An acrimonious exchange of words over the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill, has appeared in the national press during the past couple of months. The first salvo was fired by environmentalists, mislead by a calculated misinformation campaign that the bill will distribute 2.5 hectares of forest land to all tribal families and result in the destruction of scarce forest cover of the nation. The raging battle between those supporting the bill and arguing on its merits and those opposing it by using the tiger crisis has polarized many environmentalists and tribal rights activists in adversarial positions that appear irreconcilable.