Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 24: Tribal researcher, Dr. Javaid Rahi has said that implementation of Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 in J&K has rekindled new hopes among tribal Gujjars, Bakerwals, Gaddis, Sippis and other forest dwellers who live in woods but were facing evictions as there was no law prior to August 2019 to protect habitation and use of forest land by these people.
Rahi was addressing at three day awareness programmes in village Rehan, Peeri, Koteranka, Lamberi etc in Kalakote and Nowshera areas of district Rajouri.
Tribal dignitaries which presided over these programmes were Javed Iqbal Chowdhary, BDC Chairman; tribal leaders—Gul Mohammad Chowdhary, Shokat Naseem, Ibrahim Khatana and Aziz Sarpanch while a large number of tribal elders, youth, forest dwellers also attended these awareness programmes.
Rahi in his address said that FRA not only provides provisions to protect land rights of tribal people but also safeguards their inheritance, preserves their culture, intellectual properties and traditional knowledge.
“It further boosts their socio-cultural life, economic activities and other indigenous characteristics that are distinct from those of other societies in which they live,” he said.
Rahi also educated the tribal youth and forest dwellers about rights granted by the Government of India for their benefits.
He quoted the Act to claim that Gram Sabha is the most powerful body to manage Community Forest Rights and to grant habitat rights to tribal people and other forest dwellers as the villagers know better about the grazers, minor forest produce collectors, women and other groups dependent on forest.
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