Tribal residents belonging to Juang and Bhuyan communities went on dharna in the Keonjhar district collectorate on Sunday protesting large-scale plantation of commercial trees like acacia, eucalyptus and teak in local forests after cutting down natural sal trees.
The Juang and Bhuyan communities are largely dependent on non-timber produce to sustain their livelihood. Plantation of the commercial trees by the state forest department will hamper their livelihood as their entry would be restricted to this forest. Besides, they do not know the productive use of the commercial trees.
The tribals were promised by the government the receding forest due to industrialisation would be replenished by natural vegetation under the Compensatory Forestry Scheme. But to their dismay commercial trees were planted instead.
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Khaps want law against homosexuals
Rohtak : A meet of khap panchayats, which have been demanding a ban on same gotra marriages, on Sunday sought legal recognition for these self-styled caste councils and laws against homosexuality and surrogate motherhood.
The Mahapanchayat of Khaps, which met in Meham, about 30 km from here, also threatened to hold a strike in Haryana on December 21 if their demand for amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act to ban same gotra (sub-caste) marriages is not met.
During the meeting that lasted nearly five hours, the meet also passed resolutions demanding lok adalat status to khap panchayats with judicial powers and ban on homosexuality and surrogate motherhood.
The khap panchayats also slammed, what they termed as, attempts “to deprive them of their social rights in the state”.
Maintaining that amendment in any law could be done within hours if the government wished so, former Haryana chief minister Hukam Singh questioned the intentions of the government over the issue of banning same gotra marriages. —PTI