Peoples' Tribunal on Restoration of Adivasi Homelands in Goa

Concept note

Date: April 11-12, 2009

Place: Menezes Braganza Hall, Panaji

Organised by: Gawda, Kunbi, Velip and Dhangar Federation (GAKUVED), Panaji, Goa.

Goa, a small state in Western India, was one of the earliest (and last) European colonies in India (1510-1961). It has a long history of community land ownership and management. Prior to 1961, when Goa joined the Indian Union, a large part of the state's "recovered" lands and hill tracts were owned by a community institution called the Communidade. The original settlers of the village called Gaunkars were occupiers of these lands before 1510.

In 1964, tenancy legislation was introduced in Goa. These land reforms gave security of tenure to tenants. Tenants were given the right to purchase land at fixed rates to convert their tenancy claims to ownership rights. This amounted to the virtual privatization of the Communidade lands, which were till then common property in the classic sense of the term.

The Constitution of India adopted in 1950, contained fundamental Rights on life, liberty and prosperity. Land is a subject which is there in the State list of the Constitution of India, 1950, It is Entry 18 in the State list Scheduled VII of the Constitution of India. Therefore, the right over land of a person is his constitutional right and the state must protect the same right of each citizen.

Tribal Land

Tribal people have been living in most inaccessible, interior arrears of our state and utilizing land, water and Forest for their basic survival. The nature of Command over these resources depends upon their traditional customary rights. The State Government does not recognize traditional customary rights sometimes. Tribal communities also resent the acquisition of their lands by the Government for establishing development projects.

Since independence, several mega projects, industrial and mining have come up in areas, which were under the occupation of tribal communities. Originally they were statutory rights before the emergence of the state and the ruling class. Before the emergence of the state and the ruling class, customary rights became more or less the statutory rights under the state. The UN document of 1966 defines customary rights as the rights to use or dispose off the rights over land. In the past most of the tribal settlement comprised members of a single clan who held land and forest resources as their own, in their habitat.

Land for others may be an object for agriculture but land for tribal is a part of larger socio-economic structure of the society, which is handed over from one generation to another as sources life sustenance.

Scheduled Tribes, which constitutes nearly 32% of the population of Goa (Official population of Goa is 12%) are the most marginalized and poor social group in the state, with majority are living below the poverty line.

During the last two decades in the name of development, tribal communities have been affected by land loss through alienation of plain lands to State and the Corporates and the hill slope land to the non-tribal including for mining companies.

The loss of land holdings by tribals has been a cause of concern with a number of laws being passed by both pre colonial state and pre-liberation state to check land alienation. These laws suffered from many shortcomings and were unable to check transfer of land from tribals to non-tribals including to corporates for industry, mining and real estate.

Adivasis are Goas' first settlers that established villages in diverse Geographical locations making land in Goa their homeland for many thousands of years. However various processes in the past 500 years have given rise to variety of onslaughts on their homelands. Some of the aspects of these complex issues are as under:

1. Forest cultivations and settlements: these include Forest villages as well as their cultivation rights inside Western Ghats forests. Nature of onslaught here includes government policies of classifying certain forests as reserved and as sanctuaries. Adivasi homelands are often partitioned with these prospects. Cultivations rights and grazing rights and sometimes even dwelling rights are often at stake.

2. Agriculture: Settled agriculture is one of the very important aspects of Adivasi homelands in Goa. However various development projects have launched increasing onslaught on these agricultural lands often preventing the communities from cultivation.

3. Khazan lands: Has been one of the unique features of adivasi homelands in Goa. Khazan lands are the reclaimed lands from the salty seas for the purpose of agriculture. However these lands targeted by various commercial interests like fishing by breaching of their protective walls and letting agricultural spaces get flooded with salty water thereby leaving fields uncultivable.

4. Horticultural Lands popularly known as 'Kulagars' though originally founded and maintained by adivasis the legal titles on these lands have been registered in somebody else's names. Even though labor is supplied by adivasis very often at exploitative terms surplus is taken away by somebody else. Also the land cultivation lands known as Bhatam suffered the same fate. Only difference is that former has beetle nut cultivation while the late has coconut cultivation. The former are in hilly terrains, the later are in plain lands.

5. River bed cultivation lands known as Puran Shethi especially in Sattari taluka has been submerged under the government sponsored irrigation schemes of constructing mini check dams over Mandovi River. These cultivation lands have been major source of food security that was done away with couple of years ago.

6. Industry located over adivasi lands in both the Industrial Estates as well as Industries outside it have been occupying adivasi lands in different parts of Goa. Lots of these lands have been taken over though legal instruments or though lease deeds with parties who were holding legal titles over these lands. Legal titles very often were achieved through collusion with erstwhile Portuguese colonial regime.

7. Open Cast mining activities have been threatening adivasi lands to various proportions. This is the case in Quepem, Sanguem, Sattari and Bicholim Talukas. Foreign trade of iron Ore and Magnesium is carried on the cost of invasion of adivasi homelands. Over 68,000 hectares of Goa's land including its forests are under mining leases granted during erstwhile Portuguese colonial regime.

8. Land takeover by other powerful section through codified Communidades is responsible for large scale attack on adivasi homeland. There are over 220 communidades in Goa that are responsible for large-scale transfer of lands away from adivasis mainly with collusion with the Portuguese colonial regime.

9. Adivasi lands capture by Devasthans is also the reality in Goa. Adivasi places of worship are captured and so are the community lands.

10. Church takes over of adivasi lands are also reality in Goa. Very often Church got these lands with the help of Portuguese colonial regime and after Goa Liberation of 1961 either sold to builders or leased to industry. Church never returned these lands back to the adivasis.

11. Adivasi Lands transformed into Mokaso lands, particularly in the Northern talukas of Bicholim and Sattari. Portuguese regime handed these lands to Ranes as a compromise package during Ranes revolt against Portuguese. Even though adivasis continue to labour on these lands, lands are in legal possession of Ranes and so the surplus is appropriated by Ranes. One of these Mokaso lands is even made available for commercial cash crop cultivation to Godrej for Palm Oil.

12. Adivasi homelands invasion real estate projects is the reality different parts of Goa. It is witnessed with most severity in villages in Tiswadi Taluka.

Adivasi homeland alienation includes all the above sections and probably even more that may come to the surface later. The one dozen points have listed as they have come to the forefront of the adivasi movement related to their home land questions in Goa.

In this back ground Peoples Tribunal has following objectives:

1. To bring about restoration of land rights of tribal communities in Goa.

2. To compel the State of Goa towards identification of Schedule areas in Goa.

3. To stop any future land acquisition of tribal territories.

4. Protection of tribal livelihood support systems

5. To ensure ecological sustenance of tribal communities in Goa.

6. Protection of tribal social, cultural and economic life in Goa.

7. Stop open cast mining activities in tribal belt of Goa.

Peoples Tribunal will focus on the cases of the following categories:

1. Tribal land under occupation of mining leases.
2. Tribal lands taken over by corporate for real estates and other purposes.
3. Tribal lands acquired by State for industrial estates.
4. Status of Tribal lands in draft Regional Plan 2021.
5. Tribal lands under the control of big private landlords.

The findings of the jury will then be widely circulated amongst the State Government Agencies, Central Government Agencies, Judicial Authorities, Human Rights Commission, Political Parties, Media etc for publicity, impact and action.