Bhutanese Refugees: Pawn in the hands of governments and politicians?

[Below we present a note sent by Tapan Bose (South Asia Forum for Human Rights, Kathmandu) on how the Nepali speaking South Bhutanese refugees are once again in the eye of a controversy. This time it is about the offer of the US government to resettle about 60,000 refugees in the United States. A section of the Nepalese and international media as well as some NGOs are projecting the US offer as an attempt to weaken the unity and the resolve of the Bhutanese refugees to 'return to their homeland'. It seems that all the well-wishers of the Bhutanese refugees are convinced that 'repatriation to Bhutan' is the best and the ideal solution. – Ed.]

Under the UN Convention on Refugees, there are three options for durable solution:
1.Return to the country of origin.
2.Rehabilitation in the host country.
3. Resettlement in a third country.
The UDHR also guarantees the right of every person to seek asylum. Though the UN convention on refugees does not indicate that any of the three is the most preferred, 'return' has somehow emerged as the most preferred solution.
It is nice to think 'return' as the ideal solution, which carries the image of happiness, which is usually associated with the image of welcome. It is definitely great to hope that when every one returns to their home the neighbours would come over and hug the returning families and all of them would settle down happily and life would restart from where it was 'stopped' at the moment of departure. But this as we all know never happens in reality. Experience shows that 'return' is one of the most difficult solutions. The reasons, which had forced the refuges to leave their home and hearth often, remain powerfully alive. The government, political groups and sections of the neighbours perpetrated a violence that the refugees cannot forget. The very first requirement of a 'returnee' is a protection against those forces. And this cannot happen unless the government of the state is committed to provide that security and the assistance to the returnees, which are essential for successful resettlement in their home country. The South Asian experiences of return, be it the case of Rohingyas to Myanmar from Bangladesh, Chakmas to Bangladesh from India and Sri Lankan Tamils from India to Sri Lanka have been extremely painful for all the returnee communities.
Under these circumstances the hope of 'return' for the Bhutanese refugees defies reality. Since the arrival of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal in 1990-91, Nepal government has made every effort to secure their 'right to return'. During the 17 rounds of the so-called bilateral dialogue with the government of Bhutan, Nepal government gave into almost all the demands of Bhutan including to the obnoxious policy of 'categorisation and verification of the refugees by a joint team of Nepal and Bhutan'. However, all the efforts of Nepal government achieved nothing. The refugees are still stuck in the seven camps in eastern Nepal.
The first country of asylum for the Bhutanese refugees was and is India. After being uprooted from their homes and pushed inside Indian territory, the refugees found they were unwanted there. Indian authorities showed no sympathy. They did not recognize their status as citizens of Bhutan. On the Bhutanese refugee issue, Indian government has refused to seriously dialogue with Bhutan government and has prevented Nepal from taking the issue to the UN. Senior Indian bureaucrats and political leaders prefer following a policy of non- interference in the internal affairs of Bhutan, its trusted ally and dependable supplier of energy resources. Political leaders from the Congress, CPI (M) and AGP in West Bengal and Assam felt that the government should stay out of the question of the claims of Nepalese settlers in south Bhutan to Bhutanese citizenship rights, as it might boomerang on India. Already India was confronted with the unregulated movement of masses of Nepalese people from the eastern and western hill regions of Nepal. In other words, the Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese ethnicity were seen as Nepal's problem and therefore were pushed into Nepal.
During a discussion with Mr Shyam Saran, the then Indian Foreign Secretary, when I asked why India had pressurized Nepal to accept the blatantly unfair Bhutanese demand for 'categorisation and verification' of the refugees as a precondition for Bhutan's recognition of these people as its citizens, he explained, it was the only terms on which Bhutanese government was agreeable. It would appear that India was trying to get Bhutan to take back a few, thus saving Nepal's face, and then the rest could be resettled in India and Nepal. Apparently Indian government had assured Nepal that it would share a part of the burden of re-settling the remaining Bhutanese refugees. According to Mr. Saran, Bhutan's offer to take back a small number of refugees from Khudnabari camp after the completion of the first round 'categorisation and verification' was acceptable to the government of Nepal and the Bhutanese refugees. The return of people identified as category 1 and category 2, was expected to have paved the way for resolving the refugee crisis. Mr. Saran blamed the UNHCR and human rights NGO for destroying that opportunity by campaigning against Bhutan's offer, motivating the refugees to reject it.
It should be added, that the Bhutanese offer for persons in category 1 (citizens wrongly evicted) was that they could return but would receive no support for their rehabilitation nor would they be any restitution of their property. For people in category 2 (who left voluntarily) on return, they would have to live in designated camps. Only one member of the family would get employment. After eight years they could regain full citizenship, if they passed an examination to prove their loyalty to the nation and the king of Bhutan.
Government of Nepal is not willing to resettle the Bhutanese refugees in their country. Mr. K. P. Oli, the Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal had told me that there is no question of Nepal granting citizenship to the Bhutanese refugees. In my discussions with successive Nepalese Foreign and Home Ministers as well as leaders of Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (UML), I was firmly told – the Government of Nepal was not ready to explore the 'third country resettlement option'. Evidently, 'return to Bhutan' was an article of faith of Nepalese foreign policy and no politician was willing to tinker with it. I also felt that behind this inflexible policy stance was an effort to cover the humiliation at the failure to get Bhutan to take back the people of Nepalese ethnicity. The need to save 'face' is epitomized in the ludicrous response of Nepal's Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to the US offer for resettlement of Bhutanese refugees - all the Bhutanese refugees should return to Bhutan even for a day before they go to another country for rehabilitation. Mr Oli had told me that 'return of the refugees' was a part of the larger vision of a 'democratic Bhutan'.
Now, Bhutanese politicians in exile, young revolutionaries and Maoist party cadres are campaigning against the offer for resettlement of 60,000 essentially because it has come from the Government of the USA. Some of the older Bhutanese NGOs which have been propagating 'return' as the only demand with the support of the 'revolutionary' groups are intimidation those refugees who would like to explore the possibilities of 'resettlement in a third country'. The claim of the so-called leaders of the refugee community that all the Bhutanese refugees want to return at any cost is a lie. The lie is proved by the fact that all the refugees in category I and II had refused to o back to Bhutan on the terms put forward by the Bhutanese government. The lie is further exposed by the fact thousands of refugees have sent appeals to the UNHCR requesting their resettlement in a third country. In all the training workshops that SAFHR organised on the rights of refugees in the camps during the past four years, overwhelming majority of the participants were keen to learn about the process of resettlement in a third country.
The Bhutanese refugees live in the seven camps without any security. Nepal government has withdrawn the police posts from the camps long ago. They have often faced violence from the local communities. A few camp inmates were killed in clashes with local Nepalese on issues of theft of firewood from local forests. Young refugee women have been lured into sex work. There are reported cases of rape of refugee women, which have remained unsolved...
It seems, once again the refugees would have to give up this opportunity to rebuild their lives in a new country to fulfill the dreams of the self centred 'elite' political leaders. Not one of the so-called Bhutanese politicians lives inside the camps. All of them have their homes outside the camps. Some also own property in Nepal. Their children study in expensive schools in Nepal and abroad. Obviously the leaders cannot afford their captive masses to desert them.
We have been failing the Bhutanese refugees all these years. Let us not let this opportunity pass them by. Let us not stand aside and let these so-called political parties in exile decide the collective fate of all the refugees. It is important for the government of Nepal, the UNHCR and the NGOs to intervene and help those who want to accept the offer of resettlement in the USA. Let some escape the camps where they have been prisoners for the last seventeen years.

New IDMC report on forced migration and displacement in Myanmar attempts to address current gaps

In May 2007 the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) released a new report on forced migration and displacement in Myanmar with special focus on the government-controlled areas of the country. The report, by Andrew Bosson, is meant as a preliminary exploration of the subject in terms of reliance on unsystematic and indirect sources due to challenging circumstances of doing research in and on Myanmar.
The report is organized in two sections. The first section addresses the status of displaced people in Myanmar in terms of international standards especially in the light of the Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement. The report does not estimate actual numbers or patterns of movement of such migrants, though expert individuals and organisations suggested that these “livelihood migrants” constitute majority of migrants in Burma. This report limits itself to describing the coercive measures practiced countrywide and discussing the status of those who have been subject to such measures.
The second section is organised by region and it looks at the parts of Myanmar not covered by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium as well as the conflict and post-conflict areas of Eastern Burma. The report concentrates on the government-controlled parts of Burma with little explicit military conflict. A substantial part of the report addresses direct relocation by government agents.
Forced Migration/Internal Displacement in Burma, with an Emphasis on Government-Controlled Areas
Link to full report
Link to International Displacement Monitoring Centre, Geneva

Role of clinical legal education in increasing access to justice

Mostafa Mahmud Naser, Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Chittagong and a former participant in the Winter Course on Forced Migration 2006

[An earlier version was published in The Daily Star on 14 April 2007]

