A forest division beat workplace that was set on hearth in Churachandpur (File)

Imphal/New Delhi:

Manipur’s high forest officer has written to the state authorities denying allegations made by a fact-finding crew of the Editors’ Guild of India (EGI) that the N Biren Singh authorities didn’t comply with due process in declaring components of hills as “reserved” and “protected” forests.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests SS Chhabra in a seven-page letter to the Manipur authorities mentioned the allegations in opposition to the forest division within the report – printed by the three-member, crowdfunded EGI crew after staying in Manipur for 4 days – are “wrong” and “unverified”, they usually have “led to misinformation… and tarnished the reputation of the forest department.” NDTV has seen a duplicate of the letter.

The EGI in the report launched on Saturday final alleged the BJP authorities in Manipur branded all Kuki tribes as “illegal immigrants” after some 4,000 refugees fleeing the army coup in neighbouring Myanmar crossed into Manipur. The EGI report mentioned evictions from and demolitions in “forest areas were carried out only in non-Naga inhabited areas,” which led the Kukis to suspect they have been being “singled out”.

In the letter, which features a point-by-point rebuttal of the allegations, the highest forest officer mentioned no reserved or protected forest has been declared throughout the tenure of the present authorities, and so the declare by the EGI crew “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.”

Citing the forest division’s knowledge, Mr Chhabra within the letter to the Additional Chief Secretary of forests and surroundings mentioned the allegation that Kukis have been “singled out” was a blatant lie, as many individuals from different communities who’ve been dwelling illegally in reserved and guarded forests had been eliminated too.

From October 2015 to April 2023, the forest division has eliminated 413 encroachers from reserved and guarded forests throughout the state – 143 Meiteis, 137 Meitei Pangals, 59 Kukis (together with 21 unoccupied huts in Kanglatombi-Kangpokpi reserved forest), 38 Nagas, and 36 Nepalis.

Source: Manipur Forest Department

Source: Manipur Forest Department

“… Since 2015 till date, no encroacher has been evicted from reserved and protected forests in Churachandpur and Tengnoupal districts. The report of the EGI that the demolition drive began in Kangpokpi district, a Kuki-dominated area, extended by 2023 to Churachandpur and Tengnoupal districts, which is a preponderance of Kuki-Zo community, is manufactured and without any basis,” the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests mentioned within the letter.

The forest division’s letter comes amid criticism over the submitting of two police circumstances in opposition to the three members of the EGI fact-finding crew and the EGI chief by two Imphal residents, one in all whom is a social employee.

The EGI and different journalist teams have mentioned the federal government ought to reply to the allegations as a substitute of supporting police circumstances. The EGI has alleged the Manipur authorities is making an attempt to silence its critics with the primary info experiences (FIRs), and the Supreme Court has advised the authorities to not take any coercive motion in opposition to the EGI crew named within the FIRs until Monday.

Sorokhaibam Thoudam Sangita, who filed the second FIR, yesterday requested for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the case. The first FIR was filed by social employee N Sarat Singh.

Ms Sangita alleged the EGI is making an attempt to divert the difficulty and escape from answering with proof all of the allegations the three-member crew had made in opposition to the Meitei neighborhood, who’re a majority within the valley areas of Manipur. “This issue is very serious. The team was crowdfunded too. We want to know who all donated to them for the Manipur visit. The CBI should take this case and go into the root of the case,” Ms Sangita mentioned.

The three journalists – Seema Guha, Sanjay Kapoor, and Bharat Bhushan – got here to Manipur on a crowdfunded go to to arrange the report. The EGI on July 26 posted on X, asking for donation to fund “a fact-finding mission to document media’s coverage of the Manipur ethnic clashes.”