that the FRA-2006 be implemented immediately in North Bengal," Mr Saha said.(SNS)
The activists claimed that around 40,000 voters, all residents of forest villages in north Bengal, will press the NOTA button on the electronic voting machines and "reject the political parties in the fray."
"None of the major political parties have mentioned the rights of the forest villagers in their manifestoes," said an activist, Lila Kumar Gurung, the secretary of the Himalayan Forest Villagers' Organisation (HFVO).
"There are 250 odd forest villages in north Bengal, where more than 150,000 people live. Of them, more than 40,000 are eligible voters," another forest activist, Swarup Saha, a member of the Uttar Banga Van-Jan Shromojivi Manch (UBVJSM), said. In Darjeeling alone, there are more than 160 forest villages, the activists claimed.
"Before we made any official announcement of our decision (taken earlier), the information got leaked. Since then, we have been receiving calls from many political parties, pleading for our support in the polls," the activists said.
They have started the ‘Forest Rights Movement in north Bengal’ to protest the alleged non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 in the region.
"The FRA has not been implemented in Darjeeling district at all, and in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar, the implementation completely violated the laws," Mr Saha said. "Ever since the India government implemented the FRA in 2006 in West Bengal, and which talks about protecting the rights of the forest dwellers, the provision has not been properly implemented," said Mr Gurung. "This law legally and constitutionally protects the forest dwellers’ rights over their houses, cultivable land and other land in the village and also over the forests they and their ancestors have created, nurtured and protected," Mr Saha said. A press release issued later states: "The non-implementation of the FRA means that forest villagers still have no papers to prove that they now legally own and possess their land. Because they are on forest land, many forest villages have been denied civic amenities even proper access to roads, supply of drinking water." "We demand that the FRA-2006 be implemented immediately in North Bengal," Mr Saha said.(SNS)