Bangladesh has hundreds of thousands of people internally displaced due to civil war and religious persecution. The scale and nature of internal displacement in Bangladesh is personified by the notorious conflict-induced displacement in the Chittagong Hill Tract in the southeast of the country. Both the internally displaced Bangladeshis and the returning refugees from the neighbouring countries face the issue of their access to justice in their homeland. Access to justice is crucial for the rehabilitation of these marginalized groups as they face contentious issues of land ownership and property rights.
In our adversarial legal system, poverty, inordinate delay, high cost of litigation, lack of legal aid mechanism and unavailability of alternative informal justice delivery system are considered the road blocks in the way of access to justice. In most of the cases, access to justice is only available to the resourceful person and powerful elite since in order to have access to justice one must have the means, which includes money. The poverty-ridden people in our country are, normally, not aware of the rights and the relief(s) they are entitled to. This is primarily due to lack of education. Even if they are made aware of their rights and the relief(s), because of financial constraints they cannot enter even the gate of justice. In this context, law and the attitude and activities of the personnel involved with the operation and enforcement of law can be used to help the poor and the disadvantaged to exercise greater control over their lives.
The institutions of legal education i.e. law faculties and law departments in the universities, both public and private, and the law colleges of Bangladesh can play a vital role in this regard. These institutions can distinguish themselves by concentrating their resources and efforts in encouraging and enhancing access to justice.
Clinical legal education is basically practical legal training through moot-court, mock-trial, participation of the students in ADR and in public legal education i.e. mass legal awareness programmes, chamber practice with the lawyers, counseling, participating in the conduct of life cases, short of appearing in the courts. Clinical legal education is learning through doing, or by the experience of acting as a lawyer. Hence, this is experiential learning. Clinical legal education merits separate treatment, for it is not merely a methodology of teaching or learning, it is also providing service to the people and, hence, more practical and noble. When young students at the formative stage of their career are exposed to community legal services, they get sensitised to the problems and needs especially of the marginalised sections of the people, and feel motivated to continue to work for them when they enter professional life.
Thus, clinical legal education programme encourages law schools to expand their educational objectives to more completely serve the needs of their students and to provide instruction about the knowledge, skills, and values that will enable their students to become competent legal problem solvers. Successful implementation of clinical legal education programmes in the law faculties and law schools in a country like Bangladesh will not only improve the quality of its legal education, but it can go a long way in meeting the demands of social justice, legal needs of the poor and improving human rights conditions.
Enhancing access to justice
Objectives of clinical legal education can be achieved under the supervision of law faculties or law schools by undertaking massive works in the following areas:
Integration of social values through curriculum: Lack of social relevancy and humanistic approach in the curriculum alienates and suppress various values, ethics, gender perspectives and views of minority etc. Therefore, by way of adding courses to the curriculum that address the issues of gender, cultural migration, minority and indigenous peoples or allowing students to work with people of other cultures, we can equip law students to revisit their responsibilities to the marginalised section of the society. The law curriculum should be introduced in integration with other disciplines. It is time to appreciate that the subject matter of economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, literature and psychology are essential to the education of the future law graduates. As the minimum, the budding lawyers must be taught in the economics of law, lawsuits and lawyering.
Members of the legal profession need to play the role of educator, planner, and counselor. Therefore, lawyers must be trained in skills that provide for a broader understanding of various facets of legal problems. Fundamental lawyering skills are important to provide social justice. However, any set of skills confined only to traditional methods of problem solving would be manifestly insufficient. Students would be required to undergo the entire process of lawyering either by exposure to actual cases or in dramatic simulations. In both instances, they are to act as lawyers and learn the details of lawyering from the experience of being a lawyer, real or simulating. While the students work under the supervision of a practicing lawyer or a clinical teacher, they are expected to face situations, analyse facts and take decisions independently.
In externships programmes, post-graduate students are required to work with leading NGOs, engaged in para-legal activities in different parts of Bangladesh. This programme proved extremely useful for the students as it provides necessary motivation and sensitises and exposes them to the society and masses at large. Placement with legal services groups will offer Bangladeshi law students valuable opportunities to broaden their perspectives, integrate such services into their careers, and join the community of legal activists.
Law clinics remained focused on poverty law issues and formulated increasingly sophisticated educational regimes to accompany live client representation. Balancing the twin missions of service and education, the clinical movement became an institutionalised component of legal education. Today, there is little dispute about the merits of clinical legal education. By addressing human rights and social justice concerns, law clinics and NGOs may help upgrade the quality of the legal profession in general. Dismay at the profession's low ethical and professional standards drove many top law graduates into teaching or business in the past. The clinics and expanding NGO opportunities improved legal training and encouraged high-calibre graduates to practice law.
Law schools can also establish legal aid cells where students and teachers can guide people in identifying their problems and make them aware of the remedies available to them. Students in these cells can also provide paralegal services such as drafting affidavits, assisting in registration of marriages, births and deaths, electoral rolls, and filling out various forms. This type of work gives students ample opportunity to learn key interviewing, counseling, and drafting skills. Another approach is for law schools to adopt a village and encourage students to conduct a survey to identify the problems that the people in that particular village face. After identifying the problems, students can approach the authorities concerned and arrange a public forum. Often, local authorities are not responsive to local citizens' concerns, especially those from disadvantaged communities. The idea here is to inform villagers about the programme and to encourage them to participate in the forum so that they can meet the officers concerned on that particular day and can settle their grievances in public. Students can be instrumental in the smooth functioning of the entire programme, and they can follow up on particular matters with the officers concerned.
Justice education requires us to place an even greater emphasis on negotiation, dispute resolution and collaborative working relationships. Our students must be taught how to resolve problems before they deteriorate into potential lawsuits. Our young lawyers need to be educated to recognise that even if the outcome of litigation is relatively certain, there is not always just one right answer to a problem. A money judgement may not be an effective solution for all parties, and so lawyers should work to provide for a lasting solution, one that is worked out through negotiation or appropriate dispute resolution. They need to learn that it is not enough to root out the facts of the problem: they must understand the context in which the problem arose. 'A good lawyer can assist clients in articulating their problems, finding their interests, ordering their objectives, and generating, assuring, and implementing alternative solutions.'
Public legal education can be effected through lectures, discussions, publications and distribution of simplified and adopted versions of constitution and international human rights instruments etc. or adopting any other informal methods like production of street plays that focus on legal issues. As a part of the public legal education programmes the aforesaid lectures, seminars and discussions can be organised in villages, factories, professional unions, educational institutions and amongst particular disadvantaged groups like slum dwellers, garments workers or aborigines. Public legal education should also motivate the people to participate constructively in the creation of law, which has a pervasive influence on our society.
The whole idea of clinical legal education can go in vain if ethical side of legal profession is overlooked. Objective of clinical legal education is not merely to help students master the skills of lawyering and make them technically sound. In representing a client's case in the court, student lawyer must not resort to any means, which is morally condemnable, must avoid resorting to false witnesses and distortion of facts. While client's interest must guide his actions and efforts, ethical and moral values must also be upheld, for in that lies greater good of the society. In fact, in all the programmes that are linked with clinical legal education emphasis is always on the aspects of justice, protection of rights and progressive development of the society. While execution of these programmes requires moral and ethical motivation, successful implementation of the programmes will itself instill further ethical and moral values in the students.
Our legal education has so far been concentrating on the lawyering process and skills learning. To make legal education truly meaningful in the context of our social realities effort must be made without further delay to accommodate the remaining objectives in the clinical curriculum. This, very likely, will necessitate establishment of 'out-reach programmes' where students will have the opportunity to interact with 'real problems', whose resolutions they are expected to come up with. This will allow the students to reflect on whether justice can always be done by litigation.
The Constitution of Bangladesh in its preamble and Fundamental Principles of State Policy speaks about social justice, which is the key pillar of the Constitution. According to Article 15 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh it shall be a fundamental responsibility of the state to attain, through economic growth, a constant increase of productive forces of the people, with a view to securing to its citizens the provision of the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing shelter, education and medical care. But due to vicious circle of poverty, even after thirty-five years of independence these goals are yet to be achieved. High ideals of our liberation struggle as reflected in the constitution will continue to remain mere promises if we fail to ensure that every individual citizen has access to justice and access to the law- just law justly and equitably administered.
In the background of constitutional commitment and the societal needs, legal education must embrace a broad and comprehensive concept.

Updated profile of internal displacement in India

Updated profile of internal displacement in India: A Report by IDMC (http://www.internal-displacement.org/)

India: large numbers of IDPs are unassisted and in need of protection

Civilians have fled fighting and have sometimes been directly targeted by militant groups in Kashmir, the North-East and in several states of eastern and central India. Insurgency and retaliatory operations by security forces are the major immediate cause of conflict-related displacement in India. A majority of the internally displaced people (IDPs) have not been able to return for several years, due to either protracted conflicts or unresolved disputes over land and property. One example is India’s largest group of internally displaced, the Kashmiri Pandits who have been fleeing the Kashmir Valley since 1989 due to persecution, killings and massacres. Thousands more have languished in relief camps in Assam since the early 1990s, while more than 5,000 families remain displaced after the communal violence that erupted in Gujarat in 2002. (...)


For Full Overview please click the following: (html/pdf)
Full Internal Displacement Profile

A brief report of the incident that took place in Sanischare Camp in Nepal from 22 February 2007

BRDSCC

The question that we shall like the readers to ask and reflect after they have read this piece: Who are responsible for this spread of hatred? Can the situation persist like this? Will the Committee Report’s findings help in quelling the hatred brewing amongst the locals for the refugees? There is perhaps a need for building trust between the two communities. Exactly how shall that be done is again open to debate.

