AHMEDABAD: A seven-day non-violent protest by tribal farmers in Sagbara taluka of Gujarat’s Narmada district has intensified over access to forest land cultivated by villagers for years.
The standoff has now acquired a political and administrative edge, with BJP leaders joining the protest and Congress extending support, while the Forest Department maintains that cultivation is subject to provisions of the Forest Rights Act and a Gram Sabha resolution.
At the heart of the dispute is a boundary complication: the farmers live in Narmada district, while the disputed forest land falls under the administrative jurisdiction of Surat district.
The forest land dispute in tribal-majority Narmada district has turned into a growing political and administrative confrontation, with farmers from 12 villages, including Khopi in Sagbara taluka, continuing their non-violent dharna after being stopped from ploughing land they claim to have cultivated for years.
The protest, which entered its sixth day on Friday, intensified as tribal leaders and BJP representatives reached the site to extend support to the farmers and assure them that their demands would be taken up with the government.
The Congress has also backed the tribal community, adding a political dimension to what began as a dispute over cultivation rights.
The immediate trigger came when farmers reached the fields to plough the disputed forest land but were stopped by Forest Department personnel.
Rather than retreat, the farmers stayed back in the fields and began a sit-in, continuing their protest through the night. Their agitation has since continued, turning the issue into a wider demand for recognition of traditional cultivation rights.
One of the protesting farmers, in a video message, said the community had been cultivating the land for years and questioned the sudden restrictions imposed by the authorities.
“We have been cultivating this land for years, but now police have been deployed to stop us from ploughing it. We want to make it clear to the government that these are lands on which our farmers have traditionally cultivated. The government and Forest Department have introduced different rules and are preventing us from farming. We are therefore sitting in protest to reclaim our right to cultivate the land.”
The farmer said the Forest Department, however, has put forward a different interpretation of the dispute. Surat Forest Department ACF Gaurav Kumar said the administration was acting in accordance with the Forest Rights Act, 2006, and that the dispute was complicated by the administrative location of the land.
According to Kumar, the Act protects eligible claimants who were cultivating forest land before December 13, 2005. However, he said the disputed land is located within Surat district, while the farmers seeking to cultivate it reside in Sagbara, Narmada district.
Kumar said the issue also involves the requirement of a Gram Sabha resolution from the village where the land is located. “The Forest Rights Act, 2006 provides protection where cultivation has been taking place since December 13, 2005. But in this case, the farmers are from Sagbara, while the forest land falls within Surat district. Under the relevant provisions, a Gram Sabha resolution is required from the area where the land is located. The people of Umarpada have informed us that their Gram Sabha has not passed any resolution permitting farmers from Sagbara to come and cultivate the land. Therefore, the present dispute is essentially linked to the administrative boundary. The Forest Department is acting according to the provisions of the tribal rights law.”
The administrative boundary has now emerged as the central fault line in the dispute. According to the Forest Department, the area was part of the erstwhile Bharuch district before Narmada district was carved out, while the disputed forest land currently falls within Surat district. The result is an unusual situation in which the farmers demanding cultivation rights reside in one district while the land they seek to cultivate is administered by another.
The farmers, however, insist that administrative boundaries cannot override their longstanding cultivation practices. Their argument is simple: if they have been cultivating the land for years, they should not be denied access because of a change or clarification in administrative jurisdiction.
The dispute has also put the implementation of tribal forest rights under scrutiny.
On World Tribal Day, when the focus traditionally turns to tribal rights over jal, jangal and zameen, farmers from these villages are instead sitting in the fields demanding access to the very land they claim as their traditional source of livelihood. The protest has meanwhile drawn growing political attention.
BJP leader Leelaben Vasava joined the farmers, followed by Narmada MP Mansukh Vasava, Nandod MLA Dr Darshanaben Deshmukh and Dediapada BJP leaders, including former ministers Motilal Vasava and Shankar Vasava.
The leaders assured the protesters that their demands would be conveyed to the state government. BJP MP Mansukh Vasava, who has urged the farmers to maintain a non-violent agitation, sharply questioned the manner in which the dispute was being handled by officials.
“Listen to elected representatives like us as well. Do not listen only to Forest Department officials. Decisions should not be taken merely by sitting in an office and looking at satellite maps. Come to Narmada district and see the situation on the ground. Farmers from Surat district are cultivating, while farmers from Narmada are being stopped. We have been elected for seven terms, so our words should also be heard. Come here, understand the ground reality and deliver justice to these farmers.”
He said the BJP leader's intervention has added pressure on the administration, particularly because the protest involves farmers from a tribal belt where forest rights and access to land remain deeply linked to livelihood.
For the protesters, however, the political support is secondary to their core demand. They have made it clear that the dharna will continue until the government provides what they describe as a fair, lawful and permanent solution to the cultivation dispute.
The administration, meanwhile, faces the challenge of resolving a dispute caught between traditional cultivation claims, provisions of the Forest Rights Act and the jurisdictional question surrounding the Gram Sabha.
With the agitation continuing into its seventh day, the Khopi forest land dispute has moved beyond a local confrontation and emerged as a test of how tribal cultivation claims are reconciled with forest law and administrative boundaries.