Since their home became a tiger reserve, the Jenu Kuruba, like Indigenous peoples in tiger reserves across India, have faced illegal evictions and abuse at the hands of forest guards. They are harassed, tortured and even shot while going about their daily lives.
While the Jenu Kuruba, who worship the tiger, are forced from their land, tourists are welcomed in.
This is yet another example of racist and colonial conservation that is destroying the lives of Indigenous peoples around the world. This model is a disaster for the planet and for Indigenous peoples – the best conservationists.
Now 52 Jenu Kuruba families, whose village was evicted from India’s Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in the 1980's, have had enough of waiting for the authorities to formally recognize their right to live in their ancestral village, and have returned there.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has long supported the eviction of the Jenu Kuruba. It has led the calls for evictions of Indigenous people from tiger reserves across India and never speaks up for their rights.
The Jenu Kuruba are simply demanding what Indian and international law already recognize: that their rights to live in their forest are respected; that those who’ve been illegally evicted be allowed to return; and that no conservation projects can take place on their land without their consent.
In Modi’s India any protest is dangerous, and the Jenu Kuruba have risked much by speaking out and taking a stand. Please support them and write to the government to make sure their rights are respected and their demands are met.
Your email will be sent to the Ministers of Tribal Affairs and the Environment, the Governor and Chief Minister of Karnataka, and WCS and WCS India.
Your email will be sent to:
Shri Jual Oram (Minister of Tribal Affairs)
Shri Bhupender Yadav (Minister of the Environment)
Hon’ble Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot (Governor of Karnataka)
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah (Chief Minister of Karnataka)
WCS & WCS India
