Srinagar, July 30 (KNS) : Amid intensifying eviction drives by the Forest Department to retrieve forest land across Jammu & Kashmir—particularly in the northern, central, and southern regions—a delegation of the J&K RTI Movement (RTIM) and Climate Action Group-JKCAG met Speaker of the J&K Legislative Assembly, Abdul Rahim Rather, here on Thursday.
The delegation, led by Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat, submitted a memorandum urging the Speaker to intervene and halt the eviction process, citing violations of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
Dr Bhat, accompanied by Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, District Coordinator of the RTI Movement for Budgam, held a detailed discussion with the Speaker. He informed the Speaker that the FRA-2006, which was extended to Jammu & Kashmir approximately six years ago, is a pro-people legislation that provides legal protection to forest dwellers, including Gujjars, Bakarwals, Chopans, and other Kashmiri or Dogri communities residing in forest areas for over 75 years. However, instead of operationalising this law, the Forest Department is invoking the Indian Forest Act, 1927, which Dr Bhat argued is subservient to the FRA.
“The Forest Department has started evicting forest dwellers in many places of J&K, citing the Hon’ble J&K High Court order in the SAVE vs J&K Govt case dated September 3, 2020. It is important to mention that the Forest Rights Act 2006 clearly states that this law has an overriding effect on other forest laws. The FRA was extended to J&K post the abrogation of Article 370, with the Government of India claiming that the benefits of central laws would reach the people of J&K. Instead of making the FRA operational and granting its benefits, the Forest Department is invoking the Indian Forest Act 1927 and issuing eviction notices,” Dr Bhat told the Speaker.
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The delegation also brought to the Speaker's notice that the petition in the J&K High Court was filed by the NGO SAVE in 2017, when the FRA was not extended to J&K. However, by the time the eviction order was pronounced in September 2020, the FRA had already been rolled out in the Union Territory, a fact the court was reportedly not updated about. “It is the duty of the J&K Tribal Affairs Department to do this, as it is the nodal agency to implement FRA in J&K. We updated Hon’ble Speaker about all these legal requirements,” Dr Bhat added.
Furthermore, the delegation referred to the Supreme Court’s stance on the matter, noting that in the Wildlife First & Ors vs Union of India case (Civil Writ Petition No. 50 of 2008), the apex court on February 13, 2019, ordered 16 states to evict over a million families whose claims under the FRA had been rejected. Following massive protests and a modification request by the central government, the Supreme Court stayed the eviction order within two weeks and directed a review of the rejected claims, citing serious procedural flaws.
“If these evictions have been put on hold by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the Forest Rights Act 2006 is yet to be fully rolled out, how can the Forest Department of J&K invoke the High Court’s orders and start issuing eviction notices to forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFDs)? We seek your kind intervention and urge you to take up this case with the Chief Minister and Forest Minister of J&K,” read the memorandum submitted to the Speaker. (KNS)