Enthused by a Calcutta High Court order awarding compensation to the tiger widows earlier this year, the women of the Sundarbans who have lost family members to tiger attacks are trying to build a campaign for the rights of families caught in the human-tiger conflict.
On January 18, the High Court had ordered compensation of ₹5 lakh each to Sarojini Mondal and Saraswati Auliya, whose husbands died in tiger attacks in 2019.
Both the women had fought under the banner of Sundarbans Baghra Bidhoba Samiti, which provided legal help to the family members of victims of tiger attacks in getting compensation. Gita Mriddha, a tiger widow, and a leader of the collective, said all women who lost family members to tiger attacks should come under the banner of Sundarbans Baghra Bidhoba Samiti, a collective of women to highlight the plight of victims of families of tiger attacks.
“There are hundreds of such widows in the Sundarbans who are not aware of their rights. It is important that these women are aware of their rights,” Ms. Mridhha said. She added that efforts are on to strengthen the collective and get all tiger widows under its fold.
Sundarbans is the only mangrove forest in the world that sustains a tiger population. The Indian Sundarbans has about 100 tigers and the people residing in areas surrounding the Sundarban Tiger Reserve often enter the areas for fishing, risking tiger attacks.
According to activists, the State Forest Department has provisions of issuing passes for fishing inside in the forest but these passes are not adequate for the people. A large number of people in the Sundarbans are engaged in fishing, crab collection and honey collection because of limited economic opportunities in the region.
On July 17, Ms. Mridhha along with Sarojini Mondal and Saraswati Auliya will participate in a discussion with representatives and NGOs working for widows in different countries as well members of West Bengal Commission of Women. This initiative is a part of Action Aid’s Climate Justice Campaign across the country.
“Normally when it is about widow issues, the world counts them from armed conflicts, displacement and migration, and recently the COVID-19 pandemic. One remotely knows about women widowed by human-animal conflict from the Sundarbans,” said Ashok Kumar Nayak, programme manager of Action Aid.
Mr. Nayak said advocates from the Calcutta High court and representatives of DISHA, an NGO, have been supporting the tiger widows. He said the women are silent victims of deep-rooted socio-economic and gender-based deprivations and climate change. It is necessary to bring them under social security schemes and ensure them compensation, he said.
Lily Thapa, a member of Nepal’s Human Rights Commission Nepal, and Margaret Owen, founder of Widows for Peace Through Democracy, will hold discussions with the tiger widows of Sundarbans on Wednesday.
