Insensitivity at its best

The Taj group of hotels has been under fire for the past year due to its decision to construct a three-star hotel resort at Murkal, in the heart of the Nagarhole national park near Mysore in Karnataka. The conflict between the local adivasis and the hotel chain came to a head when 21 of them courted arrest on December 24, 1996. The adivasis, under the banner of the Budekkattu Krishikara Sanghatana have been demanding the full implementation of the Bhuria Committee's recommendations, that restores their customary rights over access to the forest and its produce. And this is precisely what the prospect of five-star tourism in the park threatens