Aarey Forest has been in the news this year for all the wrong reasons and the same is the case now for the implementation of NRC and CAA bills. Earlier, the Maharashtra Government’s plan to make the Metro carshed over there led to a lot of protests by tree and environment lovers. The trees were eventually cut through deceit much to the heartbreaks of many in Mumbai and all over India.
While
we are concerned about the trees, what a lot of city-dwellers are
unaware of is that a large community of tribal population is also a
part of the Aarey forest. The fact that we all spoke about the trees
of the forest and not about the humans staying there since ages is
alarming.
Considering
how the tribal people of the Aarey forest are neglected, things are
expected to get murkier for them if the NRC and CAA is implemented
since having proper documents is out of question for tribals not only
in Mumbai but also in other parts of India.
Tribal
activist Prakash Bhoir spoke about the ordeal of the tribals at the
chat session ‘Mumbai Rises To Save Democracy’ in the wake of the
current widespread protests against the implementation of the
controversial NRC and CAA bills on
Friday 21 December.
Bhoir pointed out how they had never been outside the jungle before but now they are forced to because of the ‘development’. “If the birds and animals like leopard are also forced to go out of the jungle, who are we then?” he asked.
The
protests ensured that Aarey made headlines but not much for its
inhabitants. “Because of the protests Aarey came into the limelight
for its jungle and its animals, including leopard. [But] this is
where we have
been staying too.
There are 27 adivasi padas who have been staying in
Aarey
since long. In the whole of Mumbai there are 222 adivasi padas,” he
added.
Bhoir
added how the change that took place in their lives ever since the
jungles gave away to commercial ventures. “We used to live happily
among the lakes and wells. We didn’t feel the need to get anything
from outside. But these padas were affected and became less in number
after Aarey Colony, Filmcity, SRPF (State Reserve Police Force),
veterinary college and other things came
up
and now there is Metro
carshed too,”
he said.
He added that in all this, the actual residents of the forest are becoming homeless, indicating that it makes all the more impossible for them to show any documents for the purposes of NRC.
Also see: Video and photos of NRC, CAA protests in Mumbai
Bhoir
shared the horrific night when trees were forcefully cut in Aarey in
October. He said that they were about to have dinner when they heard
noises. “The trees were getting cut and we could hear the sounds.
There were barricades. When we confronted the police, they told us
none of the trees are getting cut, although we could hear noises of
the machines and trees falling,” he said.
He
also recalled how they have been offered accommodation in the past by
the authorities
with the pretext of keeping them safe and away from wild animals. “We
said we don’t have any such complaints against them [animals] and
neither have they against us. They are our neighbours. Don’t
mislead us. They are saying we are poor and living in problems but we
are definitely not. We are happy staying with them. We don’t fear
them. We fear you,” he said.
Stressing the need to protest, Bhoir signed off saying, “I feel only those who are alive can protest. We don’t have hopes from those who are dead. They won’t feel anything. A lot of dead people are seen around. I feel they should shake themselves up to check in case they might be alive.”
Additional reading:
How Maharashtra leaders made a FOOL of their supporters
