If this parallel seems odd, one only has to look at images of flames leaping from the Amazon and recall the incineration of the Khandava forest in the Mahabharata for clarity. In This Fissured Land, Madhav Gadgil and Ramachandra Guha write that “Arjuna evidently wants to clear the Khandava forest to provide land for his agricultural/pastoral clan”. Satellite data prove that even now fewer fires are burning in lands under the forest tribes. India is no stranger to forest fires, although these do not always rage with tacit State support. Potentially, an everyday, symbiotic activity such as picking dry fallen leaves — a major stimulant in forest fires — for fuel can be seen as intent to destroy, ensuring that the individual as well as his entire community lose their rights over forest resources.

Source: The Telegraph September 29, 2019 18:11 UTC