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The Muthanga Incident refers to an incident of police firing on the Adivasis (tribal clans) in the Muthanga village of Wayanad district, Kerala. On 19 February 2003, the Adivasis had gathered under Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS) to protest the Kerala Government's delay in allotting them land, which had been contracted in October 2001. During the protest, Kerala Police fired 18 rounds resulting in two immediate fatalities (one of which was a police officer). In a subsequent statement, the Government placed the official death toll at five. A video of the firing was aired on several news programs. ==Background== The Adivasi people began to protest in August 2001 after many of their members had died of starvation in Kerala. The protest was carried out primarily by setting up "Refugee Camps" in front of the State Chief Minister's residence. The protest continued for 48 days, forcing the Government of Kerala to promise the disbursement of land and other rehabilitation measures for the Adivasi people living in the state. When no action was taken by the Government to make the promised measures, the tribal alliance (similar to tribal groups of the Nagarhole) renewed their protest. The indigenous people of Wayanad decided to enter the forest under the banner of Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS). The Muthanga forest where AGMS put up huts is recognized as the homeland of different Adivasi communities in Wayanad, such as the Tamil Nadu, the Karnataka, the Andhra Pradesh, the Adivasi and the Kerala. Adivasi families had been forcibly evicted from Muthanga during the 1960s after the area was declared a sanctuary and again in the 1980s to make way for eucalyptus plantations. The evicted tribal groups were compelled to live in difficult socioeconomic conditions as part of several other tribal colonies.〔 The Adivasi families who entered the forest sought to assert their traditional right over the Muthanga forests, by restarting the Adivasi〔Oorukootams〕 (similar to Panchayati raj) and setting up subsistence agriculture. A minimum program for Self Rule under the spirit of the Panchayati raj was drawn up. Maintaining a self-supporting and regenerative natural ecosystem, primarily with regard to water sources and vegetation, was an important goal of the Adivasi moving into the forest.〔 Government authorities did not negotiate with the protesters, but simply issued a notice of scheduled eviction rules.〔 As part of the eviction, the Forest Department was alleged to set the Adivasi huts on fire and fed domesticated elephants with alcohol to induce the animals to attack Adivasi huts.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Muthanga incident」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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