Bhopal: The Nath government came under fire from party leaders, including Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia, and opposition alike on Saturday over alleged use of pellet guns against tribals in Burhanpur. Acting swiftly, the chief minister ordered magisterial inquiry and said that no guilty person would be spared. Apart from the two senior Congress leaders, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan too had criticized the current dispensation through tweets. Four tribal farmers were allegedly injured in the incident on July 9. Senior Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiradiya Scindia had raised the issue on Saturday. District police had said that a forest department team had opened fire in self-defence at Siwal village when villagers hurled stones at them Singh and Scindia raised the issue after party MLA and JAYS coordinator Hiralal Alawa wrote to Nath, seeking action against officials. “The development of tribals and protection of their rights are priority of the Congress government under Kamal Nath’s leadership. The incident is against the declared policy of the current government,” Digvijaya Singh tweeted.
“This is condemnable and government should take immediate action against the erring officers,” Singh said, tagging Alawa’s letter with his tweets. Alawa had written a letter to CM Kamal Nath demanding action against erring officials and providing compensation to the injured tribal. Immediately thereafter, Scindia too commented on the issue through Twitter. “Progress and welfare of the tribal population is the priority of the MP Government. The unfortunate incident in Burhanpur is condemnable. I request the chief minister to investigate the case in a transparent and unbiased manner and take strict action against the guilty officers,” he tweeted. Former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan too didn’t spare CM Kamal Nath. Chouhan wrote, “Kamal Nathji wake up. Your own colleagues and ministers are raising fingers at you. How can a government that talks of tribal interests open fire on them. Tribal brethren should get justice.”
Nath responded through Twitter in the evening. “Magisterial inquiry has been ordered on the next day of the incident of firing during the clashes between forest team and villagers in Badnapur forest area of Nepanagar. “There will be a fair investigation of the incident, no guilty will be spared,” he said. MP forest officials used pellet guns against Adivasi farmers who were resisting an eviction drive in Siwal village in Burhanpur district on July 9. On May 1, the MP government began re-examining cases of several Adivasis whose land claims had been rejected and notified all district collectors not to carry out any evictions till the cases had been re-examined. Despite that, around 50 forest department officials and police reached Siwal village in Nepanagar block with excavators and began razing local farms last Tuesday.
Burhanpur Superintendent of Police Ajay Singh said “Villagers claimed that the land belonged to them and started hurling stones, forcing them (forest officials) to use twelve-bore guns in self-defence,” the police officer said. Some persons sustained injuries due to pellets and were admitted to hospital, the SP added. According to Alawa, MLA from Kukshi, at least four farmers were injured in the incident. “The victims had produced documents of tribal rights as old as (from) 1988-89, but the forest officials continued to terrorise the tribals,” he alleged. Three were admitted in Burhanpur hospital while one, who was seriously injured, was admitted in MY Hospital in Indore. The victims had claimed the land under the Forest Rights Act, he said. The forest department could have filed an appeal before the Gram Sabha (local village body) but “instead of taking the legal recourse the forest team attempted to dislodge them by force”, the MLA alleged.
Tribal organizations organized a massive gherao of Nepanagar police station on Friday demanding FIR against police officials responsible for firing upon tribal. An FIR was lodged but against anonymous persons from forest department. These organisations will meet on Tuesday to decide further strategy. Their representative Harsingh said that they have only two demands- one, FIR under section 307 against forest officials and compensation to the injured. SP Ajay Singh said villagers and forest officials have filed complaints against each other, and “cross-FIRs” (first information reports) have been registered. “Inquiry will be conducted by the Additional District Magistrate. Further probe is underway,” he said.
