by Prakash Dubey

More than 40,000 people who live in Indian forests call on the government to pass a 2005 bill that would stop the destruction of the country's nature reserves.

Delhi (AsiaNews) – Thousands of people from tribes whose survival depend upon forests have marched in the Indian capital demanding the government preserve those same forests in which they have lived for thousands of years and protect them from the country's ongoing industrialisation.

"Who will look after the forests? We will. We will. To whom do the forests belong to? They belong to us," shouted the 40,000 people, who came dressed in their tribal clothes.

Hilarious Kujur, a tribal Christian, told AsiaNews that "more than 40 million people live in the forests of India. The forests are home to some of the most venerated places of worship and contain the most important natural resources of the country. It is we who take care of them. We live with little and in exchange give much, but our rights are ignored".

"The companies that operate in these areas treat us like animals," Kujur added. "They are trying to elbow us out from where we have lived for generations without realising that we would perish if we quit our forest homeland."

The rally was organised after the government bill, the "Recognition of Forest Rights Bill 2005", bogged down in parliament under stiff opposition. The law if passed would forest dwellers tribal rights and the forests would come better environmental protection.

Jawar Singh Thakur, one of the rally's organisers, said that the "bill is ready and right. Opposition comes from those who do not believe in saving nature. We are here to show that without us forests will die."

• india
• forests
• tribal
• human
• rights
• environment
• economy
• protests