Daughter, mother, attacked by Forest Department staffers: Women activists protest
- Apr 26
- 6 min read
Deep inside the forest near Saharanpur, why was a mother and her teenage daughter brutally assaulted by male staffers of the forest department, inside their humble home, for no rhyme or reason?
By Amit Sengupta/Mohand Forest Range/Saharanpur/Western UP
In a shocking incident, a mother and her 14-year-old daughter were attacked by the staffers of the Forest Department in Kaluwala village in Mohand range, deep inside the forest, in the district of Saharanpur, near the famous Shakumbari Devi Mandir. The village is inhabited by the semi-nomadic community of Van Gujjars, original residents of the huge forest range in the UP-Uttarakhand border since the pre-Independence era, who live in thatched or mud houses, love their cows, goats and buffaloes, and survive on dairy farming.
Zero literacy and zero development stalks the community, scarcity of water sources for their cattle, lack of drinking water, basic primary health care and kuccha roads stalk the community. Plus, they allege, they suffer harassment routinely ‘indulged’ in by the Forest Department.
So why was the mother and daughter brutally assaulted inside their humble one room home for no rhyme or reason?
According to sources, the Forest Department has stipulated that the community has been given a permit to travel for greener pasture and water sources for their cattle from March 31 to end of October every year. They must therefore leave exactly by the end of March.
The Van Gujjars of various ‘deras’ migrate towards the Yamuna shores, and beyond to the hills of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, with the advent of summer, so that their beloved cattle do not starve and die of thirst. They thereby live in the open, while in constant move, taking care of their cattle.
On the way, they sell their milk products, mostly pure ghee, and, often, residents of villages and small towns falling on their way, eagerly wait for their arrival. They are known to be a hard-working, honest, peace-loving community, who live in their own peaceful collectives, with harmonious relations with the neighbourhood, and other villagers of mixed communities.
Most families, especially men, migrate at this time of the years, including children. Some stay back for personal issues, old-age, or illness. Till date, this is the normal annual routine, and the Forest Department, mostly, have never interfered when some family members choose to stay back in their homes, even during this long phase of migration during the peak of summer.
Ayesha and Salma, who were attacked, could not leave for two reasons: Salma has been suffering since long with an ailment, and one of their cows had a broken leg, and, therefore, needed full-time care, or else it would starve, and die of thirst. They love their cows.
“How could I leave my injured cow and ailing daughter? We love our cows. I had to take care of her. She just could not move,” Ayesha told this reporter after the incident at Kaluwala.
Her husband, Binyabin, had already moved on with most of their cows and other members of the community, to the banks of the Yamuna. A forest official and the ‘munshi’ was reportedly threatening her again and again, according to Ayesha’s sister, Khatija, asking her to leave the house, or it would be demolished. Ayesha and her family have been living in this house for many years, which is a bit distant from the main village of Kaluwala where the rest of the Van Gujjars have set up their ‘deras’.
Suddenly, according to her, it was stated by the forest department staffers that their house is illegally constructed on plantation land, and they will have to leave at any cost; besides, they were told that they are violating the March 31 deadline.
Locals argue that common sense tells that there is no such compulsory law, there can be personal, family or health reasons to stay back, and entire families need not migrate every year. Hence, some in the family stay back.
Hence, it seems incomprehensible that the forest male staffers, with only two women, should land up in her house last week, and try to demolish her house. According to Ayesha, when she asked why, two women staffers held her, while the men hit her repeatedly with a lathi all over her body. “When Salma intervened, she too was hit and manhandled by the men,” she said,
Her five-five-year old daughter, Sharifa, was traumatised to see her mother and sister being assaulted so brutally.
On hearing the news, Khatija rushed to the union office of All India Union of Forest Working People (AIUFWP) at Nagal Mafi nearby. Thereby, their leaders and activists, Munnilal, Alamgir, Nazim and others rushed to the spot.
At the Forest Department check-post, they found a shocked Ayesha and her daughter, their heads in bandage, badly hurt, with severe hidden wounds (goom chot) on their bodies. A feisty Khatija was using her mobile to make a video, even while she argued with the officials as to what gave them the power and the right to beat up her sister and niece, and demolish her home suddenly where they have been staying for so long.
Khatija’s phone was snatched and the recorded material deleted. Earlier, even Ayesha’s phone was snatched.
Meanwhile, the rest of the community collected in anger and outrage, and tension stalked the area. Police force was rushed in from Biharigarh and Mohand police stations nearby. The situation turned tense.
Thanks to AIUFWP leader Munnilal, widely respected in the area, and the activists, the forest officials saw sense, and reportedly promised to not take any further action. Munnilal said the officer told them that no such order was given so as to demolish the house and attack the women-folk. They also said that no case will be filed against Ayesha, though, clearly, as the activists said, “A case should be filed against the forest department because they have no power or right under law to enter a woman’s home when she is alone, and beat her up and her teenage daughter, without even a single notice.
Meanwhile, General Secretary of the AIUFWP, Roma, who happened to be in the area, rushed to the site, consoled and hugged the mother and daughter, and declared that such atrocities will not be allowed or tolerated.
As this reporter too rushed to the village, she said: “How dare they enter the home of a woman, when she is alone with her teenage 14-year-old daughter, assault her and physically harm her with lathis, and that too by men staffers. How can they manhandle, even touch, the daughter? We will take it up with the highest authorizes, galvanise the women’s groups in the district and the meet the District Magistrate of Saharanpur. This kind of atrocity is unacceptable.”
Later, Ashok Choudhary, leader of the Union, told this reporter: “The Forest Department still thinks that they are the lords of the forest and the communities living there are their subjects. This has been an on-going pattern since Independence all over India. This must be and will be resisted. Under the Forest Rights Act, they have no business to enter their area, and indulge in atrocities against the forest-dwelling people who have a constitutional right to live in the forest and who have inherited the fundamental right to all the natural resources of the forest.”
Thereby, while the news went viral on whatsapp and by word of mouth among other locals and activists, Roma, women activists, and her colleagues met the new District Magistrate (DM) of Saharanpur, along with Ayesha and Khatija on April 23, 2026. Ayesha told the DM and other officials that Salma was sick and her cow was injured and she just could leave the cow to die, she had to take care of it, at any cost.
All the officials present, including the DM, were reportedly deeply touched by her love for the cow, which is a common trait in the community, who love their cattle, because they are their companions, and they give them their life-sustenance and livelihood. They share this characteristic with several Muslim communities in other parts of North India, including in Rajasthan, where cows are ardently loved and taken care of as part of the extended families.
In a petition to the DM, Roma, Khatija, Munnilal, Aman Gujjar, Vishal and women activists Rakhi and Pratibha, stated that the officials involved in this grave crime should be punished, the forest department should face strict action, a case should be filed, including under POCSO, and these officials should be immediately suspended so that the mother and daughter can get justice.
The DM has reportedly promised to get the issue immediately investigated, and that action will be taken.
Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a series on the life and times of Van Gujjars on the UP-Uttarakhand border.
Photos: Amit Sengupta