Morung Express News
Dimapur | August 29
Amidst mounting opposition from civil societies and political parties against the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023, Nagaland Government on Tuesday hinted that it will pass a resolution in the upcoming Assembly session to “totally repeal the Act.”
Nagaland government will pass a resolution in the upcoming Nagaland Legislative Assembly session scheduled from September 11 onwards to totally repeal the Act, Minister for Power and Parliamentary Affairs, KG Kenye told media person on the sidelines of a function in Kohima.
Kenye also informed that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act would be discussed in detail during the consultative meet convened by the state government on September 1, ahead of the assembly session.
It may be recalled that the contentious Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 26 amid ongoing protests by the opposition against the violence in Manipur, with only a handful of MPs participating in the discussion. It was passed with a majority of the house voting in favour of the Bill, which experts say is likely to dilute environmental norms protecting India’s forests.
The Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill was then passed by Rajya Sabha on August 2 and it received the President's assent on August 4.
The salient features of the Act include promoting non-forestry activities like construction, industries and tourism in deemed forest areas; blanket exemption for use of forest land held by agencies like Rail, NHAI, PWD, Defence; no clearance required for the acquisition of forest land within 100 km of the international border; a provision proposed to make the central government the sole authority to open up all forests to mining and similar commercial activities, among others.
Since then, civil societies and political parties in the state, except the NDPP and BJP, have been demanding roll back of the Act fearing it will change the governance of the forest and spell disaster for the state’s forest resources.
The Naga People’s Front (NPF) had called for the passing of as Act or a resolution by the NLA while terming it as anti-tribal and anti-constitutional bill. It had recommended the Nagaland Government, in exercise of Article 371 (A), to immediately pass a resolution that flatly reject this bill and to either convene a special assembly session or take up this issue in the upcoming assembly session scheduled on September 11 to deliberate and pass an Act to counter the bill.
The Ao Senden said the amended Act will leave our lands without any protection from arbitrary diversion and decisions of the Union government as it excludes obtaining prior consent from village councils and local district authorities. It pointed out that for the Naga people, land belongs to the people. Every Naga village has its own sovereign authority over its land.
The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) termed the Act as “more of draconian and communist laws rather than the law of federalism” and therefore unacceptable.
Even former Chief Minister Dr Shürhozelie Liezietsu maintained that the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 2023 would create problems in Nagaland, a state where “the ownership of land is peculiar.”
“It (amended Forest Act) can be a law, but even law cannot be imposed in a matter like this. Your land is your property, your wealth. If your right is taken away over it, you cannot remain silent because it is law. So, for the Nagas, this is very dangerous,” he said.
The Nagaland Community Conserved Area Forum (NCCAF) and Kezekevi Thehouba (KTB) asserted that the Act poses a grim challenge to the land and forest rights of indigenous communities. It apprehended that the forest and land have been safeguarded by these communities for generations and thus the new Act’s vague definitions and stipulations are a definite cause of concern for the people.
Amidst the unified opposition against the Act, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio had allegedly remarked that the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act 2023 is not a threat to Nagas while asserting that more than 95 per cent of forest cover in the state belong to individuals or community.
Challenging the Chief Minister’s assertion that the bill poses no threat, the Rising People’s Party (RPP) said there’s no excuse for the “Chief Minister to make loud proclamations that the state is already protected from the adverse effects of the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, or the UCC for that matter.”
It then demanded that the NDPP-BJP Coalition, as mandated by the people, demonstrate eagerness to protect the state from any adverse agenda that seeks to render the constitutionally protected state of Nagaland impotent with legislative measures such as the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill, 2023, or the UCC, which, if implemented, would render Article 371 (A) inconsequential.
