When Women Rose for Their Forests – The Fakirani Jatt Women of Kachchh
In the remote grasslands and thorn forests of Kachchh, Gujarat, two major lifelines sustain rural communities—agriculture and pastoralism. These fields are largely led and managed by traditional farming and pastoral communities, including the Fakirani Jatts, a Muslim pastoral group deeply rooted in the region’s ecological and cultural landscape.
Traditionally, Fakirani Jatt women have played an integral role in pastoral life. For generations, they have tended livestock—camels, sheep, and goats—navigating the forests and grasslands, managing household responsibilities, milking animals, and even selling milk to local dairies. Yet, despite their deep engagement with natural resources, these women have rarely been seen taking leadership roles or speaking publicly about their rights. Cultural norms and patriarchal boundaries have kept them from the decision-making spaces where policies about their lives are shaped.
But this is beginning to change.
This year, in the month of Ramzan, the women of the Fakirani Jatt community chose to mark International Women’s Day in a powerful and unprecedented way. Around 40–45 women from 3 to 4 small hamlets gathered at a hamlet named Mori to break their fast together with an Iftari. What followed was not just a celebration, but a turning point.
After Iftari, the women came together to chart out a strategy to secure their long-denied grazing rights over their traditional Community Forest Resources (CFRs). Over the years, they have faced numerous challenges: increasing restrictions from authorities due to tensions along the India–Pakistan border that prevent access to their grazing islands and religious sites; growing encroachments by invasive species like Prosopis juliflora that are choking out native vegetation; and continuous denial of grazing permissions by the forest department in thorn forests.
Women discussing their issues regarding access to forests in the Mori Village
From the discussions, a young 25-year-old woman named Kalashma emerged as a bold voice of leadership. With determination, she stood before the group and said, “Baiyu dhare t aj chandhra te veni achetiyu pa paja jungle n bachai sako koro, halo baiyu cher me”—“If women decide, we can even reach the moon; can’t we save our forests? Come on, sisters, let’s go into the mangroves!”
With Kalashma’s words, the resolve was sealed. The women collectively decided to first engage in advocacy—negotiating with the administration for access to the mangroves while also acknowledging and working around national security concerns. They planned to meet the district collector to push for recognition of their CFR rights and committed that once their rights were secured, their Community Forest Resource Management Committees (CFRMCs) would take the lead in removing Prosopis juliflora and regenerating the native forest species.
This gathering of women, grounded in both faith and purpose, marked a historic shift. For the first time, Fakirani Jatt women stepped out—not just to speak, but to lead. Their voices, once quiet in public spaces, are now shaping strategies, speaking truth to power, and calling for justice for their lands and livelihoods.
This story is a testament to how empowered women can become agents of ecological and social transformation when they reclaim their place in the struggle for rights, dignity, and the conservation of their ancestral lands.