The Rajasthan BJP today blamed the Congress, Left parties and human rights organisation PUCL for "hatching a conspiracy" against the state government by making "false" statement on alleged starvation deaths of Saharia tribals, saying the party found those were "natural deaths".

"No one died of hunger or malnutrition in the Saharia tribal belt of Baran district in last two months, and the deaths were simply natural deaths," might be due to illness, Onkar Singh Lakhawat, the state party vice-president, told a press conference here.

During the previous Congress regime, 216 tribal people died of hunger in Sahababad tehsil during 2002-03, and 121 people met the same fate in Kishanganj tehsil in 2003 as per the panchayat samiti records, Lakhawat claimed.

The Congress government never tried for development of the Saharia tribals in last 55 years, but the Raje government launched an integrated scheme to uplift them, he said.

Saharia tribals would be re-linked with their traditional work of forestry, for which 100 hectares of forest would be acquired at 40 places, and they would be given jobs, he said.

On a question, Lakhawat said the "so-called starvation deaths" would not make any impact on the two bypolls of Behror and Merta on October 13 as it was a "baseless and conspired issue." Opposition Congress would not get any mileage out of it in the bypolls, he added.

Launching an urgent appeal as part of its newly launched Hunger Alert campaign Monday, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) warns that a group of tribals living on roots and leaves in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, will starve to death if the authorities fail to take immediate measures for their survival.

The Hong-Kong based regional human rights group says the tribals, called Adivasis in the local Hindi language, living in the district of Sonebhadra in eastern Uttar Pradesh, are crippled by food shortages, acute malnutrition and starvation due to a 10-year long land dispute with the local forest department.

Remarks Basil Fernando, executive director of the AHRC, "We are deeply disturbed to find that widespread hunger in Sonebhadra persists despite national and international attention already being directed to the intolerable conditions there."

AHRC was alerted about the alarming situation by nongovernmental organization (NGO) Social Development Foundation based in India's capital, New Delhi. On a visit to the region, members of the NGO found that despite media attention being diverted to the region after starvation deaths occurred in 2003, severe malnutrition still persists there.

Says Fernando, "People are starving to death. We are particularly concerned about the plight of children."

Sadly, this is not the first time this situation has arisen in an region dogged by endemic starvation. Last year, about 19 children died of hunger within a month in the village of Raup in Sonebhadra.

After a petition on the deaths was filed to India's apex rights body - the National Human Rights Commission, it issued notices to the state government, which dispatched officials to investigate. The people were handed small quantities of food and kerosene, while civic groups made short-term interventions.

AHRC alleges that the state's Public Distribution System which provides food grain to the poor, has failed to come to these people's rescue.

A year later, there is no change in the overall environment, amid total governmental apathy to the situation. Around 40 tribals who earlier walked more than 40 kilometers on foot through the monsoon to protest about lack of food to district headquarter officials, met with little response.

Most of the group work as laborers for farmers and were either distributed barren land by the authorities or promised land but not given any.

Complains 30-year-old woman Kalwati, "I have a son and we live in a hut. For the last two months we have had nothing to eat. We are eating forest produce, what else can we eat?"

The villagers live on roots and leaves collected from the forest. If the children fall sick, there are no medical facilities nearby.

The region where the tribals are located has witnessed lengthy and complicated land disputes, apart from massive corruption involving the forestry and revenue departments and local government officials.

An order issued ten years ago by India's apex court - the Supreme Court - instructed officials to conduct a land survey in the region to cede land rights to tribals, but so far nothing has happened in this regard.

AHRC has issued a public appeal asking people to send letters to the chief minister (the elected head of the state) Mulayam Singh Yadav, with copies to the head of the NHRC, the Chief Justice of India and the Chairperson of the state's own rights body -- Uttar Pradesh Human Rights Commission.

The letter states that, "issues of land entitlement and agrarian reform should be on the top of the government's agenda... I would like to remind you that you have obligations under international and national law to all persons residing in the state of Uttar Pradesh to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food."

Holding the government responsible for any future deaths, the letter warns that, "I urge you to attend to the immediate requirement of adequate nutrition and necessary food for this community, failing which your government could be held responsible for genocide."