It has been reported that there was a hot discussion going on between two groups of the forest user committee near the northern side of the camp. One local woman came there with a basket load of firewood, which was immediately seized by the committee members and taken away amidst severe protest and use of abusive language by the woman. That time Thakur Sing Thapa (Magar) a Bhutanese refugee came to witness the scene who was caught hold by the committee and assaulted. He was taken towards the forest and on the mound a fire was lit and he was repeatedly thrust and brought out of the fire. This was seen by a group of refugee youths and they demanded that he be released. But they came up against them and a quarrel ensued which broke to a fighting. More people came in bicycles with sharp weapons and fighting continued. Meanwhile a police force was summoned and they started throwing tear gas at the refugees and most of them were only silently looking at the incident. Then while most of the people were nauseated, some local youths of Pathri penetrated into the crowd right inside the camp, cut the thigh of Gopal Khadka and then sliced his throat with a sharp weapon. He died on the spot. The locals used spear and sharp weapons and wounded many of the camp people who were unarmed and many mostly onlookers. The names of some of the wounded are as follows:
1. Name: Guna Raj Karki. 20-M
Add: Beldangi-2, D3/24
Presently studying at NHA School
Case: Deep cut with open injury (Lt) elbow joint.
2. Name: San Man Bhattarai. 17-M
Add: Sanischare camp, H4/08
Case: Deep cut injury (Rt.forearm)
3. Name: Aita Singh Magar. 15-M
Add: Sanischare camp, G6/45
Case: Deep cut injury and rib injury backside (Lt)
4. Name: Jit Bdr. Chauhan. 16-M
Add: Sanischare camp, G4/43
Case: Deep stab wound with rib injury back side (Rt) side
5. Name: Harka Bdr. Magar. 35-M
Add: Sanischare camp, G1/34
Case: Multiple Head injury with severe bleeding
6. Name: Thakur Singh Magar. 26-M
Add: Sanischare camp, J3/15
Case: Multiple Head injury with Haematoma
The above mentioned cases are referred immediately to AMDA Hospital, Damak on date 22/2/07
Incident of the second day i.e. on 23rd of February 2007 compiled below.
On 23rd morning, a group of locals from Jirikhimti side entered the camp with sharp weapons and torches to kindle the huts of the refugees in Sector J and K from road side and the refugee youths defended and did not allow them to enter the camp. Pelting of stones continued throughout the day. The police reached the scene towards the late afternoon and there was a confrontation with the locals of the Pathari bazaar. One youth from that side caught hold of a gun of a constable and fired at the refugees by which two old refugees were wounded. After that, the locals of Pathari set fire to the two huts of sector K2. Hut no 19 and 21 which were completely burnt and hut nos 20, 34 and 04 were partially burnt and damaged. Since then curfew was imposed in the camp area.
A team of five people including camp secretary went to Belbari at 5.30 p.m. for a discussion and solution of the problem. The discussion had to be fixed for the next day at 11.00 a.m. as the Sanischare local representatives were not present. The next day the meeting started at 3.00 p.m. and the CDO, deputy CDO, SP of Morang, and UNHCR Security Officer were present. The presence of National political party leaders and the camp secretaries of other six camps were denied by t he local agitators. The following points were put forward by the members present:
Shifting of the camp to another place.
Verification of the loss and compensation.
Verification of the death, compensation and action on the culprit.
Treatment of the injured and compensation for the disable.
The CDO proposed to make a committee comprising of nine representatives to start the work of fact-finding and the committee should submit the report within 15 days. He also said that the Govt. would provide necessary treatment of the wounded in Koshi Hospital and Dharan BPKHS. For the first point he said that he would forward the proposal to the Government. The representatives for the investigating committee are as follows:
Two representatives from the camp.
Two representatives from Pathari bazaar.
Two representatives from Sanischare Forest user group.
One representative from the Govt.
One representative from the Human Rights.
One representative from the UNHCR.
The names of the members of the committee were to be given to the CDO the next day but the committee could not be formed as fresh agitation against the local administration started next day morning from Pathari Bazaar. Since then the situation with regards to camp operation is getting more difficult.
The people who were shot during the police intervention are:
1. Name: Dilli ram Dungana 68-M
Add: Sanischare Camp B2/25
Case: injury at right buttock Pearsed bullet.
He is transferred to Ghopa Hospital at Dharan.
2. Name: Karna Bahadur Poudyel 48-M
Add: Sanischare camp, K-1 # 50
Case: Pierced bullet injury (Lt.) arm
(These above two cases were directly referred to Koshi Zonal Hospital at Biratnagar on February 23, '07 with the help of the security force).
3. Name: Mr. Jeeten Budathoki 20-M
Add: Sanischare Camp: H-1 # 15
Case: Conjunctival Haemorrhage (lt. Eye) with cellulites.
This was referred to AMDA hospital in Damak.
4. Name: Gopal Khadka 23/M
Add: Sanischare camp, F1/01
Case: Deep cut injury Nape/ Rt. thigh with severe internal bleeding (brought dead at 9.40 p.m.)
First aid management were provided to the following people in the camp:
1) Name: Lachu man Subedi 18/M
Add: Sanischare camp, J3/35
Case: Skull injury.
2) Name: Nikhita Kafley 3/F
Add: Sanischare camp, D2/46
Case: tear gas poisoning
3) Name: Mousam Rai. 5 ½/ M
Add: Sanischare camp, D2/44
Case: tear gas poisoning
4) Name: Sunil Rai 3/M
Add: Sanischare camp, D1/35
Case: tear gas poisoning
The ambulance movement to the camp was there in the early hours of 23rd Feb. But the movement to the camps was not allowed by the locals in the afternoon and on subsequent days. A delivery case was managed to be brought to the hospital only after three days. The dead body of Gopal Khadka who was killed on 22nd evening could not be removed from the morgue in Mangalbare till 25th evening as the near and dear ones could not be brought out of the camp because the locals had a clash with the police. Several requests to UNHCR and Govt. of Nepal and particularly police authority to provide conveyance for the family of the deceased was futile. The UNHCR and the agency concerned were ready to support and were constantly monitoring the situation. The leaders took a risk to send an ambulance via the village taking rough road to the camp and collected his relatives at about 5.30 p.m. on 25th of Feb. the cremation was carried out in Mai river and it took till 11.30 p.m. The relatives were escorted to the camp late in the night with the help of two ambulances taking the same route from the remote village. The police at Urlabari and Damak were informed about this but not asked to escort owing to the risk as the locals had a clash with them at Pathari.
For four days the ambulance could not go and 29 patients discharged in Biratnagar are stranded in Biratnagar without needful management. When these patients had conversation with the AMDA staff they were told that AMDA would not be able to send a vehicle but if the camp secretaries take the risk to take them they could do that. The patients requested the camp secretaries by telephone to help them to come to the camp. But the camp secretaries being refugees can only request the agencies concerned and the Govt. to provide necessary assistance which could not materialize. It is learned that the UNHCR is constantly requesting the govt. of Nepal to calm down the situation, so that the operation exercise is not hampered in camps.
There has been information from the camp since there is no vehicle movement to the camp there is no diesel to supply drinking water to the camp population. Therefore, UNHCR taking all support of the Government should take immediate action to solve this problem.
Please note that this information is received through the Camp Secretary and the Deputy Secretary of the Camp Management Committee, Sanischare camp. The report is checked and confirmed with BRDSCC members actively involved in the monitoring of the situation. The incident is somehow related to the inadequate assistances for the refugees like briquette in particular.
Finally the BRDSCC and the camp secretaries thank all the concerned for the initiative taken so far towards resolving the issue to this extent and further request to take an urgent action to provide security and protection to the refugees in present situation.

Census, Citizenship and Statelessness in Bhutan

Human Rights Organization of Bhutan (HUROB)

After the Nation wide census enumeration, which supposed to be the first of its kind in Bhutan funded by International agencies in May 2005 to determine the exact population, which hitherto remained guarded figure of the country, now another census in the southern districts is going on. The census this time is for issuing new citizenship card with more security measures making difficult for any duplication and invalidating the oldone. However, there are other ostensible motives behind the new citizenshipcard especially for the southern Bhutanese. There are reports that the new citizenship cards are not issued to the people of Category F5-F7 (F5-Bhutanese woman with non-Bhutanese husband, F6- Adoption and F 7-Non-Bhutanese). Moreover, the centre of census work is located at convenience of the department officials at the district head quarters and not in a place convenient to the public. Therefore, besides depriving ofcitizenship cards, people are being harassed, as many families in hordes have to walk two to three days with all necessary provisions to the headquarters. The whole family members have to stay and wait for turns several days and at the end some get it and others do not. There is strict scrutiny and if it is found that someone's relatives are livingin the refugee camps in Nepal or any adverse record of some family members orrelatives taking part in peaceful demonstration in 1990, they are not issued thecard. In addition, any mistakes in name and spellings that even would have been the mistakes of the government is denied correction and kept pending thus depriving citizenship card. Of course, unlike in the past census in 1989, no one is asked to leave the country immediately but definitely creating many stateless people and detection of them while on physical verification later will be evicted. According to our estimation suchpeople will constitue about 50000 that concurs with figure of non-Bhutanesedeclared by the government after the nation wide census and perhaps also is a pre-empted figure of southern Bhutanese to be evicted as the Bhutan government has plan just to keep about 28% of the total population. Other implication of the citizenship cards is that many of the southern Bhutanese will not get a chance to exercise their franchise in the coming first ever-democratic election in 2008. Not only that they will be further deprived of government opportunities as they already are, as they cannot produce No Objection Certificate (NOC), which is mandatory, and without citizenship card and adverse record they will not get it. The citizenship card is required even for admission of children in school. After the completion of census exercise and issuing of the cards, it is most thatevery one has to show the card while leaving the country and coming in addition to produce in the police and immigration check post within the country. This rule no doubt is to check the infiltration of outsiders but at the same time making freedom of movement difficult to Bhutanese who have no citizenship card. One should think what happens to their future generations. Bhutan is always on the prowl of reducing the southern hutanese though living in Bhutan for generations and contributing equally with other northern Bhutanese in nation building besides taking the responsibility of protecting the southern border as entrusted by the national assembly of 1958. The population of Bhutanwhile joining the UN in 1971 was projected as 1.4 million and that figure remained officially till the southern Bhutanese problem started in 1990. In early 1990's the figure suddenly came down to 600000. Now after the 2005 nation wide census the population is about 553000. Where the rest of the people in 35 years of time had vanished? Still there is an effort to reduce the figures. UNHCR and other agencies should be ready to receive these refugees in the future.

