Hello,
Among Adivasi communities, land is not seen only as property, especially not as individual property. It is considered a vital part of culture, and under Indian law, the communities' use of land is governed by customary law.
In this context, many object to the efforts by some Adivasi women to secure their rights over ancestral lands. They argue that such efforts are in conflict with traditional culture, and that the women should not be granted the rights they seek.
But as Nolina Minj found, women note that families often use the idea of customary law to evict women from family lands, and deny them basic resources for their sustenance. Further, they argue that many men have acquired individual rights over land, and that to deny women this security would be a grave injustice.
"Several Adivasi communities have been steadily losing land to the government, corporations and other private players," Minj said. "There exist genuine anxieties about land loss and the consequent erosion of Adivasi socio-cultural identity."
She added, "However, treating Adivasi women’s demand for inheritance as just an avenue for further land grab by outsiders overlooks the immense suffering and dispossession that they are enduring on the ground."

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Ajay Krishnan
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This yield from Jharkhand’s trees might hold the key to rural livelihoods

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Why Adivasi women are fighting for their rights to ancestral lands

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