INDIGENOUS LANDS AND RIGHTS: AN ECOCRITICAL ANALYSIS OF JHARKHAND’S LAND POLICY

Abstract

Land of minerals: Jharkhand, endowed with abundant reserves of coal, iron ore, bauxite, and uranium. Being an actual owner and protecter of these mineral-rich areas, their lands are increasingly encroached upon under the guise of development and industrialization. Rapid expansion of mining companies and power plants, which have deeply affectedthe everyday lives of the primitive people - the justified residuals of the land. They constitute 26.21% of the state’s total population, but the evil eyes of the capitalist powers continuously force them to move from their ancestral land, resulting in displacement and migration. These plutocracies have caused irreversible cultural disintegration – have fractured community structures, weakened indigenous governance systems, and endangered their ecological knowledge. The capital-driven conflict within human nature has led to the widespread destruction of the livelihood of the poor indigenous people who depend on natural resources for survival. Structuring on the Eco-Marxism theory, this study inspects the contention between the commercialization of nature and indigenous environmental justice in the tribal populated areas of Jharkhand. It investigates the politics of coal extraction and how it impacts the indigenous people of the region.