Reintegration of IDPs, Transitional Justice and Gender Issues in the Post-Conflict Situation

Shiva Dhungana

A talk programme was hosted by Friends for Peace (FFP), a research and resource centre working towards facilitating research and dialogue in the filed of conflict transformation and peace building in Nepal, on 23 January 2007 in Kathmandu. The talk programme was entitled Reintegration of IDPs, Transitional Justice and Gender Issues in the Post-Conflict Situation. The main speakers of the programme were Prof Ranabir Samaddar, Director of Calcutta Research Group (CRG), Dr Paula Banarjee and Dr Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, members of Calcutta Research Group. The programme was chaired by Mr Laxman Prasad Aryal, FFP Chairperson and Coordinator of Interim Constitution Drafting Committee and Former Justice of Supreme Court and moderated by Mr D B Gurung, Executive Director of FFP. The programme was attended by around 40 people representing various sections of civil society, academics, NGO and INGO representatives, human rights activists and researchers.
Prof Samaddar introduced the Calcutta Research Group and its activities. He spoke on the issue of reintegration of IDPs with special reference to the recently concluded research project “Voices of IDPs in South Asia”. He mentioned that the IDPs form the invisible populations of South Asia as they are not visible in the eyes of policy makers. He also highlighted the issues and challenges of IDP reintegration in a society where the society itself is not integrated. He also emphasized that the rights of IDPs in the transitional phase should be ensured otherwise the conflict can resurface again as happened in Sri Lanka. He suggested that a durable peace could be attained through intensive discussion among many layers of society not just by top leaders.
Similarly, Dr Basu Ray Chaudhury spoke on the various aspects of transitional justice and its relevance in a conflict-ridden society like Nepal. He also highlighted the importance of reintegration and reconciliation in post conflict situation, where bitterness between the victims and their perpetrators in the conflict days could increase in the transition period. He suggested that the return of peace with justice to the people is a necessity for durable peace. He also said that the narrowing of differences through dialogue could make transitional justice effective
Dr Paula Banerjee spoke of the plight of women, children and other marginalized population of the society. She said that women were specially targeted by the warring parties and they were always at the front to face the consequences of the conflict. She claimed that most of the burdens were heaped on women's shoulders during the conflict. She emphasized that women's voices should be heard while transforming conflict into durable peace in most conflict situations.
FFP chairperson Mr Laxman P Aryal said that the reintegration of IDPs is important in Nepal at this juncture of political development and the proposed Truth Commission will address these problems soon.
The presentations were followed by an intensive discussion focusing on IDPs, Bhutanese refugees and various issues related to transitional justice and gender issues with special reference to the conflict in Nepal.

Trafficking of girls in Nepal

Trafficking
Nepal and Bangladesh are the main source countries in south Asia for trafficked children. (Masako Iijima, "S. Asia urged to unite against child prostitution," Reuters, 19 June 1998)
The trafficking of girls from Nepal into India for the purpose of prostitution is probably the busiest 'slave traffic' of its kind anywhere in the world. (Tim McGirk, "Nepal's Lost Daughters, 'India's soiled goods," Nepal/India: News, 27 January 1997)
In Nepal, trafficking has become a highly profitable business, with high profile political connections. Nepali, Bangaldeshi and Pakistani women are trafficked to India, and through India they are trafficked to Eastern Europe and Saudi Arabia. (Interview with Meena Oudel, Programme Coordinator of Oxfam Nepal, 18 March 1998)
More than 9,000 girls are trafficked each year from Nepal and Bangladesh into bondage in India and Pakistan, often with the acquiescence or cooperation of state officials. (http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news/press/releases/22_april_1998-0.shtml, 22 April 1998)
Every year around 10,000 Nepalese girls, most between the age of nine and 16, are sold to brothels in India. (Tim McGirk, "Nepal's Lost Daughters, India's soiled goods," Nepal/India:News, 27 January 1997)
7,000 Nepalese women and girls are trafficked for prostitution to the Asia Pacific area. (Statement of the CATW - Asia Pacific and Philippine Women's Groups, 4th International Congress on AIDS in the Asia Pacific, 29 October 1997)
5,000 Nepalese women are trafficked into India yearly. There are now 100,000 Nepalese women in India in prostitution. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
More than 200,000 Nepalese girls are involved in the Indian sex trade. (Tim McGirk "Nepal's Lost Daughters, 'India's soiled goods," Nepal/India News, 27 January 1997)
Nepalese women who are trafficked and prostituted in debt bondage in India's sex industry are forced to work longer hours and have more clients than local women. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Hong Kong is the second biggest market for trafficked Nepalese women. (CATW - Asia Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific)
Methods and Techniques of Traffickers
In Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka child marriage is accepted, and considered the best method to procure girls for prostitution. (Indrani Sinha, SANLAAP India, "Paper on Globalization & Human Rights")
Parents sell their daughters and husbands get rid of their young unwanted wives for US$200 to $600. Depending on her beauty, a girl can fetch anywhere from less than a water buffalo, to slightly more than a video recorder. Organizers in rural areas, brokers and even family members sell girls. Husbands sometimes sell their wives to brothels. (Tim McGirk, "Nepal's Lost Daughters, 'India's soiled goods,"Nepal/India News, 27 January 1997)
In Nepal, there is a system, called "deukis," where by rich childless families buy girls from poor rural families and offer them to the temples as though they were their own. These girls are forced into prostitution. In 1992, 17,000 girls were given as deukis. (Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Special Report on Violence Against Women, Gustavo Capdevila, IPS, 2 April 1997)
Every year between 5,000 and 7,000 Nepalese girls are trafficked into the red light districts in Indian cities. Many of the girls are barely 9 or 10 years old. 200,000 to over 250,000 Nepalese women and girls are already in Indian brothels. The girls are sold by poor parents, tricked into fraudulent marriages, or promised employment in towns only to find themselves in Hindustan's brothels. They're locked up for days, starved, beaten, and burned with cigarettes until they learn how to service up to 25 clients a day. Some girls go through 'training' before being initiated into prostitution, which can include constant exposure to pornographic films, tutorials in how to 'please' customers, repeated rapes. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998)
Trafficking in women and girls is easy along the 1,740 mile-long open border between India and Nepal. Trafficking in Nepalese women and girls is less risky than smuggling narcotics and electronic equipment into India. Traffickers ferry large groups of girls at a time without the hassle of paperwork or threats of police checks. The procurer-pimp-police network makes the process even smoother. Bought for as little as Rs (Nepalese) 1,000, girls have been known to fetch up to Rs 30,000 in later transactions. Police are paid by brothel owners to ignore the situation. Girls may not leave the brothels until they have repaid their debt, at which time they are sick, with HIV and/or tuberculosis, and often have children of their own. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998)
The areas used by traffickers to procure women and girls are the isolated districts of Sindhupalchow, Makwanpur, Dhading and Khavre, Nepal where the population is largely illiterate. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998)
Health and Well-Being
Nepalese girls, trafficked and sold into prostitution in India, are abandoned when they become infected with HIV. (Robert Hardman, "Prince brings hope to Nepal’s rescued sex slaves," London Telegraph, 9 February 1998)
Of the 218 Nepalese girls rescued in February 1996 from a Bombay police raid, 60-70% of them were HIV positive. (Tim McGirk "Nepal's Lost Daughters, 'India's soiled goods,"Nepal/India News, 27 January 1997)
NGO Action
The exploitation of Nepalese women and girls may never end. "[F]or some there is too much easy money in it, for others there's nothing to be gained by lobbying for its abolition. But surely, for now, it can be monitored. Its magnitude can be lessened," says Durga Ghimire, chairperson of a 98-NGO-strong pressure group National Network Groups Against Trafficking. She feels that the alarmingly low rates of female literacy, coupled with the traditionally low status of the girl-child in Nepal have to be addressed to tackle the problem. Gauri Pradhan of Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN) emphasizes the need for collaboration by the two governments on this issue. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998)
There are several shelters run by various Katmandu-based NGOs working against trafficking and towards rehabilitation of girls who manage to escape or are rescued from Indian brothels. This is not easy work. Relatives of the rescued girls generally don't want them back and Nepal's government is worried about the spread of HIV, as many of the trafficked girls have contracted HIV while enslaved in India. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998)
"The Selling of Innocents" is an Emmy-award winning documentary that tells the stories of trafficked Nepalese children and the filmmaker, Ruchira Gupta, says elimination of sexual exploitation is perhaps the only way to end this human rights violation. "It's a long haul, we've to change and challenge society. The trafficking and the trade are getting institutionalised, it's a modern form of sexual slavery," she warns. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998)
Official Response and Action
139 prostituted Nepalese girls were rescued through a police raid in Kamatipura, India and were then repatriated to Katmandu. (Soma Wadhwa, "For sale childhood," Outlook, 1998)

