THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Demanding a probe by a central agency into the increasing mysterious murders and suspicious suicides and land encroachments, the Adivasi Maha Sabha, a registered development society of tribal people in the state, will take out a Raj Bhavan march in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. The march, to be taken out from Museum police junction, will be inaugurated by V Muraleedharan, MP. Family members of those who were murdered or committed suicide under suspicious circumstance would take part in the march, AMS leaders said.
As many as 26 murders took place in the tribal colonies of Attapadi in Palakkad in the past few years. Sixteen suspicious suicides in various tribal settlements inThiruvannathapuram were also reported during this period, they said.AMS office bearers pointed out that around 100 people went missing from the tribal settlements including from Kozhikode and Wayanad after they were taken to the agri-farms in Karnataka for ginger cultivation.
Another pressing issue highlighted by the Adivasi Maha Sabha is the increasing encroachment into the land of tribal in various parts of the state. They demanded action against the officials from various departments who work hand-in-glove with the real estate and the forest-police mafia. They sought the intervention of the Centre to give back the alienated land of the tribal people in the state and stop the continuing encroachment into the forest land. They also demanded that a notification should be issued after announcing the tribal areas in the state as scheduled areas as per the Constitution.
Their charter of demands include stoping of the atrocities against the women and children; intervention of the Centre to implement the Forest Right Act; filling the vacancies reported or allotted for the tribals-dalit people in public sector institutions; and implementation of various projects announced for the tribal-dalit welfare in consultation with the representatives of tribal-dalit outfits. Their charter of demands would be handed over to Governor P Sathasivam after the march, said Mohanan Thriveni, president of AMS.