Colonization of Indian Forests: Crime- Prone Tribal Groups through the Lance of Administration

Author: Saroj Mahata

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Abstract:-Environmental awareness prevailed everywhere in human society. Perhaps the most significant of the decisions human society make’s is its relationship to the natural world. Central to the internal conflicts of human society in the past has been the persistent attempts to resolve Questions about the natural world’s natural, utilitarian nature. As human civilization has expanded and technology has improved throughout the world, the Question of legitimate use of the natural world has gained importance. With the progress of times, the need to resolve this unresolved Question is becoming increasingly available. This is Perhaps best explained by the Language of power. Human Society’s conflict with the natural world can also be experienced in terms of this power. Environment is the most significant Medium of expression of power. Race, class, gender, Nationalism and these competing issues of power in the society must be equated with nature. Different layers of power relations, constant abuse of the natural world, the emergence of new technologies to exploit nature, and the increasing degradation of natural resources have complicated this age- old debate in ways never seen before. This has become a central and universal Question for the entire human society. With the progress and prosperity of human civilization, the issue of solving this problem is also getting longer. Writers, philosophers, historians, lawyers, administrators, and Thinkers are busy trying to solve this unresolved Question. Over the last two decades this important Question has taken on a new form and a new school of thought has emerged in the world of knowledge which can be called “Environment History. This article shows how the British Government in India in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century legitimized their claim on forests and outlawed hunting, food and logging in forests. And poachers, hunters and fisherman emerged as the main criminal groups and thus create a “New Class of wild Crimes”.

Keywords: – Ecology, Shifting cultivation, Forest Act, Criminal Tribes, Crime, Green Imperialism