NEW DELHI: B D Sharma, an ardent supporter of tribal rights and a former commissioner of the SCs and the STs, has sought the President of India’s intervention to put a stop to the ruthless exploitation of tribal people and thus reduce the flash points of violence in Maoist- affected states.
Charging the Union Government for abdicating its Constitutional responsibility by allowing the situation to degenerate from the stray revolts in the 60s to a warlike situation, Sharma in an open letter to the President has asked her to intervene under fifth schedule of the Constitution by ensuring that no Central or state laws apply in these areas, which are vastly different in socio-economic ethos than other parts of the country.“You, as the head of the nation, at this critical time must ensure that the Union Government accepts unequivocally its Constitutional responsibility with due apologies for decimating, shattering and disinheriting tribal communities…,” says the letter.
Requesting the President to initiate proposal for Peace Now, in his letter Sharma asks working out a comprehensive solution to face the existing chaos, reversing decisions where permissions requiring consultation with the people under the Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act (PESA) were fabricated, coerced or otherwise vitiated. It urges the authorities to honour, within a year, all the promises that have been made to the tribal people, but broken by the state. It also asks setting up a chain of command at the highest level, amenable to access by the affected for regular oversight, review and action.
The co-option bid through the so-called developmental programmes has backfired.
It has vitiated the egalitarian ethos, thereby making the rebels act against the iniquitous system, Sharma’s letter says.
