Using Electoral Rights to Negotiate Community Forest Rights
Souparna Lahiri* With barely ten days to go for the polls to the State Legislature, the forest villagers in the Himalayan foothills, Terai and Duars of the eastern Indian State of West Bengal have created a stir amidst the highly charged political atmosphere. Approximately 250,000 forest people residing in more than 250 forest villages have called for to press for the NOTA (None of the Above) button on the election day to protest and expose the role of the mainstream …