Manipur forest department dismisses Editors' Guild of India report

The Manipur government has denied allegations made by a fact-finding team of the Editors' Guild of India (EGI) that the state government did not follow due process in declaring parts of hilly areas as "reserved" and "protected" forests.

Manipur's principal chief conservator of forests S.S. Chhabra in a seven-page letter to the Manipur government said the allegations against the forest department in the report -- published by the three-member EGI team after a recent four-day visit to in the state -- are "wrong" and "unverified", and they have "led to misinformation... and tarnished the reputation of the forest department.

The EGI report, which was released recently, alleged the state government of branding all Kuki tribals as "illegal immigrants" after about 4,000 refugees who fled the military coup in neighbouring Myanmar crossed into Manipur. The report said evictions from and demolitions in "forest areas were carried out only in non-Naga inhabited areas," which led the Kukis to suspect they were being "singled out".


According to the Manipur government, no reserved or protected forest has been declared during the tenure of the current government, and so, the claim by the EGI team "that the declaration of new reserved forests and protected forests in the hills by the N Biren Singh government, cancellation of land ownership documents in these areas, and eviction drive led to confrontation between the state authorities and the Kuki community is without any basis."

Chhabra said the allegation that Kukis were "singled out" was a blatant lie, as many people from other communities who have been living illegally in reserved and protected forests had been removed too.