Muthanga incident

Last updated

Muthanga Incident
Location Muthanga village of Wayanad district, Kerala, India
Date19 February 2003
Deaths5
Perpetrators Kerala Police
Motiveeviction / protest

The Muthanga Incident refers to an incident of police firing on the Adivasis (tribal clans) in the Muthanga village of Wayanad district, Kerala. On 19 February 2003, the Adivasis had gathered under Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS) to protest the Kerala Government's delay in allotting them land, which had been contracted in October 2001. During the protest, Kerala Police fired 18 rounds resulting in two immediate fatalities (one of which was a police officer). In a subsequent statement, the Government placed the official death toll at five. A video of the firing was aired on several news programs. [1]

Contents

Background

The Adivasi people began to protest in August 2001 after many of their members had died of starvation in Kerala. The protest was carried out primarily by setting up "Refugee Camps" in front of AK Antony's (state chief minister) official residence. The protest continued for 48 days, forcing the Government of Kerala to promise the disbursement of land and other rehabilitation measures for the Adivasi people living in the state. [2]

When no action was taken by the Indian National Congress led administration to make the promised measures, the tribal alliance (similar to tribal groups of the Nagarhole) renewed their protest. The indigenous people of Wayanad decided to enter the forest under the banner of Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS). The Muthanga forest where AGMS put up huts is recognized as the homeland of different Adivasi communities in Wayanad, such as the Tamil Nadu, the Karnataka, the Andhra Pradesh, the Adivasi and the Kerala. Adivasi families had been forcibly evicted from Muthanga during the 1960s after the area was declared a sanctuary and again in the 1980s to make way for eucalyptus plantations. The evicted tribal groups were compelled to live in difficult socioeconomic conditions as part of several other tribal colonies. [2]

The Adivasi families who entered the forest sought to assert their traditional right over the Muthanga forests, by restarting the Adivasi Oorukootams [3] (similar to Panchayati raj) and setting up subsistence agriculture. A minimum program for Self Rule under the spirit of the Panchayati raj was drawn up. Maintaining a self-supporting and regenerative natural ecosystem, primarily with regard to water sources and vegetation, was an important goal of the Adivasi moving into the forest. [2]


As part of the eviction, the Forest Department was alleged to set the Adivasi huts on fire and fed domesticated elephants with alcohol to induce the animals to attack Adivasi huts. [2]

Incident

The operation to evict the tribals began in the morning with the Government forces, made up of personnel of the Police and Forest Departments, moving into the sanctuary around 9 a.m. A `check-post' put up by the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha to restrict entry of non-tribals was demolished.

The activists then retreated into the forest. A couple of kilometers into the sanctuary from the road, the large posse of government forces came face to face with nearly 200 tribal people and the battle broke out. Although teargas shells were fired into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd, the agitators refused to disperse. Attempts to advance were met with stiff resistance. Tribals consisting of men and women of all ages surged forward, brandishing deadly weapons as they attempted to advance.

Aftermath

However, being outnumbered, the tribal agitators retreated. The activists struck again and information about two members of a small group sent to search for the tribals hiding inside the forests being taken hostage reached the authorities.

Police reinforcements sent to the area also ran into stiff resistance forcing them to open fire. The situation in the sanctuary is still tense. After the incident, actions by Police Forces of the Kerala State tribal members were arrested in connection with the eviction operation in Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary in the Wayanad district.

Police said that all the accused, along with 37 children, were deported to Central Jail in the Kannur district. A total of 33 men were charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 99 women were charged under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act. On 20 February 2003, 132 people were remanded to Judicial custody for 15 days, including 99 women volunteers of the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (ADMS). [4]

On 21 February 2003, AGMS leaders C. K. Janu and M. Geethanandan were arrested. The two were spotted by locals at a roadside, near Nambikolli, about 4 kilometers from the town of Sulthan Bathery on the Bathery-Ootty road. K. K. Surendran, a lecturer in DIET, was also arrested in connection with the tribal agitation in the sanctuary. [5]

Then Chief Minister of the State of Kerala, A. K. Antony, rejected the demands of the opposition for a Judicial probe into the Muthanga action which led to the killing of two persons. The then United Democratic Front (UDF) convener, Oommen Chandy, added: "apart from the liberal attitude towards the tribes, the Government has already distributed 1800 acres of land to the landless tribals, besides allotting 60 million for tribal housing schemes. The Government is targeting 1840 acres to be distributed to tribals". [6] Then Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Muraleedharan countered statements by the UDF leaders, stating that there is not enough land to distribute equitably among the tribal groups and that the calculations being cited are erroneous. [7]

