M. Geethanandan, a social activist and State coordinator of the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha (AGMS), has described the 2003 Muthanga eviction in Kerala as a deliberate attempt to suppress the Adivasi land rights movement, in an interview examining the long-running struggle and its legal aftermath.
The Muthanga incident, in which tribal families occupying forest land in Wayanad were evicted by state forces, remains a defining episode in Kerala’s Adivasi political history. Geethanandan framed the eviction as part of a broader pattern of state action against organised tribal communities asserting claims over ancestral land.
“Eviction was a bid to crush the Adivasi movement,” Geethanandan said, arguing that the use of force was disproportionate and aimed at breaking organised resistance rather than resolving competing claims over forest land.
The activist, who has been associated with the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha for decades, discussed the legal trajectory that followed the eviction, including petitions in the High Court of Kerala and proceedings that examined questions of forest rights, rehabilitation, and the status of tribal settlements inside wildlife sanctuaries.
Geethanandan also spoke about the challenges facing tribal communities in Kerala, including displacement, loss of access to forest resources, and what he described as inadequate implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006. He linked the Muthanga episode to subsequent struggles over land in Attappady and other Adivasi belts in the state.
Analysis:
The Muthanga eviction has been interpreted in sharply different ways. The Kerala government at the time justified the operation as necessary to protect forest land and wildlife habitats, citing encroachment inside what is now part of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. The incident drew national attention after a tribal protester was killed and several others were injured during the confrontation. Successive governments have pointed to the Forest Rights Act as the formal mechanism through which Adivasi claims should be addressed, rather than direct occupation of forest land.
Geethanandan’s account reflects the position of the AGMS, which has long argued that the Muthanga settlement predated the modern wildlife sanctuary boundaries and that tribal communities were denied due process before the eviction. The legal disputes that followed have tested the limits of the Forest Rights Act, particularly the tension between individual and community claims and the protection of ecologically sensitive areas. The case continues to inform debates in Kerala over land tenure, conservation policy, and the political representation of Adivasi communities.
Sources
The Hindu – https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/muthanga-eviction-was-a-bid-to-crush-the-adivasi-movement-geethanandan/article71388105.ece
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Story synopsis gathered from: The Hindu – National — source