South Asian Experiences of the Right to Return

Paula Banerjee and Ranabir Samaddar

Refugees enjoy very few rights but one of the most intrinsic rights for a refugee is the right to return. Although much debated internationally the right to return is most clearly enshrined in the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) under its provisions on the right to freedom of movement (Article 12.4) which says that No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country. But this right has often proved to be a chimera. This paper will explore South Asian experiences of displaced peoples right to return. On the basis of three case studies the paper will portray that from its inception South Asian states have denied displaced people the right to return.In fact it has acquired nation form on the basis of such denials.
Perhaps the first group of people whose right to return was denied by a South Asian state were the Indian emigrants who travelled abroad in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to work as plantation labourers. All through the nationalist period the fate of these labourers in their country of domicile was a rallying point for Indian leaders to portray the dark side of foreign rule. There was constant reiteration that they state was responsible for all the people who were born in India. Yet during the legislative assembly debates in 1944 the leaders came to a consensus that these émigrés rightfully belonged to their country of domicile and not in India. Unlike nationalists during the colonial period, the leaders of the post-colonial State formation project no longer looked forward to the return of the emigrants who were slowly being considered as foreigners.
South Asian independence was accompanied by a blood bath.The partition of India and Pakistan resulted in two million deaths and about 15 million people were displaced. Most of the refugees were lucky enough to get domicile and often citizenship in their country of domicile. Yet problem arose over the issue of return. In peoples memory their Desh (country) was where they were born. But once displaced they did not have the right to return even when they so desired. South Asian states passed legislations whereby property of the displaced were confiscated by the state and treated as enemy property. So the home that they wanted to go back to remained only in their own imagination.
One often hears the argument that because partition refugees have got an alternate citizenship they have lost the right to return. In South Asia there are however, other groups of refugees who remain as stateless people and yet they are denied the right to return. This paper will discuss two such groups of refugees: the Chakmas (Jumma people) and the Bhutanese. The Chakmas form part of the great Tibeto-Burman language family. The jungles of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) are home to several such Tibeto-Burman tribes, among whom Chakmas and Marmas are the largest and they are collectively called the Jumma people. The 1935 Government of India Act defined the hills as a “Totally Excluded Area”, taking it out of Bengal’s control. The first political blow suffered by the Chakmas was when their territory was placed within East Pakistan although they wanted to remain within India. During the 1971 war for Bangladesh’s liberation, the CHT population backed the Mukti Bahini against the Pakistani army. The following year, Manobendra Larma, who had been elected to the national parliament from the Hill Tracts, called on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with a delegation in order to place Chakma concerns on the new nation’s political agenda. As it became clear that Shiekh Mujibur and the new establishment he represented were in no mood to listen, Mr Larma set up the Jana Sanghata Samiti as a political group, and later, its armed wing, the Shanti Bahini. The Jumma people have been consistently displaced from the CHT by the machinations of first the East Pakistan government and then the Bangladesh state. In 1964 when the Kaptai Dam was built over 30,000 development refugees cane to the Lushai and Cachar Hills in India because the East Pakistani government refused to pay them any compensation. Later in the 1970s and 80s the CHT became the site for enormous violence and the Bangladeshi government began its draconian policies to contain any protest whereby over 80,000 Jumma people were displaced. Repatriation talks between the Bangladesh authorities, the Indian Government and the Chakma leadership have continued over the past many years and an accord was signed in 1997 but yet the Chakmas could not return. Those who returned found their land taken by Bengali settelers and so they could not be resettled and many became refugee for another time. The present Bangladesh government is ambivalent about its attitude to Chakma refugees and so many, who are remaining in India have no hope of going back.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Bhutanese government introduced a series of repressive citizenship laws and “Bhutanization” policies that focused on the political, economic, and cultural exclusion of ethnic Nepalese living in southern Bhutan. The Citizenship Acts of 1977 and 1985 included several provisions permitting the revocation of citizenship. The government began enforcing the 1985 Act in a discriminatory manner through a 1988 census, resulting in the mass denationalization of thousands of Bhutanese of Nepali origin in violation of international human rights law. In the early 1990s, the Bhutanese government crushed resistance by ethnic Nepalese and others who protested against the policies through large public demonstrations and called for a multi-party democratic system. The government closed schools and suspended health services in southern Bhutan. Members of the Bhutanese police and army imprisoned, raped, and tortured many of those who were directly, indirectly, or incorrectly presumed to be associated with the demonstrations. Government forces also destroyed houses and forced many ethnic Nepalese off of their lands. International NGOs began operations to aid the Bhutanese refugees, and in 1991, the government of Nepal and UNHCR established refugee camps. By mid-1994, approximately eighty-six thousand refugees resided in the camps. Since then many of these people have been agitating so that the international refugee regime recognise their right to return. Only recently the Government of Bhutan and the Government of Nepal have agreed to discuss the repatriation of some refugees but their terms of reference are such that it will deny the right to return to the overwhelming majority.
The paper will discuss these cases and try to analyse what makes the right to return a chimera. It will bring in this context the need for a political study of places and communities in violent South Asia. Such a study will show the gap between how we live and what we idealise, the gap that is a paradox, produced by the most extra ordinary juxtaposition of nationalising polities by fictive ethnicities, a homogenous citizenship, and the claims to pluralism, democracy, and accommodation. Which then is South Asia’s political history? How is this history predicated by aliens, half-citizens, exiles, refuge, temporary shelters where citizens pass away their lives, illegal immigrants, - in short, the non-state persons who are beyond the pale of citizenship rights, and who are not even the proper subjects of the international law on non-state persons? The focus in any discussion on the right to return of citizens expelled has to be thus on the need to move away from the classical theories of sovereignty, democracy, State, and citizenship, and take the exile, the alien, the displaced (both internally and trans-border), and the half-citizen as the central figure of the politics in South Asia, the figure who is with us like the eternally accompanying shadow, so normalised that we forget its existence which we have taken for granted. In this physical milieu of expulsion, de-enfranchisement, and nationalisation, the right to return is at once the most crucial question and the most hallucinatory claim.
The main question simply will be: Can we realise this right in the present state system? What can be the juridical rules of a right to return that nullifies the right to expel? And what can be the possible politics where accommodation can take the place of marginalizing places, names, communities, bodies, and existences? In a situation where expulsion of peoples is the norm rather than being an exception, where the pure space of exception has got to be de-naturalised, that is to say be returned to its status of being an exception, what can be the politics of an exile?

Is the Right to Return a Symbolic Right?

Shreyashi Chaudhuri

The term Right to return reflects a belief that members of an ethnic or national group have a right to immigration and naturalization into the country that they, the country, or both consider to be that group's homeland, without prior personal citizenship in that country. This belief is sometimes reflected in special consideration in a country's immigration laws which facilitate or encourage the reunion of a diaspora or dispersed ethnic population.
The phrase right to return has several dimensions. The right to return seems to be very elementary and simple. But when the specific context and specific groups are considered it becomes important to think whether this right to return is applicable or should be applicable. The question of right to return in Sri Lanka and in many countries evolves from the perspective of national security and economic burden. Till the 1960s the uprooted people from East Pakistan dreamt that one day they would go back. But they cold never do so and their vulnerability remained. Therefore along with the right to return unless and until the security of life is ensured the right to return cannot b exercised. Once a group of people is displaced from a place the place does not remain unoccupied. This also restricts the right to return. Seroius problems can arise when internally displaced persons are compelled to return to unsafe areas or to areas where they do not wish to reside. Sudan offers an example: the government has forcibly moved the displaced from Khartoum to outlying areas where they are neither part of the urban community nor in their own natural setting. In Peru the government provides assistance only to those internally displaced persons who return to their original homes. In Sri Lanka assistance has been used to induce returns, but to its credit the government has adopted guidelines against physical coercion.
The provision of protection upon return also requires special attention. They may find their homes, land and personal property taken by others and no functioning judicial system to resolve disputes. Another problem returnees may face are land mines. In Mozambique these have killed more than 10,000 displaced persons over the course of the return and resettlement program. The Guiding Principles prohibit the deployment of land mines owing to the danger they pose to internally displaced and other civilians both during hostilities and after their conclusion.

Literary Reflections of Migration in Assamese Literature Particularly in Reference to late Umakanta Sarma

Pritima Sharma

The growth of indigeneous population suffered a very serious and violent setback in the early part of the 19th century when three Burmese invasions of Assam took a heavy toll of Assamese life .Assamese population was completely massacred by the invading Burmese forces . The last being in the third decade of the 19th century . Practically the land of Assam became a graveyard of Assamese population . As a result a great famine in 1825 occured and in 1826 on the basis of Yandaboo Treaty Assam was taken over by the Britishers . That a major chunk of agricultural and residential land lying vacant was itself a source of attraction for the advent of outsiders particularly neighbouring East Bengal Muslim communities from the region of Myamansingh. Since then the migration continued to remain unabated till today . The then Bengal sent over half migrant to Assam . Some from Chotanagpur ,Bhagalpur etc. A great majority of population were garden coolies or agricultural labour who crossed the agricultural land .
In the Gazetteer of Bengal and Northeast India edited by Gait and Ellen the following information is sound . The whole of increase since 1991 was due to immigration for the number of persons born and enumerated . Since then the growth of immigrant population has changed the democratic pattern of Assam’s population .
In Assamese literature this issue of migration forms an important theme among most of the novels . Among the novelist , Late Umakanta Sarma has elaborately delineated this theme in most of his novels .This paper looks into the novels of Umakanta Sarma where migration forms the core issue .
TheMythical ‘Bharanda’ of the ‘Panchatantra’ is the bird with two heads and a single body. Once one head found a luscious fruit and ate it up alone without sharing it with the other head. In the quarrel that ensued, the other head, out of spite, ate a poison fruit which killed the bird itself. This mythical allegory is used by novelist Umakanta Sarma to depict ground reality of present Assam in his novel ‘Bharanda pakhir jak’, 1992 (Flocks of Bharanda birds). The delicate relationship and the grounds of conflict between Bodos and Assamese constitute the theme of this magnificient novel . Then follows another novel Megar Sa ( the shadow of floating clouds ) which dealt with the lives of the poor and the marginalized who are displaced .
In “Ejak Manuh and Ekhan Aranya ”(A group of people and a forest ) in 1986 reflects a massive opus on the beginning of the tea plantations with bonded labourer in the colonial age . Labourers are the main protagonist in this work and the novel is truly their story . The ethnic conflict and the loss of cherished communal values reflect in his minor works . Kajolir Rog ( ailments of kajoli) his last novel is based on migration of hard working Maimanshingia peasants from East Bengal to Assam and the resultant problems .This novel gives a strong social message and showed how migration has changed the democratic pattern of Assam’s population .