On 24 February 2003, social activist A. Vasu spoke to Janu and Geethanandan in Calicut District Jail. He quoted the agitation leaders as having said that nearly 15 persons were fatally wounded in the course of the police firing. [8] After this information became public, the government issued a statement stating that the death toll was five. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayanad district</span> District in Kerala, India +91

Wayanad is a district in the north-east of Indian state Kerala with administrative headquarters at the municipality of Kalpetta. It is the only plateau in Kerala. The Wayanad Plateau forms a continuation of the Mysore Plateau, the southern portion of Deccan Plateau. It is set high in the Western Ghats with altitudes ranging from 700 to 2100 meters. Vellari Mala, a 2,240 m (7,349 ft) high peak situated on the trijunction of Wayanad, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts, is the highest point in Wayanad district. The district was formed on 1 November 1980 as the 12th district in Kerala, by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. An area of 885.92 km2 of the district is forested. Wayanad has three municipal towns—Kalpetta, Mananthavady and Sulthan Bathery. There are many indigenous tribes in this area. The Kabini River, a tributary of Kaveri River, originates at Wayanad. Wayanad district, along with the Chaliyar valley in neighbouring Nilambur in Malappuram district, is known for natural gold fields, which are also seen in other parts of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Chaliyar river, which is the fourth longest river of Kerala, originates on the Wayanad plateau. The historically important Edakkal Caves are located in Wayanad district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adivasi</span> Collective term for the tribes of India who are considered indigenous people of India

The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term is also used for ethnic minorities, such as Chakmas of Bangladesh, Khas of Nepal, and Vedda of Sri Lanka. The Constitution of India does not use the word Adivasi, instead referring to Scheduled Tribes and Janjati. The government of India does not officially recognise tribes as indigenous people. The country ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 107 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the United Nations (1957) and refused to sign the ILO Convention 169. Most of these groups are included in the Scheduled Tribe category under constitutional provisions in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultan Bathery</span> Municipality in Kerala, India

Sultan Bathery is a town and municipality in Wayanad district of Kerala, India, near the borders with Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states. The largest town in Wayanad district, it is the headquarters of Sultan Bathery taluk.

<i>Madhyamam</i> Malayalam-language newspaper published in Kerala, India

Madhyamam is a Malayalam-language newspaper published in Kerala, India, since 1987. It was founded by Ideal Publications Trust run by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind wing in Kerala. It has nine editions in India and its Persian Gulf edition Gulf Madhyamam has nine in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary</span> Wildlife santcuary in India

Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary in Wayanad, Kerala, India with an extent of 344.44 km2 (132.99 sq mi) and four hill ranges namely Sulthan Bathery, Muthanga, Kurichiat and Tholpetty. A variety of large wild animals such as gaur, Asian elephant, deer and tiger are found there. There are also quite a few unusual birds in the sanctuary. In particular, Indian peafowl tend to be very common in the area. Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary is the second largest wildlife sanctuary in Kerala. It is bestowed with lush green forests and rich wildlife. This wildlife area houses some of the rare and endangered species of both flora and fauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. K. Janu</span> Indian politician

C.K Janu is an Indian social activist.

The Tea-garden community are multi ethnic groups of tea garden workers and their descendants in Assam. They are officially referred to as Tea-tribes by Government of Assam. They are the descendants of peoples brought by the British colonial planters as indentured labourers from the regions of present-day Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh into colonial Assam during 1860-90s in multiple phases to work in tea gardens. They are heterogeneous, multi-ethnic groups which includes many tribal and caste groups. They are found mainly in those districts of Upper Assam and Northern Brahmaputra belt where there is high concentration of tea gardens like Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Biswanath,Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia. There is a sizeable population of the community in the Barak Valley region of Assam as well in the districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. The total population is estimated to be around 7 million of which estimated 4.5 million reside in residential quarters built inside 799 tea estates spread across tea growing regions of Assam. Another 2.5 million reside in the nearby villages spread across those tea growing regions. They are not a single ethnic group but consists of different ethnic group speaking dozens of languages and have different set of cultures. They speak several languages including Sora, Odia, Assam Sadri, Sambalpuri, Kurmali, Santali, Kurukh, Kharia, Kui, Chattisgarhi, Gondi and Mundari. Assam Sadri, distinguished from Sadri language, serve as lingua franca among the community.

