How does the question of forest rights in the Bastar rebellion show the difference between legal rights and moral rights?

Correct answer: Colonial law restricted forest use, but local communities considered it unjust

In Bastar, the colonial government created reserved forests and controlled customary activities such as hunting, shifting cultivation, grazing, and collecting forest produce. Although these restrictions were legal under colonial law, they violated the communities’ livelihood needs and customary claims, so they were seen as morally unjust. Option B is the closest distractor, but colonial forest laws did not fully recognise traditional rights; they restricted them. Exam tip: a legal right comes from the law of the state, whereas a moral right may rest on justice, custom, and community acceptance.