Displacement in Jharkhand

Rajni Soren

This paper looks into the displacement caused by development projects in the state of Jharkhand and shows how the people most in need of protection are displaced, and how in cases where displacement was essential for mining purposes no proper rehabilitation of the affected people has taken place.
In view of the long history of the systematic deprivation of the tribal people of their rights over the land and natural resources that had been theirs for years, various legislations have been passed to secure the land rights of the tribal people.
One of the most important legislations of recent times, which protects the rights of the tribal people over their land and the natural resources, is the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. Extension of the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution to the scheduled areas through this Act seeks to ensure effective participation of the tribal people in the process of planning and decision-making by laying down provisions to be followed by the State Legislatures. The Act is laudable for the fact the fact that it does not treat citizens as mere objects of development decisions, and makes them a part of the development process.
The provisions laid down aim to achieve a very noble goal, but there is lack of information on the state of implementation of the Act, the experiences of the government and non-government agencies have not been documented nor have they been subjected to
systematic research, there is need to know how far the Gram Sabha and Panchayats have been able to exercise control over government schemes, what are the mechanisms developed by them to manage natural resources, and how have the Panchayats and the Gram Sabha been able to protect and conserve their customs and traditions. In spite of the importance of the act in the process of empowerment of the people in the scheduled areas, panchayat elections have not been held in Jharkhand ever since the creation of the new state.
However in spite of the principle of protecting the land rights of the tribal people, the state still has the supreme right to acquire land irrespective of the fact whether the land lies within the scheduled areas as specified in the constitution.
The right of eminent domain is the right of the State through which it asserts its dominion over any parcel of the soil of the State on account of public exigency and for public good. The legislations based on this principle are the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957; Atomic Energy Act, 1962 etc. and the most important of all being the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.
The Land Acquisition Act seeks to achieve acquisition and not confiscation. Two inbuilt conditions namely the right of the owner to receive compensation and acquisition of land solely for public purpose are embedded in the law, however other than the problems with regard to implementation of the Act such as payment of compensation, there are several inbuilt drawbacks in the Act.
The most glaring drawback of the Land Acquisition Act is that it contains no provisions for rehabilitation, it only provides for monetary compensation which does not in any way guarantee a normal life for the displaced people and the monetary compensation in no way compensates to raise the standard of living of the people. The compensation is only given for the value of the land, however when displacement occurs in the scheduled areas the question is not just about land, because the inhabitants of these areas depend on the forest for more than fifty per cent of their food and other needs. Thus monetary compensation is not the solution and more so when the displacement occurs in the scheduled areas since the land acquisition act does not take into consideration the special conditions involved. Another major blemish of the Land Acquisition Act with regard to the tribal people is that it only recognizes legal rights and does not recognize customary rights such as that of nomads, fisher folk etc. for grant of compensation.
Another ironical feature of the Land Acquisition Act is that it does not take into consideration the impact on various ongoing land reforms. There are no remedial measures provided to take care of these special cases for e.g. the case of a landless labourer who has been given agricultural land by the land reform plan of the government, but again loses land through acquisition for a development project.
The total number of people displaced in Jharkhand from the year 1951 – 1995 is 15, 03,017. Out of which 6, 20,372 belong to the scheduled tribe, 2, 12,892 belong to the scheduled caste and 6, 76,575 belong to other categories
In the name of development various large-scale industrial, mining, irrigation and power projects were launched in the state such as the Tata Iron and Steel Company, Heavy Engineering Corporation, Suber-narekha Dam Project, Chandil Power project etc. but the benefits arising out of these projects have only accrued to the big business houses and all that the displaced people have got is wages for providing manual labour required by these projects.
In fact besides causing displacement to enable mining activities, mining has resulted in displacement which has occurred due to the threat of disasters which may occur due to past or ongoing mining activities. The Jharia Coalfields are one such example. Because of unscientific and irregular development, extraction and abandonment of mines, the Jharia coalfields are facing the brunt of mine fire and subsidence. The impact of the development projects on the marginalized section is such that the environmental hazards threaten the very existence of the communities that have depended on natural resources and have preserved them for centuries.
Another major threat of displacement in the state of Jharkhand is the implementation of the Koel-Karo Hydro-Power Project. The Koel-Karo area is about 80 kms from Ranchi, it is in the south-west region of Ranchi district. The implementation of the project has been stalled for over three decades because of the tribal people’s movement against the project; it is one of the oldest power projects in the country. Initially during the year 1973-74, the people demanded the employment of the local people in the construction work of the dam. The people were then not informed of the submergence and the displacement that would result from the construction of the dam. After the people learned of the consequences they immediately stopped all construction work relating to the project in the year 1974-75. The people’s movement against the construction of the dam consolidated under the name of the organization ‘Koel-Karo Jan Sanghathana’, the movement has now been going on for over three decades.
The irony however is that the movement has not really entered into the mainstream national discourse. The reason for this is that the mainstream national media has not given sufficient coverage to this issue.
In spite of all the hope that with the implementation of various development projects development would take place in various sectors like infrastructure development, health, education etc. Jharkhand still ranks poorly in terms of most social and economic indicators. It can thus be said that industrialization in Jharkhand has in no way contributed to the well being of the tribal people and to raising their standard of living; it has only worsened the situation by displacing a large number of people and depriving them of their basic right of occupation of their lands, keeping in mind the limited means that the tribal people have to work their way up the socio-economic ladder.
The exploitation of the people over the years has resulted in widespread turmoil amongst the tribal people. In fact tribal politics in India, by and large can be described as the politics of resistance, a long struggle against the violation of tribal rights on water, forest and land. Various movements like the forest andolan in Singhbhum against the planting of teak and the commercialization of forests, movements against the construction of big dams like Koel-Karo, Subarnarekha are central to the politics in the state. The movement for the creation of the separate state of Jharkhand was to make way for local people to regain control over the resources of the state, however the government of Jharkhand with the industrial policy of 2001 is geared to follow the same path of so called development.
The recent signing of MoUs by the Jharkhand government indicates the fact that we are heading on the same path again. The government hopes through the Industrial Policy of Jharkhand 2001 that the downward filtration theory would work and industrialization would lead to the development of the state and the welfare of its people. However our past is witness to the fact that mere industrialization has never led to development, what is required is various measures by the government to lead the path to development. The Jharkhand government has signed about forty-two MoUs with several companies and needs about 60,000 acres of land for the various projects. The bringing of private players in to the state is no result of desiring development for national interest; it is only in the interest of the rich capitalist class who wish to make profits by making use of the cheap and abundant opportunity available in the state. Moreover the government has made such a big decision without putting into place a proper resettlement and rehabilitation policy. It is an irony that the miseries of the local people that was responsible for the demand and the creation of the new state, is only going to be furthered if the government goes ahead with its plan as laid down in the Industrial Policy 2001.
It is to be remembered that out of Jharkhands 22 districts, 12 fully and two partially comprise scheduled areas. Displacement of the tribal people in these areas require special attention, mere grant of monetary compensation as seen in the past does not guarantee the well being of the tribal people. What is required is the resettlement of the people and a guaranteed share in the benefits arising out of the development projects. The omission to do the same would be the failure of the State to uphold the constitutional goal of the welfare of the tribal people.
As stated earlier the Land Acquisition Act contains no provisions for rehabilitation of the displaced people and ironically the country till date does not have a central legislation to address the issue of resettlement and rehabilitation of the people affected by the various development projects, there however exists a National Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation (2004), without the backing of any legislative and statutory powers.
However there have been legislations with this regard in certain states though not holistic. In 1985 the Madhya Pradesh government enacted a law for resettlement and rehabilitation that did not apply to central government projects but to irrigation and power projects of the state, Karnataka also enacted a rehabilitation law in 1987 with the same limitations as that of Madhya Pradesh.
In the absence of a law on relief and rehabilitation, rehabilitation policies have been implemented from project to project, wherein the nature of rehabilitation depends on the voluntary undertaking of the company and does not depend on a set of rules and regulations which address the issues of the displaced people and this gives rise to several problems. For e.g. the NALCO Project in Damanjodi (Orissa), which has been set up decades ago, is yet to complete its rehabilitation activities properly.
Thus there is need to put into place a central legislation which provides for the resettlement and rehabilitation of the people displaced by development projects all over the country, keeping in mind that it is the lowest wrung of society that is affected by it and unless this basic right is protected every effort made to improve the socio-economic condition of the downtrodden is futile. The reason for the absence of such an important enactment is obviously lack of political will. The near future doesn’t seem to be bright either, the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA government does not speak of rehabilitation of the people affected by development projects.
The recent turn of events raises the important issue of displacement in the scheduled areas, which have been protected by the Constitution and the land rights of the tribal people, which have been protected by various legislations. The question that arises is whether it would be just to displace the tribal people for development projects, which do not in any way contribute to their well being, as has been seen in the past.
Acquiring land for development projects without providing for resettlement violates the basic rights of the tribal people, displacing the tribal people without providing for their resettlement deprives them of their basic right of occupation of their land which results in several problems like deprivation of their means of livelihood, migration to other places in search of work and living in poor conditions there, all of this just goes to show that displacement worsens the current position of the people. Since the need to provide special protection to the tribal has been recognized it would be an irony that when they are made to sacrifice to contribute for national development, their rights are completely violated and they are deprived even of their due basic r