Nilambur–Nanjangud line also called The golden I. T. corridor or Wayanad Railway, was a railway project to create a 5 ft 6in broad gauge rail connection from the town of Nanjangud (Karnataka) to Nilambur (Kerala) through Wayanad district of Kerala and Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu.

Wayanad Heritage Museum, also known as Ambalavayal Heritage Museum is a museum at Ambalavayal, 12 km south of Sulthan Bathery, in Wayanad district, Kerala, India. It is managed by the District Tourism Promotion Council. It has one of Kerala's largest collections of the remnants, dating back to the second century. The museum houses various interesting artifacts revealing the history, culture and heritage of the Wayanad region.

The Kuravar is an ethnic Tamil community native to the Kurinji mountain region of TamilNadu and Kerala, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Highway 766 (India)</span> National highway in India

National Highway 766 is a National Highway in Southern India. NH 766 connects Kozhikode in Kerala with Kollegal in Karnataka via Mysore. Of the total distance of 272 km, 117 km is in Kerala and 155 is in Karnataka. At Kollegal, it joins National Highway 948, which connects Bengaluru and Coimbatore. The highway passes through dense forests of Western ghats of India. The NH-766 passes through 19.7 km Bandipur National Park and Wayanad wild life sanctuary.

The Chengara struggle refers to an ongoing controversy about land near the Chengara village in the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political divisions of Wayanad</span>

Wayanad District has four types of administrative hierarchies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janadhipathya Rashtriya Sabha</span> Political party in India

Janadhipathiya Rashtriya Party previously known as Janadhipathiya Rashtriya Sabha is a political party in Kerala, India. The political Party JRS was formed by C. K. Janu on 10 April 2016. The JRP joined the BJP-led NDA and Janu contested unsuccessfully in the 2016 state assembly polls from Sulthan Bathery. The JRP left the NDA in 2018 but rejoined in 2021 ahead of the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V. Abdurahiman</span> Minister for Fisheries and Sports

V. Abdurahiman is an Indian politician, currently serving as the Minister for Fisheries,Harbour engineering, Fisheries University,Sports, Wakf and Haj Pilgrimage, Posts & Telegraphs, Railways, Government of Kerala. He became the MLA from Tanur in 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourist attractions in Wayanad</span>

The Wayanad District of Kerala, India has a wide variety of tourist attractions ranging from religious sites to natural, and historical sites. This district is divided into three towns, Kalpetta, Sultan Bathery and Mananthavady. All Major Tourism destinations in the district are maintained by the District Tourism Promotion Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Kerala human chain</span>

Manushya Maha Sringhala was a human chain formed on 26 January 2020 across the Indian state of Kerala to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens. The chain was formed by approximately 6 to 7 million people and extended for a distance of 700 kilometres stretching north to south from Kasaragod to Kaliyikkavila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M. Geethanandan</span> Indian social activist

M. Geethanandan is an Indian social activist working on political and economic issues faced by tribals and dalits in the state of Kerala, India. He co-founded the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha along with C.K. Janu and others. He has been involved in organising several protests and struggles of Adivasis (tribes) and Dalits, notably the Muthanga agitation, an incident of police firing on the Adivasis in the Muthanga village of Wayanad district, Kerala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. Krishna Prasad</span>

P. Krishna Prasad is the finance secretary of All India Kisan Sabha and the former CPI(M) MLA from Sulthan Bathery. He is also the chairman of Brahmagiri Development Society, a worker – peasant cooperative in Kerala.

References

  1. ↑ "Two killed as tribals, police clash". The Hindu . 20 February 2003. Archived from the original on 29 December 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Equitable Tourism Options (EQUATIONS). Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve: fading glory. EQUATIONS. pp. 75-. GGKEY:UXEKGL80Q7R. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Oorukootams
  4. ↑ "132 tribals remanded". The Hindu . 22 February 2003. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Janu, Geetanandan arrested". The Hindu . 23 February 2003. Archived from the original on 1 August 2003. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "Muthanga: UDF rejects probe demand". The Hindu . 24 February 2003. Archived from the original on 18 January 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Tribals cannot be given even one acre: Murali". The Hindu . 25 February 2003. Archived from the original on 29 January 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Tribes issue: Claim on the dead and missing". The Hindu . 25 February 2003. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  9. ↑ PUCL. "Statement against police firings on Adivasis in Muthanga". Pucl.org. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.