Bharat Bandh today: Despite SC's stay on eviction, Adivasi, Dalit rights groups call for nationwide strike

Tribal groups and Dalit right outfits have called for an all-India bandh on Tuesday in order to protest against the Supreme Court’s recent directive on the eviction of tribals and traditional forest dwellers from their habitat.

By : ABP News Bureau | Updated at : 05 Mar 2019 11:25 AM (IST)

Bharat Bandh today: Despite SC's stay on eviction, Adivasi, Dalit rights groups call for nationwide strike Bharat Bandh today: Despite SC's stay on eviction, Adivasi, Dalit rights groups call for nationwide strike

Dalit groups have also invited activists to join them for a protest march. (Image: Representational/ PTI)

Tribal groups and Dalit right outfits have called for an all-India bandh

Adivasi and Dalit groups have also invited political and civil society activists to join them

Leading political leaders have come out in support of the Bharat Bandh

Bharat Bandh: Tribal groups and Dalit right outfits have called for an all-India bandh on Tuesday in order to protest against the Supreme Court’s recent directive on the eviction of tribals and traditional forest dwellers from their habitat. Though the top court has put a stay on the order after the petition filed by the Central government, the agitators feel that this is a temporary relief given to them in the absence of law. The tribal groups across the country are sitting on protest demanding that the Centre should bring in an ordinance to ensure their rights are protected. These Dalit and tribal groups have decided to go ahead with the strike against the implementation of SC earlier order which stated eviction of more than 10 lakh families of Adivasis and other forest-dwellers from forest lands across 16 states of the country. While the strike is planned across states of the country, several Adivasi and Dalit groups have also invited political and civil society activists to join them for a protest march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar in the national capital. Adivasi Adhikar Andolan, All India Ambedkar Mahasabha and Samvidhan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti are some of the groups that would lead the protest march. Several leading political parties including Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) are also supporting the protest march by Dalit groups. Several Bahujan groups would also take part in the protests in order to oppose Supreme Court’s recent dismissal of a review petition on a 13-point roster, which will affect the chances of SC, ST, and OBC candidates to take up faculty posts in universities. Leading political leaders including former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, former Bihar deputy CM Tejaswi Yadav, LJD chief Sharad Yadav and others have come out in support of the Bharat Bandh. Akhilesh Yadav has also hit out at the Centre over the UGC roster-system. Yadav in a tweet on Tuesday wrote, “Samajwadi Party is in strong opposition to the 13-point roster system of anti-reservation anti-reservation policy in the educational institutions by the BJP government. Dalit, OBC, backward, weak, deprived opposition, this policy is neglecting and ignoring the constitution.” As per reports, Tribal groups in Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and other states in the Northeast are set to join Tuesday’s bandh.