Madhya Pradesh's Baiga tribe face desperate future as forest slips out of hand

It is essentially the conflict between the 'man and the wild' that has driven the Baiga tribe out of the Kanha National Park, the home of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. While the tribe considers tigers of Kanha as their brothers, the authorities consider these people a threat to the wildlife.

FORCIBLY EVICTED FROM FOREST

As part of tiger conservation efforts, as many as 27 villages were shifted out of the core area with no alternate arrangements made for them. "We were forcibly evicted from the forest where our generations had spent their lives. We never harm the wild animals; we consider tigers as our brothers and offer them wild boars and goats on festivals," said a tribesperson narrating the socio-economic condition of the community. "Having spent several years in the forests, we are most familiar with flora and fauna. Driven out of the forests, we will also lose our ability to recognise them," he said. The eviction of Baigas started in 2005 after the National Tiger Conservation Authority issued guidelines to make the forest's core area free from human intervention.

However, the tribals and experts feel otherwise. "Tribals are the best conservationists. Human presence in the forests is a deterrent to poachers. There has been no instance of tribals killing a tiger or any other wild animal," said Shameem Khan, a naturalist who has been working as a guide in Kanha National park since 2002.

BAIGAS WERE THREATENED BY FOREST OFFICIALS

The tribals recall their ordeal. "We were told to immediately vacate the forest without any alternate arrangement in place. They threatened us to release elephants to trample our houses. Fearing our lives, we moved out of the forest," said another man from the Baiga community. They were first shifted from the core area to the buffer zone and later they were asked to vacate the buffer zone too. Disconnected from the forests, they face a desperate future.

UNCERTAINTY DOGS BAIGA TRIBALS

The forest department has been training them as guides and forest guards in the Kanha National Park but it is insufficient to meet their needs. Recently, the government had also announced monetary compensation for the evicted tribals but failed to satisfy the victims. "They have promised us money but we don't want money. We want our forests. Money doesn't mean anything to us," they said.

With no source of income, a number of people from the community have resorted to begging while some of them have been performing their traditional dance and folk music to earn their livelihood. "We often travel to Jabalpur and other neigbouring cities to perform on some occasions.

We are paid a meagre sum for this," rued a villager. Some others said their children will never learn to recognise medicinal herbs in the forests, an art that distinguishes Baigas from other tribes. Members of the Baiga tribe, a seminomadic tribe of central India that is reliant on the forest, lived in 27 villages that had been within the Kanha National Park until 1968, when they were relocated. The relocation was part of an effort to maintain a critical tiger habitat. The land to which they were relocated is barren and they now suffer from alcoholism and malnourishment.

WORSHIPPERS OF FOREST AND MOTHER NATURE

The Baigas are fierce protectors and worshippers of the forest and 'mother nature'. Their sacred beliefs prohibit them from ploughing the land as this is perceived as traumatising Mother Earth. They therefore adopt the slash and burn form of shifting agriculture, constantly remaining on the move. Baigas seldom interact or intermarry with other tribes, often avoiding formal settlements, formal education and formal trades or work.

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