The Forest People

ITA MEHROTRA documents the embattled relationship between Uttarakhand's Van Gujars and their forest home

- Juhi Saklani

Rich with information, perspective and detail, Uprooted is an intimate opus focusing on the Van Gujars: semi-nomadic Muslim buffalo herders of Uttarakhand's forested foothills. It is narrated through their voices, and evokes their struggle for land and forest rights. The artist touches all aspects of the issue: its colonial background, the nature of the forest department, the law on forest rights, the marginalisation of pastoral communities, the gender perspective, the ecological context...