Greeting from the Organizing Committee, National Secretariat, All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP)!
The All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP), as mandated by its Constitution, will hold its 3rd National Conference in Bhabua, District Kaimur, Bihar, India, on the 29,30 November & 1 December, 2024.
We convene at a very critical social, political and ecological juncture, may even be a ‘civilizational watershed’ moment, at a civilizational juncture/crossroads, which needs a major course correction, rather more importantly a “course choice”, from the path of Free Doom to the path of Freedom.
Who constitute the motive forces of history now? What are the core issues the Union locates as the areas of intervention to take up in this societal, environmental challenge? What are the paths of political intervention? What is the role of wider alliance building between all Natural resource based communities? What is the role of Research? What is our responsibilities as ‘catalysts’ of change, if that is what we consider ourselves to be?
The forest dependent communities ( and all other Natural Resource Based Communities) with recognized rights over their customary territories – land, lakes, rivers, oceans, and all the resources on such terrains, will be the vanguards, who are challenging and will be biggest counter to the designs of the Neo-liberal, crony capitalist onslaught and renewed plunder of natural resources.
The enactment of the Forest Rights Act has, for the first time, recognized the role of the Gram Sabha ( Village Council) as the core community institution and gives responsibility to the Village Councils ( Gram Sabhas) to implement the Act to undo “historical injustices” on forest dependent communities.
Centered on the community, organized under the Village Councils ( Gram Sabhas) empowered community women leadership will become the foci of this resistance and rebuilding.
The Union has, over the course of its four decade old history of resistance and reclamation of lands and forests and building up of a strong women leadership, laid the basis of taking the social movement to the next level of intervention of laying the basis, the seeds of a new society, which is already forming in the womb of the now decaying society. And the threads of the new clothes that have to be woven will essentially be derived from Indigenous Knowledge Systems – the entirety of it, Other Traditional Knowledge Systems – decimated and reified by Modernity – Science, technology, Education – all these which drove our traditional knowledge and wisdom to oblivion – which will now provide the rays of hope of rebuilding society. But that Society sure has to De-colonize its minds, its thoughts, its bases of Education, its bases of Scientific thought etc to bring about this change.
The Union clearly sees the community’s role and specially the empowered community women leadership as the midwives of the new social revolution – which will lay the bases of the ecological, economic and thus political economic contours of the new society for Our Common Sustainable Futures.
Your active participation will help the Union in deepening it’s understanding and taking the right pathways.
You are thus, most cordially invited to attend our 3 day National Conference on 29,30 November &1 December, in Bhabua (district Headquarter town, ) Kaimur, Bihar.
Please reach out to Avijit Wasi for more details: avijitwasi@gmail.com
Message to the Arramat Team: We understand the difficulty in possibly even one of you making it to India , physically to attend our Conference ( and then a short trip to our areas of Arramat Project Work). Hence, the earnest request is for those who are interested to please share with us a two-minute video with messages of support to our communities assembled for the National Conference.
Thanking you,
Sukalo Gond ( President) Roma ( General Secretary)