Echoes of the Participants in the Guwahati Workshop on Rethinking Rights, Justice and Development in India

April 20-23, 2006

The papers presented in the conference ‘Rethinking Rights, Justice and Development in India’ give an insight into the prevailing conditions of violation of basic human rights of various groups of people by the state itself and also by militant organizations because of ethnic conflict.
The papers in common go on to show how the most vulnerable groups like the poorest of the poor, the tribal people, people affected by natural disasters, workers in the unorganized sector have to bear the brunt of the failure of the state to provide good governance when in fact it’s priority should be to safeguard the rights of these most vulnerable sections of society.

Rethinking Rights, Justice and Development in the Northeast; A Reflection on Nagas Experience
by Imcha Imchen
This presentation looks into the Nagas’ demand for complete autonomy and secession from the Union of India. The writer in order to facilitate an understanding of the issue provides an insight into the history of the Naga Homeland, and the injustice and problems faced by the Naga people. The entire Naga Homeland had been arbitrarily divided into various states for administrative purposes without the consent of the people in the colonial regime. The Myanmar and the Indian government instead of rectifying this legitimized the divisions. The Naga Homeland was divided and half of it now lies in Myanmar and half in India. In India the Nagas are further spread over Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. The Nagas had declared their independence on 14 August 1947 and when the Union of India was formed in 1950 on the voluntary basis, the Nagas chose not to join. The writer thus says that the Nagas have a right to complete independence. The writer also looks into the misuse of the ‘Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958’ by the army and how it has led to gross violation of basic human rights. According to the writer one of the fundamental reasons why the people in the northeast feel alienated is the attitude of the central government towards development in the northeast, however he also blames the local politicians for the misuse of the development funds. The writer has acknowledged the support being provided to various movements in the northeast by civil societies and intellectuals and also stresses its importance. Attention is drawn to the fact as to how the whole Naga movement has undergone a change from an earlier demand, which completely overlooked India to now where negotiations are being carried with the central government. Finally the writer states that the various problems in the northeast have different solutions because of different demands – while certain states want more autonomy while others want more attention in terms of development, however neither of the two would be the solution to the Naga problem since the Nagas want complete independence.

Displacement in West Bengal
By Nandini Basistha
This paper looks into the irony of ‘Development’ wherein for the so-called overall development of society, the basic rights of the most vulnerable groups are violated.
Like most other governments, the government of West Bengal too views industrialization and modernization as the most important means of development and so to encourage this large scale displacement has occurred for building dams, highways, airports, new towns etc. Urban planning in Kolkata has led to the displacement of the poorest of the poor e.g. the ‘New Town’ Project of Rajarhat has displaced small and landless farmers and fisherman. It is alleged that dams which have caused widespread displacement have failed the purpose for purpose for which they were constructed i.e. control floods, it is claimed by residents that over the years the intensity of floods in the lower Damodar has increased. Thus in the name of development thousands of people have been deprived of their basic right to shelter and livelihood. India being a welfare state ought to provide economic security for the population by providing for the people when they are unemployed, ill or elderly. Instead of doing so, in spite of the unemployment rate being high, the government of West Bengal resorted to evicting hawkers from streets. In 1996 ‘Operation sunshine’ evicted 24000 hawkers. It even led to some of them committing suicide. Thus the so-called development process involves the violation of the rights of the most vulnerable groups of people.

The Question of Democracy in Manipur
By Ayangbam Shyamkishor
This article looks into the failure of representative democracy in Manipur in every aspect.
In spite of over five decades of democracy in Manipur, accountability, transparency, responsibility, peace, stability is still a far cry. The very foundation of democracy i.e. the election process is not carried on in accordance with law and is marked by practices like rigging and booth capturing, influence of muscle and money power. Another common practice is the boycotting of elections by various insurgent groups. The law and order problem in Manipur has been a perpetual one. In fact disorder and violence has become a way of life. The main reason for weak governance is the presence of a large number of powerful militant insurgent groups. It is alleged that the militant groups even overpower the government, to the extent that they collect taxes from government departments. In order to control insurgency the Armed Forces Special Power Act, 1958 has been imposed in the state. In spite of the several instances of its misuse by the armed forces, the army maintains that the repealing of the Act would render them powerless to deal with the problem of insurgency. In terms of the economy Manipur still remains by and large an underdeveloped state. Agriculture the mainstay of the economy is still dependent on rainfall. The state depends on other states for most of the essential items of consumption.
A sizeable percentage of the population lives below the poverty line and there is widespread unemployment. To add to the economic crisis the government of Manipur is running the state with deficits of hundreds of crores of rupees, all due to financial mismanagement. Corruption is rampant in the state, and is a major cause of discontent, which has given rise to the involvement of militant organizations in getting rid of the corruption in bureaucracy and government. Thus democracy in Manipur has failed to fulfill any of its objectives. It has failed to provide political stability, good governance, control corruption, promote accountability and above all establish rule of law. The successful working of democracy requires participation of people in the decision making process, electing responsible leaders; it requires responsible leaders who would work for the development of the state. It is essential for the development of the state, that its resources be used properly so as to put an end to unemployment and poverty. The problem of insurgency should be solved through peaceful negotiations and corruption must be checked in accordance with law.

Echoes from flash flood victims: A case study of Balbala flash flood
By Shahiuz Zaman Ahmed
This article presents a detailed description of the flash flood, which occurred between the 7th and 9th October 2004 and affected the areas of Krishnai, Balbala and Agai, and the various relief measures taken post flood, the writer finally puts forth suggestion with regard to such disasters in future. The flood-affected areas were low-lying areas and hence flood prone. However of late tremendous environmental changes had taken place around the area due to deforestation for several purposes. Another reason for the flood was that Pancharatna-Kamakhya railroad lacked sufficient culverts and bridges to pass water to the river Brahmaputra. The tributaries of various rivers had no proper embankments to check floods either. The flood caused tremendous destruction of human lives, settlements, flora and fauna. Villages were totally washed out. The efforts made by the Indian army did manage to save a lot of lives. The official records put the number of the dead as 218, however there are claims that the real figures are much higher. One important point with this regard is that a large number of the inhabitants of the flood-affected areas had come from other flood-affected areas earlier on, and hence as per UN’s guiding principles, these inhabitants were Internally Displaced Persons. Their names were not even recorded with the district administration, and hence their death was not even acknowledged and this went against the UN principles related to Internally Displaced Persons. Various relief measures were taken but they were far from sufficient. The writer makes a comparison between the flash flood and the tsunami and says how the flash received very less importance. The improper implementation of the monetary assistance scheme of the government has also been looked into as to how several victims and relatives of the dead have still not received compensation due to the corrupt officials. The Internally Displaced Persons who had resettled in the flood-affected areas were refused compensation because they were not registered with the local administration on the ground that they were suspected be illegal migrants, and hence had to face unnecessary harassment. The flood led to complete impoverishment of the people and rehabilitation measures by the government are a must. The health and living conditions of the people is much below reasonable standards and hence requires various measures by the government. The writer puts forth various suggestions to prevent such a disaster in the future: massive forestation, controlled deforestation, construction of embankments, setting up mechanisms to forecast such disasters etc. and most important of all issuing of identity cards to the IDP’s in the state so as to enable safeguarding their rights and to prevent depriving them of their rights because of doubt over their citizenship.

A Brief Study on Human Rights Violations in Wokha District and its adjoining areas
By Ayamo Kikon
This paper is a case study of violations of human rights in Wokha district (situated in the mid west of the state of Nagaland). Certain instances of human rights violations have been cited with a view to create awareness about such happenings. The first incident cited took place at Yimpang village on March 3, 1997. This particular incident is an instance of human rights violation by the armed forces. The NSCN armed opposition groups were taking shelter in the village. The 16th Rashtriya Rifles troops arrived at the village and fired indiscriminately and in the process a pregnant woman and two civilians were killed. The villagers were also mishandled by the armed forces. The second incident cited involved a bomb explosion in a passenger bus, which was bound for Wokha from Dimapur. In this incident several people lost their lives. Regular frisking and house checking are common practices associated with security operations. These security operations do not respect the privacy of the people and have caused great trauma to the local inhabitants.

