Stop extortion of tribals: Sonbhadra crusader

DUDDHI (SONBHADRA): It was in 2004 that Sukalo Gond first heard two slogans — Inquilab zindabad (Long live revolution) and Jo zameen sarkari hai, woh zameen humari hai (Public land belongs to the landless) — while attending a meeting organised by forest dwellers on land rights. The slogans became the motto of her life.

Fifteen criminal cases and two jail terms haven’t been able to deter Sukalo from crusading for tribal rights. “The slogans are the guiding principles of my life,” says the 55-year-old homemaker-turned-activist, a grandmother of five and the face of the forest rights movement in Sonbhadra.

Hailing from the Gond tribe, an illiterate Sukalo knows the Forest Rights Act, 2006, by heart. She has rote-learned provisions under the act that recognise tribal ownership of forestland by merely participating in debates and discussions.

“We are not begging, but demanding what is rightfully ours. Tribals have a natural right on forestland and its produce. It provides us with a decent living and enables our children to receive education,” says the activist who is a household name in the tribal belt here. Sukalo grew up seeing her father and grandfather being harassed by forest officials who extorted money even for allowing them to collect firewood and grass. Those who refused to pay were booked under forest laws. “Extortion continues even today. I want to ensure that my grandchildren don’t face the ordeal,” she told TOI, playing with her three-year-old grandson outside their thatched house in Majhauli village. The family ekes out a living from a small plot of land and by working as agriculture labourers.

Married at the age of 15, Sukalo spent 25 years of her life as a homemaker. She has four daughters, two of them are now married. She could not study, but all daughters cleared high school. Malaria claimed her 14-year-old son five years ago, courtesy poor health services.

For the past 10 years, the crusader has been on the move spreading awareness about forest rights among tribal dwellers in and around Sonbhadra and mobilising them for the struggle. Her work is now being recognised nationally. The All India Union of Forest Working People has made her a member of its executive council and civil rights groups invite her to talk about her struggle. So far, she has been to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Dehradun, Delhi and Kanyakumari.

Sukalo’s struggle has also been acknowledged by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav during his election rally here on May 12. He said her sufferings under the current administration had pained him a lot.

Akhilesh was referring to her arrest in June last year on charges of inciting violence in a 2017 protest for community rights under the act at Lilasikala village. The protest had turned violent when police took to caning tribals at the gathering. She was kept at Mirzapur district jail for five months and received bail only after the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission and Allahabad high court. “I had led a delegation to Lucknow to apprise the forest minister about our problems. On my way home, I was arrested with fellow activist Kismitia. We were not even present at the Lilasikala protest,” Sukalo said. Husband Nanha Ram said for three months, the administration did not provide the family any information about her whereabouts. “When human rights activists Teesta Setalvad and Roma Mullick approached the NHRC and high court, the administration admitted that she (Sukalo) was in jail,” he said. Incidentally, Sukalo was first sent to jail in June 2015 by the then Akhilesh Yadav government.

“It was not his (Akhilesh’s) fault though. Chacha Shivpal (Yadav), who was then irrigation minister, ordered a crackdown on all those who protested against displacement of villagers due to construction of the Kanhar dam. A villager, Akero Cheru, was killed in police firing,” she said and added: “Akhilesh is a good man. I even met him in April 2014 with a delegation in Lucknow. He spoke to me for half an hour.”