“No one knows forests the way dacoits do, not even farmers. Because
the forest was our home,” said Seema Parihar, a former dacoit, at a Jaipur
event on Sunday, the eve of International Forest Day. She was speaking at the
event which was organised by RSS swayamsewak Vishnu Lamba, reports The Indian Express.
Lamba runs the organisation Shree Kalptaru Sansthan which
brought together many former dacoits like Parihar, Balwant Singh Tomar (nephew
of the dreaded Pan Singh Tomar), Renu Yadav, Pancham Singh and Munna Singh
Mirdha among others, for this event to appeal to the Government to protect ‘their’ land, the Chambal forests.
Pancham Singh emphasised that “If the government wants, we can stop the cutting down of trees. The government should just demarcate the boundary and permit us.”
Ramcharan Bohra, MP from Jaipur, assured them that he would forward their requests to the Rajasthan Chief Minister and also the Prime Minister. For the full story, read here.
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