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Sub-theme: Peace and Peoples' Rights

Panel 2: South Asian people’s movements: bringing development home

• Right to Land and Livelihood: A Case Study of Tribal People’s Struggle in Orissa
• Anatomy of a Peoples’ Rights Movement: A Case Study of the Sarhad Awami Forestry Ittehad (SAFI)
• Non-violent Approach of Conflict Transformation and Peace Building: Experiences of April 2006 People’s Movement of Nepal
• Debunking the myths of 'development, and 'national security'

Right to Land and Livelihood: A Case Study of Tribal People’s Struggle in Orissa
Manas Ranjan Kar*

In India, a significant proportion of tribal people live in forest areas whose economy revolves around forests. A majority of these tribals are poor and in many cases do not possess land pattas (documents). This has led to frequent evictions and exploitations. But the most surprising and dangerous development in this regard has come from the judiciary, the usual defender of poor in India. The Government of India’s (GOI) recent initiative to term tribals as encroachers without settling their land rights and the Supreme Court’s directive to evict them as environmental protection measure have singularly threatened their livelihood and existence. In the process, the Government has violated the Constitutional and Human Rights, and the international laws as well. It is also argued that this measure by the Government has failed to follow the democratic decentralization of forest governance process and has not complied with the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996.

Against this background of continued anti-tribal policies of the Government, concerned citizens and civil society organizations of India launched a campaign, called Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), for protection of land rights of forest dwelling communities including the tribals. The campaign has taken into fold these forest dwelling communities to ensure and protect their rights under the umbrella of a bill, known as Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2005. Last year, the bill could not be introduced in the Indian Parliament owing to disagreement and apathy among various political parties and other vested interest groups. Nevertheless, through sustained pressure, the bill has been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which has given more drastic recommendations in favor of all the forest dwelling communities and a renewed bill, known as Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, 2006, is awaiting its introduction in the Parliament in the ongoing session.

The paper tries to understand this complex issue by studying the dynamics of people’s struggle, process and strategies of articulating interests, role of key players in the campaign, challenges and lessons learned from it. For a better result, the focus has been on Orissa state of India; which faces maximum brunt out of this policy. The study is mainly empirical one, based on field works, personal interviews and consultations with affected people and activists involved in the campaign.

* Manas Ranjan Kar, an M. Phil. in Anthropology, is presently working as a Social Researcher in the Center for Youth and Social Development (CYSD), an NGO based at Bhubaneswar, India.

Anatomy of a Peoples’ Rights Movement: A Case Study of the Sarhad Awami Forestry Ittehad (SAFI)
Shaheen Rafi Khan*, Moeed Yusuf**, and Riaz Ahmed***

In general, Pakistan’s poor track record in peoples’ movements echoes its lack of democratic credentials. Specifically, in the forestry sector, there are isolated instances – mostly informal -- of peoples’ movements that have attempted to make headway against the entrenched heavy-handed and top-down management regimes. These regimes, whether by intent or default, have contributed to the large-scale degradation of Pakistan’s primary forests; the devastation wrought by the recent earthquake is one tragic consequence of such degradation. Therefore, initiatives which attempt regime-reform geared towards local participation, rights-based approaches and accountability need to be documented and analyzed. In particular, it is essential to develop an understanding of the factors that may lead to the success of such movements in Pakistan. The Sarhad Awami Forestry Ittehad (SAFI), arguably, represents the only formal attempt to engage in forestry reform advocacy and political activism. A careful evaluation of SAFI’s impact on the forestry reform process and, in general, in terms of sustainable forest management could be of value to other incipient and extant movements within and outside the forest sector.

The paper begins by providing an overview of the current state of forests and the forest management system in place in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). It then contextualizes SAFI’s introduction and provides a brief overview of the organization. Following that, it analyzes the movement’s efforts, its successes and shortcomings, and the factors contributing to this outcome. It finally presents recommendations, which have implementability for peoples’ movements beyond SAFI.

* Dr. Shaheen Rafi Khan is a Research Fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Columbia University, USA.
** Moeed Yusuf is a consultant at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad. He focuses on issues of economic facilitation and strategic concerns in the South Asian context.
*** Riaz Ahmed is a Program Coordinator with an NGO, SUNGI, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Non-violent Approach of Conflict Transformation and Peace Building: Experiences of April 2006 People’s Movement of Nepal
Bishnu Raj Upreti*

The ‘people’s war’ waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the people’s movement of April 2006 not only seriously questioned the relevance of nearly 400 years old royal dynasty but also paved fundamental socio-political transformation. Feudalistic, centralized and exclusionary state structures are being severely challenged. The civic movement of April 6-24, 2006 proved that people’s power can defeat autocratic, feudal regime by peaceful means. What made this movement successful in bringing down the four centuries old Nepali royal dynasty? Why did all sectors of society participat in the people’s movement? Why did the state take very coercive approach and why it failed? The April 2006 people’s movement raises several theoretical and methodological issues in the study of non-violent approach of conflict transformation. This paper attempts to answer these questions specifically focusing the role of civic movement of 2006 in the regime change. I conclude that non-violent civic movement needs discipline, commitment, ability of leadership and believe on people’s inner strength to settle conflict and building peace.

* Dr. Bishnu Raj Upreti is the Regional Coordinator, JACS South Asia Coordination Office, NCCR North-South, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Debunking the myths of 'development, and 'national security'
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar*

For much of Pakistan's history, the state has found justification for its domination over society by invoking the doctrine of necessity, emphasizing in particular the imperative of 'national security'. This has been the pretext for the suppression of many people's struggles for livelihood, national rights, shelter and ecology. In recent times a new imperative has emerged to complement the national security discourse, namely that of 'development'. Whether dealing with the question of struggles for autonomy in Balochistan or the building of new dams on the Indus, the state has asserted the centrality of its 'development' agenda, or as Arundhati Roy would put it, the Greater Common Good. Regardless of whether national security or development (or both) is/are invoked as the guiding ideology of the state, the military remains the institution that is charged with the protection of the 'greater national interest'. Accordingly the military is directly involved in the suppression of movements and struggles considered to be threatening national security or being anti-development.

In recent times, the military mythical role as the defender of the Pakistani nation (cf Siddiqui, 1995) has been subject to a serious challenge for two related reasons. First, the discourses of national security and development have come under major public scrutiny, and second, the military itself has become heavily involved in independent corporate ventures, which have brought it into direct conflict with working people. Using the examples of the struggle of landless farmers on state lands in Punjab (centered on Okara military farms), and the struggle of coastal fishing communities in Badin and Thatta, this paper will attempt to explain the above-mentioned two-fold challenge to the military's domination of public life.

The paper is based on information gathered by the author in the course of a close association with both struggles over the past few years. The discussion of both struggles will also facilitate conjectures on the possibility of the emergence of a national-level political movement to challenge the military’s monopoly over state affairs, and redefinition of the ‘greater national interest’.

Ref: A.R. Siddiqi 1996, The Military in Pakistan: Image and Reality, Lahore: Vanguard

* Aasim Sajjad Akhtar is a political activist associated with the People's Rights Movement (PRM), Rawalpindi, Pakistan, a political confederation of working class struggles. He also teaches colonial history and Marxian political economy at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore, Pakistan.