EMN
DIMAPUR, MAY 4
Despite widespread protests from student organizations and occupants of forest land inside Daldali, the Karbi Anglong district authority in Assam –with police commandos and personnel of CRPF and Forest department – on Monday morning evicted illegal settlers inside the reserved forest area, and claimed to have demolished at least 42 thatch houses during the eviction drive.
Located in the disputed inter-state border belt between Nagaland and Assam, the Daldali reserved forest is among the vast portion of land to which both the states are claiming ownership. Just last year, the Assam police authorities had carried out an eviction drive to remove Naga settlers from the area, which saw lost of life on both sides of the border.
The evicted Naga villagers, back then, had argued with the Assam police and administration that settlers from Assam side were being allowed to occupy the land inside Daldali while they, on the other hand, were being forcefully driven out.
According to reports, the encroachers did not try to resist the eviction drive carried out today. The exercise started at around 8 am today near Rangapahar Border outpost. Eventually it spread to all the areas covering Kashiram Border Outpost, Jarunala, Dikhangsi and Tin Bangla – all located inside the Daldali reserve forest.
The Range Officer of Daldali has been quoted as saying that the occupants inside the reserved forest were not only those who came from Nagaland but also indigenous settlers of Karbi Anglong, Assam. He has expressed inability on the part of his department to prevent such settlements inside Daldali due to shortage of manpower and weaponry.
He stated that the settlers are usually backed my armed militants, when judged by past incidents of violence. It has been reported that settlement inside the disputed forest land increased drastically in the last four months, prompting the authorities to act thus. Besides constructing houses inside the reserved forest, the settlers are also said to have cleared areas of land for cultivation. Similar exercise to prevent cultivation inside the forest land, and also remove illegal settlers, was carried out in July last year.
UNTABA meet condemns eviction drive by Assam
The United Naga Tribes Association on Border Areas (UNTABA) at a public meeting of Border Areas here at Book Marc Conference Hall today reviewed and discussed the recurring tensions along the Assam-Nagaland border owing to arbitrary eviction drive against the Naga inhabitants by the administration of the neighboring district of Assam and strongly condemned the unilateral action of the Assam government.
The meeting also unequivocally condemned the ‘dormant attitude’ of the administrative machineries of the government of Nagaland in failing to provide security to its people and its inabilities in enforcing the terms of the interim agreements with its counterpart.
The UNTABA demanded the state government to immediately ascertain the list of illegal settlements of people including Tea Estates, Assam Police Border Out Posts, and other establishment in the reserved forests w.e.f. 1972 Interim Agreements till date and pursue for immediate eviction as per the terms of agreements as all these reserved forests are still yet to be de-notified.
A statement issued by UNTABA Chairman Hukavi Yeputhomi and Secretary Imsumongba Pongen said, in consonant with the unanimous resolution adopted in the Nagaland Tribes Consultative meeting on March 27, 2015, the people of border areas unanimously resolved to abstain in the Supreme Court hearing as witnesses so as to enable the government of Nagaland to pursue the inter-state boundary demarcation issue at the political level based on the historical perspective including various political agreements made between the people of Nagaland and the government of India.
The Association said, until the inter-State boundary between the state of Nagaland and Assam is demarcated based on historical perspective, the government of Nagaland should implement the interim agreement of 1972 by not allowing illegal settlements of hundreds of villages/townships, tea estates, roads and Border Out Posts (BoP) in the following Reserved Forests which were covered in the Interim Agreement:
a. Diphu Reserve Forest (Parts of) NO. 25, Dt. 13/04/1887
b. Nambor Reserve Forest (Parts of) NO. 5, Dt. 17/10/1878
c. Rengma Reserve Forest (Parts of) NO. 25, Dt. 13/04/1887
d. Desoi (Tsurang) Valley Reserve Forest Naga Hills R. F. NO. 235 TR, Dt. 19/02/1918
e. Desoi Reserve Forest Sibsagar R. F. NO. 45, Dt. 21/11/1883
f. Doyang Reserve Forest Sibsagar R. F. NO. 28, Dt. 31/07/1888.
g. Kakodanga Reserve Forest Sibsagar R. F. NO. 367, Dt. 30/06/1910
h. Geleki Reserve Forest Sibsagar R. F. NO. 847R, Dt. 22/02/1918
i. Tiru Reserve Forest Sibsagar R. F. NO. 847R, Dt. 22/02/1918
j. Abhaypur Reserve Forest
The UNTABA demanded that all the Reserved Forest mentioned in the 12th & 13th point of the 16 point agreement including the forests that were included in the Naga Hills Forests through notifications in the year 1867 and 1875, should be included in the pursuance for final inter-state boundary demarcation.
The Reserved Forests are, namely:
I. Nambor Reserve Forest NO. 5, Dt. 17/10/1878
II. Addition to Nambor Reserve Forest NO. 5, Dt. 17/10/1878
III. Upper Daigurung Reserve Forest NO. 4, Dt. 18/01/1883
IV. Lower Daigurung Reserve Forest NO. 4, Dt. 18/01/1883
V. Kaliani Reserve Forest NO. 47, Dt. 05/08/1887
VI. Mikir Reserve Forest NO. 5, Dt. 17/10/1887
VII. Diphu Reserve Forest (Parts of) NO. 25, Dt. 13/04/1887
VIII. Rengma Reserve Forest (Parts of) NO. 25, DT. 13/04/1887
IX. Daldali Reserve Forest Nowgong R. F. NO. 2502, Dt. 22/10/1923
X. Dhansiri Reserve Forest Nowgong R. F. NO. 3454, Dt. 17/08/1915
XI. Langting Mupa Reserve Forest Kachar R. F. NO. 3454, Dt. 17/08/1915
XII. Lumding Reserve Forest Nowgong R. F. NO. 3454, Dt. 17/08/1915
XIII. Desema Reserve Forest Nowgong R. F. NO. 3454, Dt. 17/08/1915
XIV. Kaki Reserve Forest Nowgong R. F. NO. 3454, Dt. 17/08/1915
