Facts on Issue of Eviction Notice to Non-Tribals in Attapady, Palakkad District, Kerala
Tags: land restoration, tribal land, illegal occupation
Misinformation campaign
The present issue of the notice to restore the illegally occupied lands to the Adivasis in Attapady of Palakkad district in Kerala is mischievously interpreted as an ‘anti-Tamil’ action of the Kerala government. This gives another excuse to the Kerala government to deny the rights of Adivasis in general, and Irulas, the original inhabitants of Coimbatore, in particular. On field inquiry by PUCL Coimbatore, it has come to light that of the 167 orders passed since 1987, no appeals were filed in 52 cases. 77 non-tribal persons in these 52 cases were now issued notices of whom 19 are tamils and 58 are malayalis. Of them 13 (belonging to both tamil and Malayalam speaking people), have suo motto handed over their lands to the concerned Adivasis.
Background
The Adivasis of Attapady are primarily Irulas who are listed as Primitive Tribal Group in Tamilnadu. They were the original inhabitants of Coimbatore speaking a Dravidian dialect of tamil mixed with Kannada. They were forced to move to the hills with the invasion of Vijayanagar and Hoysala kings and later by Tipu Sultan. The major section of these Irulas settled in the Anaikatti hills of Tamilnadu and the adjacent hills of Attapady of Kerala. During the 1960s they constituted over 80 % of the population of Attapady. By the end of 1990s, they were reduced to a minority with invasions of land grabbers from the plains of Coimbatore side and Mannarghat of Palakkad district.
Article 244 in Para 5(2) of Schedule V titled ‘Provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes’ makes it mandatory for the state to ensure total prohibition of transfer of land of Scheduled Tribes by Scheduled Tribes to others. U.N Dhebar Commission in 1960 recommended that all tribal land alienated since January 26, 1950 – the day the Constitution came into force – should be returned to the original adivasi owners. A meeting of state ministers on April 1, 1975 passed a resolution: “Legislation for prevention of land alienation should be undertaken immediately. “A number of States that did not have enacted laws. 23 States and Union Territories have laws to protect tribal land. Tamilnadu did not enact such a law till date denying this constitutional protection to the STs of Tamilnadu.
The ‘Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act, 1975’ was one such law enacted. The Rules were however notified in 1986. All transactions of Adivasi lands during the period 1960 to January 1, 1982 become invalid and are to be restored to the original owners. All transfer of lands from tribal to non-tribal was banned from 1982. Over 8000 applications for restoration of land were made by Adivasis for over 10,000 acres. Of these, half of the applications were rejected with some pretext or other. Notices were issued to the non-tribals in all the approved applications. However, the Kerala government did not take effective steps to restore the lands in order to protect the encroachments of the powerful non-tribals. Consequent to the High Court order to implement the law and restore alienated land on a petition filed by Dr.Nalla Thambi in 1988, the government took action to subvert the law in favour of non-tribals by enacting 2 ordinances which were not approved by the Governor, and an amendment which the President returned saying it was unconstitutional. Later the government enacted ‘The Kerala Restriction on Transfer by and Restoration of Lands to Scheduled Tribes Bill, 1999’ under which no restoration of land is required if the non-tribal holding is within 2 ha of agricultural land. The Adivasis would be provided alternate land instead. Non-agricultural lands however are to be restored to Adivasis. This law was challenged by Dr.Nalla Thambi and others as being unjust and unconstitutional; the High Court struck down the law as unconstitutional. However, on appeal by the Kerala government (PUCL – Kerala too had petitioned the Supreme Court against this 1999 law on behalf of Adivasis), this law was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2009. The Court also asked the Government to implement the provisions of the new laws and those provisions not repealed by the new law, and report to the Supreme Court.
Since mid-2012 to mid-2013, about 54 Adivasi children died owing to severe malnutrition in Attappady. This led to an uproar in the State which came under immense pressure. A number of investigations were made. Land alienation and non-restoration of alienated lands were pointed out as the single most important reason. An Attapady package was announced by the Chief Minister led committee of Ministers. Land restoration was given priority. Once again notices were issued to the non-tribals who are illegally occupying Adivasi land.
PUCL demands enactment of a similar law in Tamilnadu as has been done in Kerala to protect the Scheduled Tribes of Tamilnadu from land alienation and to restore their alienated lands.
S. Balamurugan, General Secretary, PUCL Tamilnadu & Puducherry