Burhanpur: Social worker Madhuri Ben accused of inciting tribals to encroach

Madhuri Ben (63) is an activist associated with Jagrut Adivasi Dalit Sangathan in the Burhanpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Recently, she received a notice and was directed to relocate to the Badar district. This decision was made after a hearing in the collector's court on May 15th, during which the Forest Officer presented a report accusing her of posing a threat to the district's law and order. According to the order, Madhuri Ben is prohibited from entering the district until July 7th, 2024. In response to this order, Jagrut Adivasi Dalit Sangathan expressed their belief that it is a malicious act and stated their intention to appeal against it in the High Court.

What is the whole matter?

The order issued by the collector's office on July 7 states that Madhuri Ben has been accused of inciting tribals to encroach on the forest area by cutting down trees. Additionally, allegations have been made that she has provided financial support to connect tribals with her organization and has actively spread unrest. According to the order, Madhuri Ben has a total of 21 registered cases against her from 2022 until the present, involving charges of inciting tribals to commit forest crimes, specifically encroachment. These cases have been filed under sections 26, 63, and 66 of the Indian Forest Act (1927). Furthermore, the order provides details of 4 FIRs, 3 of which were filed in Barwani between 2004 and 2023, and one which was registered in Nepanagar under Burhanpur in 2023.

Talking about the entire proceedings, Burhanpur Collector Bhavya Mittal told the ground report that 

“a hearing was held in the Magistrate Court. This action has been taken under Section 5 (A) of the Madhya Pradesh State Security Act on the basis of the testimonies and evidence presented before him during that time.”

Organisation fight against encroachers

The issue of deforestation in Burhanpur is not a recent development. Media reports have consistently highlighted the high level of encroachment in the forests within the district. An article published in the local edition of Dainik Bhaskar on July 8 revealed a significant rise in cutting activities in the district since 2018. Furthermore, the Jagrut Dalit Adivasi Sangathan emphasized in a tweet that approximately 15,000 acres of forest land have been cleared within the district.

The organization has consistently protested against deforestation, actively advocating for the preservation of forests. Furthermore, there have been multiple instances where their workers faced legal repercussions for conducting protests without proper authorization. In an exemplary display of their determination, the organization's tribal members, led by their leaders, orchestrated a sit-in demonstration in front of the district collectorate from April 5 to April 7 in the same year. During this remarkable protest, they not only demanded action against forest smugglers but also exposed a potential involvement of the administration. The protesters asserted that despite the efforts of the police administration to clear the forests, the criminals persistently returned.

Continuous attack on forest post

Over the past 3 years, the official team deployed to address the issue of encroachment has faced 15 attacks. Within these incidents, the encroachers managed to seize 17 firearms and 650 cartridges from the forest posts. Adding to the gravity of the situation, on April 7th, under the cover of darkness, the Nepanagar police post in the district was attacked. Astonishingly, not only were the law enforcement officers mercilessly assaulted, but the attackers also succeeded in releasing the miscreants, who had been apprehended following 6 months of intensive efforts. Furthermore, a similar incident had occurred on March 2nd, whereby the attackers effectively freed criminals from the outpost.

After the incident on April 7th, the office bearers, workers, and common people of all political parties submitted a memorandum to the Home Minister. This memorandum conveyed their demand for action to be taken against Madhuri Ben and another organization member, Nitin Varghese, in District Badar. However, Nitin refutes these allegations and claims that they are the product of a malicious act. He states,

“We did not come to know about this memorandum for a month. When the notice came to us, this memorandum was attached in its appendix. This memorandum has also been mentioned in the 73-page long order of District Badar.”

“This is an attack on the awareness of the tribal society”

Reacting to this action on her, Madhuri Ben told us,

“This attack is not an attack on me but on the tribal society. It is an attack on their awareness. The awareness of the tribals is not being tolerated by the Shivraj government, so it is taking this action.”

Madhuri says the administration is also involved with the encroachers in the felling of forests. She has raised this matte. Hence, action is being taken against her.

Apart from Burhanpur, Jagrut Dalit Adivasi Sangathan is continuously working actively in Barwani. In the month of February 2022, about 300 bonded labourers of Barwani were freed from bonded labour by the organization with the help of the administration. According to Madhuri, the government is continuously attacking the workers of her organization so that the tribals could not be made aware.

“The Shivraj government has understood that the tribal people will no longer fall for the greed given by them, so action is being taken to intimidate the tribals before the elections.”

She told that last few months ago an attempt was made to transfer a worker from Barwani to the Badar district.

Will go to High Court against the order

Nitin Varghish, an activist of the organization, told us that after receiving the notice, he appealed against it in the High Court. This appeal was dismissed on Friday, 7 July. To this Nitin said,

“We had started the appeal saying that malicious action is being taken against us. But since this order had not been issued till that time, the court rejected the application saying that after the order is issued, you can come back to the court, now we (the court) cannot do anything. So now we will go back to court against this order.”

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