Woman to Know: Anna Kujur Who Fights For Forests And Adivasi Rights
- JWB Post
- March 29, 2016
L’Oreal Paris’ Women of Worth Awards has decided to honour those Indian women who have been working silently for the upliftment of their society for many years. One of them is Anna Kujur, President, Athkosis Adivasi Sangathan.
She is an Eco-Revolutionists and has also been a voice for the adivasis. This 47-year-old woman is famous among the tribals of Sundergarh district in Odisha for devoting her life fighting for the rights of forests and those living in them.
She struggles to uphold the 2012 amendment to the Forest Rights Act that restores the rights of the forest-dwelling communities by giving them claim titles to their land, on which they can carve out a simple life and a sustainable future for their children. In this way, she wants to make sure there remains a strong bond between the woods and the humankind. She traverses around 25 kilometres on her cycle every day talking to people about land rights and facilitating them in securing their own ‘patta’ for cultivation.
During one interview, she said, “Even as a child I had wanted to serve my people and fight the injustice I saw around me. In 2000, I set up the Athkosia Adivasi Sangathan and have been agitating for their rights under this banner. In 2003, I connected with the Campaign for Survival and Dignity (CSD), a national platform of tribal and forest dwellers’ organisations, and participated in a three-day training workshop on the rights of the forest dwellers. This gave my own activism a sharper focus. Then when the Forest Rights Act 2006 came in place, it became slightly easy to achieve my goal. Being at the helm of organising awareness programmes among the forest dwellers of around 148 villages, I mobilised them to join forces and demand their land rights.”
However according to her, this integral and the close-knit relationship between the adivasis and the forests has rarely been recognised by the authorities, which makes them vulnerable to exploitation as well as eviction.
- 0
- 0
Leave A Comment
-
-
JWB along with the brand Jewel Saga bring you a selfie contest inspired by the campaign AidToMaid.
