Nomads protest, demand Right over forests | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 18: A number of nomadic Gujjars and Bakarwal Community members held a protest demonstration outside Press Club Jammu here today demanding extension of 'Forest Rights Act' enacted by Indian Parliament in 2006 to Jammu and Kashmir State. The demonstration was organised by the Secretary of the J&K Welfare of the Bakerwals Khana Badosh Faiz Ahmed in which protestors raising slogans demanded rights on forest lands. The protesters said that the tribal communities of Jammu and Kashmir have been discriminated by successive governments and demanded that they should be treated at par with other ST communities of India. They said the tribal communities in other states of India are entitled to "title rights" and ownership to land which is being cultivated by them since long. "But the Government of Jammu and Kashmir is making mockery of our rights as Schedule Tribes", the protesters said and demanded that each tribal family and forest dwellers of J&K be allotted four hectares land (as per Act) with "Use rights" to grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc. Abdul Gani, Mokf Latif, Chitta Khan, Mohd Ismail, Klialid Hussain, Shabir Hussain,Babu Kkan, Farid Ahmed and many others also participated in today's protest. |
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