Resisting Development: A Case Study of the Pagladia Dam Project
By Barnalee Chowdhury
Development based displacement is based on the premise that someone has to suffer if the nation is to prosper. However it is always the poor and the marginalized that are made victims in the process of development. The state is vested with unquestionable power to carry on development, however of late sections of society and the affected people have begun to question government decisions with regard to development. One such example is the movement against the Pagladia Dam Project, which is to be constructed at Thalkuchi village in Assam. It is a multi purpose project that aims to serve several development objectives. However at the same time the dam will submerge 38 settled villages thereby displacing a large number of people most of whom are tribal people. The Brahmaputra Board, which is the implementing agency of the project, has drawn up a Rehabilitation & Resettlement (R &R) package. The package however is not acceptable to the people for several reasons. As per the R & R only 18,473 persons will be displaced however the number exceeds much more than that. People who do not possess proper ownership documents will also not be entitled to compensation. Thus because of these grievances the people started a movement in the year 1968. The organization is called Pagladia Bandh Prakalpar Ksatigrastha Alekar Sangram Samiti. The other grievances of the people are that the place to be given to them for resettlement is already occupied by other people, and their entry may lead to conflict. Resettlement would scatter the people in different areas and it would result in community breakdown. It is also alleged that the land being given to them for resettlement is not that fertile. The dam would also submerge a lot of schools, religious institutions. The R & R package does not provide for sufficient reconstruction of the same. The people for the various reasons have protested against the government on several occasions, however these democratic protests have always been suppressed through violent means. Thus instead of addressing the grievances of the affected people the government brutally suppresses protests against it. The media has failed to give coverage to this issue, which involves the rights o f thousands of people. The movement is an example of how people have learnt to resist state action even if it is taken in the name of development, and thus going on to show that development processes can’t ignore the rights of those who are made to sacrifice for development.

Human Rights Issues in Tamenglong District of Manipur
By N.Atungbou
This paper looks into instances of human rights violations by the armed forces and the militant groups in the district of Tamenglong, which is located in west Manipur. Since the late 70s and 80s people in the district have been subjected to torture and violence because of the abuse of the Armed Forces Act by the Para-military forces. In 1997, in Tousem sub-division the Para-military personnel tortured the entire village. In 2000 the Jat regiment shot at nine persons. In 1993 an ethnic conflict broke out in the district between the Kukis and the Zeliangrong Nagas, it lasted for four years and several people died. The state government played a partisan role and failed to intervene and control the situation then. However in the course of time the conflict came to an end. There have also been several instances of violence by armed opposition groups.

The Internally Displaced Persons of Lower Assam
By Subhash Barman
This paper looks into the displacement caused due to the Bodo movement, in lower Assam. Amongst the various groups of victims, this paper looks at the special case of the Santals. The Santals of lower Assam are the ex-displaced of the colonial regime that were evicted from their homeland Chotanagpur and were brought to Assam to provide cheap labour for the plantations. The Santals have been marginalized over the years. The Bodo movement finally led to their complete deprivation. The Bodos are the largest tribal community of Assam. The Assamese high castes have always dominated the society, polity and bureaucracy in Assam and this led to the marginalization of the Bodos, which led to their demand for the division of Assam for the creation of a separate ‘Bodoland’. The movement turned violent and it finally led to legislation in 1993 and the Bodoland Autonomous Council was formed. However in the areas under the BAC, the Bodos did not form the majority and hence started the process of ethnic cleansing to create a Bodo majority. The marginalized sections and the Santals became targets of this ethnic cleansing. Initially the immigrant Muslims were targeted, later on the Santal peasants were primarily targeted. The cleansing was carried out by militant organizations. There were large-scale massacres in which about 1000 Santals lost their lives and about 2,50,000 were rendered homeless. The displaced have been living in the relief camps in Bongaigaon and Kokrajhar districts. The living conditions in these camps are miserable and unhygienic. The ration provided by the government is insufficient and there are no provisions for drinking water. There are no provisions for education or health facilities. Moreover there is no sufficient security arrangement and hence there is always the threat of attack by the militant organizations. The government has taken no measures to promote peace so that the displaced can return home. Other people have occupied the lands of the few who returned. The government has not done anything with this regard either.

Brus in Mizoram
By Irene Lalruatkimi
The Bru/Reang tribes were original inhabitants of Mai-an hill near the Chittagong Hill Tract, Bangladesh. They migrated from their homeland to Tripura from where they were ousted by the king and then they finally settled in Mizoram. The Brus were a minority in the state of Mizoram. Most of them were illiterate and hence the government of Mizoram took steps to uplift the Brus. The Christian missionaries too played a role in this regard.
Education gave rise to community consciousness amongst the Brus and they organized themselves into the Reang Democratic Convention Party in 1990, with a view to safeguard their culture, custom, language and to promote the development of the community. The political consciousness ultimately led to the demand for a separate autonomous district. This demand was not acceptable to the Mizos and they protested against this and thus began the tension between the Mizos and the Brus. The Bru leaders ordered the Brus to leave their homes. The Brus formed the militant group called the Bru National Liberation Front and carried out violent activities. Several Bru families left for Tripura. Brus from Assam and Manipur also joined them. The Mizoram government tried to convince the Bru refugees to return to their homes and also made arrangements for their rehabilitation and security. Under these conditions a few Brus returned, while the majority chose to stay in the Tripura refugee camps.

Land Alienation in Tripura – A Case Study of the Tribals
By Sushil Debbarma
This paper looks into the land alienation of the tribal people in Tripura. It looks into the failure of the state to prevent land alienation and how the state is in fact actively causing land alienation. The TLR & LR Act 1960, imposes restrictions on transfer of tribal land to non-tribals without prior permission from the collectors. There is also a provision for the restoration of tribal lands that were transferred to non-tribals on or after 1st January 1969. However in spite of the law a very few restoration cases have been disposed off, and most of the land that ought to have been restored, remains unrestored. A major flaw of the Act is that it does not recognize the customary shifting cultivation, and all such land is recorded as forestland. The government of Tripura has been using tribal land for the rehabilitation of the refugees. The Dhumbur/Gumoti hydel project in south Tripura has displaced a lot of tribal people, moreover most of these communities are Jhumians and have no land records and hence the rehabilitation policy did not benefit them.In 1948 the Swasti Samity, a cooperative society of the non-tribal landless farmers was set up. For the setting up of this society hundreds of tribals were evicted from their homes without any rehabilitation. It can be said that the state has not only failed to prevent land alienation of the tribals but is in fact actively responsible for it.

Internally Displaced Persons: Nagas in Manipur
By Pongdeila
This paper looks into the internal displacement of the Nagas in Manipur. The Manipur Nagas lived in the four hill districts of Chandel, Tamenglong, Ukhrul and Senapati. They were displaced from these districts because of the Naga-Kuki ethnic crisis, and the movement by the Meiteis to drive out the Nagas from Manipur. The violence directed against the Nagas led to their displacement. A few civil societies and organizations did take steps for their rehabilitation but it is alleged that the government suppresses various efforts made by them. The Nagas live in fear and doubt as to whether they can ever return to their homes.

Boom in the Construction Sector of Pune
By Manish Kumar
This paper looks into the miserable conditions under which the construction labourers work in the city of Pune, in spite of the fact that there has been a huge boom in the construction sector and the labour force is a major contributor to the growth of the city. The boom in the construction sector of Pune has come about because of the growth in the IT sector and Pune has been declared as a computer hub city. The second reason is the market hike. Lastly huge investments are being made because of increasing market demand and also because of the presence of black money in the economy. Indirect foreign investment is also being made. This growth in the construction sector has led to tremendous increase in the demand for construction workers. Migrant labourers from the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand have also increased. With the growth of the sector the problems faced by the construction workers have also increased. Men and women still don’t get equal pay for equal work. Occupation and social security is almost nil. Only a miniscule percentage of the builders provide safety measures like helmets, gloves. In fact facilities are not provided as should be as laid down by the Pune Municipal Corporation. Few builders provide group insurance, which has proved not to be too helpful either. There are no health care facilities available. There are also no facilities for the education of the children of the labourers. In the midst of all the profit that is being made, the major contributors are being denied their due basic share.

A case of rights and displacement on the subansiri lower
Hydroelectric power project (SLP)
By Tarikh Kamcham
This paper looks into the rights and displacement on the lower subansirihydro electric power cooperation (NHPC) Ltd.which lies on the inter state boundary between Assam and Arunachal pradesh . That is why there is a longstanding dispute between the two states over the land on which the project site is located. The subansiri lower hydroelectric power cooperation (NHPC) Ltd., which was under initial survey and investigation by the Brahmaputra flood control board (BFCB), was transferred to NHPC Ltd by the MOWR, GOI ON 23RDmarch 2000. Thereafter the project has been under the NHPC till date. The hon’blesupreme court of India, while according consent vide order dated 19thapril, 2004 to the MOWR, GOI for the forest and environmental clearance of the project, stipulated certain stringent conditions which interalia, included:
1) The reserve forest that forms part of the catchments of lower subansiri including the reservoir should be declared as national park \sanctuary.
2) There would be no construction of dam of upstream of the Subansiri River in future
The forest department government of Arunachal pradesh intimated the MOWR, GOI of the compliance of the state government, to the above conditions as recommended by Indian board for wild life. The order of supreme court had very serious implications upon the state government such as, immense difficulty involving huge displacement of indigenous people by virtue of declaration of national park / wild life sanctuary which would have far reaching socio politico economic ramifications .the execution of the project remained suspended as per the cabinet decision as the project is located in a sensitive boundary involving boundary dispute for which the matter is being heard by the honorable supreme court . This project remained suspended for a quite a long time till a long term settlement is materialized and a formal MOW is signed with the state government by the Nhpc Ltd.