India: Police raid Indigenous settlement inside tiger reserve

© Survival

Forest Department officials break down the shelters of Jenu Kuruba people who had reclaimed their old village inside Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

This morning more than 250 forest guards, tiger force members and police raided Karadikallu Atturu Kolli village, the settlement at Nagarhole Tiger Reserve which Jenu Kuruba people reclaimed on 5 May. It’s believed to be the first time Indigenous people in India asserted their rights to return en masse to their homes after being evicted from a Protected Area.

So far, the security forces have torn down seven forest shelters where women, children and older people have been staying. 

“They are forcing people to destroy their own homes on their own lands. This is a grave violation of human rights as well as the rights guaranteed under the Forest Rights Act (2006),” said a source from inside the village.

Forest guards in India raid Indigenous Jenu Kuruba community and tear down their houses

More than 250 police and forest guards raided a village which Indigenous people had reclaimed in ...

The Jenu Kuruba were violently evicted from Nagarhole more than 40 years ago to make way for a tiger reserve. They have returned to assert their claims to their ancestral villages in accordance with the Forest Rights Act (2006). The Jenu Kuruba had lived alongside and worshipped tigers for countless generations.

“It is outrageous that the Jenu Kuruba are being thrown out of their home once again. The authorities must stop this persecution of the Jenu Kuruba, who are just trying to live in peace on their own land,” said Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International. “As we’ve seen time and again, conservation – in this case a Tiger Reserve – is being used as a pretext to violate Indigenous rights. It is time to stop this abusive and colonial model of fortress conservation.”

Please get in touch if you need updates or interviews with our researchers. We can also put you in touch with people on the ground in Nagarhole. Photo above is from this morning’s action. (Credit: Special arrangement.) 

This is a developing story. Members of the community are asking journalists and other observers to come to the scene to witness the action and potentially prevent the use of violence. Also, they ask that concerned individuals call these government officials to help stop the invasion. 

A.S. Ponnanna, member of the Legislative Assembly
+ 91 9845006241 (WhatsApp)
Shri Seema PA
Deputy Conservator of Forests & Director, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, Forest Campus, Hunsur 
+91 8222252041
[email protected]
Venkat Raja
District Deputy Commissioner, District Magistrate
+91 8272225500
[email protected]