Telangana: Is The Hand Of Maoists Behind The Murder Of Forest Range Officer Srinivasa Rao?: With the murder of Forest Range Officer Srinivasa Rao, the fallout land conflict has become a hot topic once again. Even though they have been cultivating for years….tribals and Guthikoyas are feeling that they are not getting their rights…the duty management is bringing life to the forest personnel who are responsible for protecting the wastelands. Finally, the issue of wastelands turned into a conflict between the forest department staff and the tribals. Srinivasa Rao was killed in this process.
Telangana: Forest Range Officer Srinivasa Rao’s murder has made the fallout land conflict a hot topic once again. Even though they have been cultivating it for years, the tribals and Guthikoyas are suffering because they are not getting their rights. Finally, the issue of wastelands turned into a conflict between the forest department staff and the tribals. Srinivasa Rao was killed in this process. An unsolved problem in Telangana for decades…wastelands. It is an argument that all forest lands belong to the government. The tribals say that the lowlands are the basis for the survival of the poor who cannot sustain water. They keep making appeals to recognize the lands that have been cultivated for decades. For this, surveys after surveys are being conducted. But the result is not clear.
Solving the problem of wastelands has become a challenge in many districts of Telangana as well as in the joint Khammam district. Some of the lands cultivated by the tribals and Guthikoyas are identified under the forest department and the government seizes them and grows the plants. Protecting those lands. In such lands, the tribals, Guthikoyas are poaching the plants planted by the forest department personnel, cattle are grazing, and the authorities are trying to stop this… In this process, severe clashes between the two groups are naturally happening.
The same happened in the case of Srinivasa Rao’s murder. The government has set up a plantation in the fallow lands of Bendalapadu in Chandrugonda Mandal. Srinivasa Rao went there after receiving information that Guthikoyas were eating plants and grazing cattle in these lands. An attempt was made to send the Guthikoyas out of the plantation lands.
While Srinivasa Rao was speaking, two Guthikoyas attacked him with sharp weapons. All the Guthikoyas in Bendalapadu have migrated from Chhattisgarh and are cultivating in the lowlands. The officials who claim that all these lands come under the forest department… are trying their best to protect the land. It is believed that they harbored a grudge against Srinivasa Rao because he had treated Guthikoyas like this in the past.
Also, as Srinivasa Rao was targeted by the Maoists, the police are also investigating whether they are behind the murder. On the other hand, it is being spread that these Guthikoyas are under the patronage of some political leaders and illegal activities such as the cultivation of ganja are being done in these lands in the name of agriculture. Srinivasa Rao along with Section Officer and Watcher Ramu, who was present at the spot, did not do anything. If you look at this…Srinivasa Rao was killed not in anger but according to a plan…the initial assessment of the police is that he saw it and killed him.
The issue of rails for the lowlands has not been floated for several years. There is no guarantee that this problem will be solved even after fixing it. Since then, there is no consensus on identifying the rightful owners of the lands under cultivation. In 2005, when the Congress came to power in the united Andhra Pradesh under the leadership of YS, they gave titles to the wastelands. Not everyone got these then. Those who did not get degrees then, and those who started farming later are also waiting for these degrees. At the same time, some are also expressing concern that they will lose their lands with these tracks.
Honest officials like Srinivasa Rao who are doing their job in the middle of the struggle of the Giriputra for the protection of the land and the government are getting killed. Forest department staff and officials were shocked by this murder. There is a situation where one is afraid to go into the forest. Along with providing some more weapons to the forest department, there is a demand to solve the rail problem as soon as possible.
