Karnataka: Evicted Kodagu tribals' protest gains momentum

Mysuru: The rift between tribals and the forest department at Diddalli in Virajpet taluk, has taken a new twist with a video of tribal leader Muththamma marching naked as a mark of protest, going viral in social media after talks between tribals  and the district administration failed on Monday.  Actor Chethan too joined the protest which has entered the 12th day.

Muththamma had gone on a naked march on December 7, but the video went viral on Sunday. A small number of tribals belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, Jenu Kurubas, Yeravas, Panjara and other communities who  work in coffee estates in Virajpet, Somvarpet, Madikeri and other parts of Kodagu, had reportedly started building sheds at Diddalli in June this year.

The controversy broke out after 577 families were evicted by the forest department on December 7. Appaji, a gram panchayat member of Chennaiahnakote and one of the tribal leaders leading the protest said, “Diddalli is not in the reserve forest area.

There are already 250 tribal families in the Diddalli area who are being given forest land rights, these new 577 families are their relatives. Their ancestors lived in Diddalli before December 31, 2005, though there are no documents to prove this. Initially, seven families had come here in June, and slowly the number increased to 577.

The government wants to give sites around estates to them but they do not want to suffer harassment at the hands of planters in the estates. They want to have their own land where they can work and earn their livelihood. We will intensify the protest in the coming days,” he said.

Forest department DCF Mr Surya Sen said, “Diddalli is in Devamachchi reserve forest area which comes under the buffer area of Nagarahole tiger reserve. The area was notified as a reserve forest by the then Coorg Commissioner of the British presidency in 1891. We can give forest land rights to those who resided in the area much before December 31, 2005 as per the Tribes and Traditional Forest Dwellers Act. So a few tribals are being given forest rights including tribal leaders Appaji and Muththamma. Their numbers have increased, there are over 10,000 such families who work as labourers and reside in  houses in the estates, their condition is not good. We have told them that we would provide them alternate sites in different places but they are not ready to accept this. Vested interests have instigated them,” he said.

District Minister Mr M.R. Seetharam, DC Vincent D Souza, Mysuru MP Prathap Simha, MLA K.J. Bopaiah and others visited the protesting tribals on Tuesday.