Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: A stark contrast in forest conservation! The pre-sent government in Assam has been making all-out efforts to free the reserve forest lands from encroachers. On the contrary, a shocking official communication that sought the setting up of a Muslim forest village for encroachers inside a reserve forest has come to light. The Gauhati High Court was shocked to know about this ‘official communication’.
The authorities ser-ved eviction notices on October 10, 2025, to some encroachers of Jamuna Maudanga Reserve Forest, Doboka, in the Hojai district (earlier in the Nagaon district). Maudanga Forest had been notified as a reserve forest on July 27, 1918. Challenging the eviction notices, Ataur Rahman and 52 others filed a writ petition in the Gauhati High Court. The petitioners prayed, ‘A Muslim forest village may be constituted inside the said reserve forest.’ They cited two communications issued on January 20, 1968, by the then DFO, Nagaon, and April 12, 1990, by the then Nagaon DC as the basis of their prayer. The two communications made proposals to establish a Muslim forest village in the reserve forest to entertain Muslim encroachers as regular forest villagers.
According to an annexure (dated January 20, 1968) that the petitioners submitted to the high court, the then DFO of the Nagaon division wrote to the Doboka Range Officer asking him to “submit a proposal for establishing a forest village in the Jamuna Maudanga Reserve Forest with a view to entertaining the Muslim encroachers as regular forest villagers, together with a map and boundary description. This proposal should be submitted immediately so as to finalize the matter as soon as desired by the then Conservator of Forest, Upper Assam Circle, Jorhat.”
Another annexure (dated April 12, 1990), wherein the then Nagaon DC wrote to the Secretary, Forest Department, Dispur, said, “This has been a long-pending matter since 1954-55. The matter was enquired into by the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Nagaon, and the copy of this report, which is self-explanatory, is enclosed herewith for perusal. Records show that there was a commitment of the Forest Department to constitute a Muslim forest village in Jamuna Maudanga Reserve Forest to meet the grievances of the petitioners, and also a proposal was initiated in 1968-69 for the proposed Muslim forest village with 115 acres of land for the petitioner and 42 others in his group of encroachers…”
The matter came to the fore when a writ petition challenging the eviction notices was filed in the court of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi in the Gauhati High Court. A shocked judge asked Additional Advocate General Parangam Goswami, “Is it acceptable to give a settlement to a Muslim or Hindu village inside a reserve forest? Can a forest conservator do it? What’s the present status?”
In his reply, the Additional Advocate General said that in 2007 the government had informed the court that such a proposal could be accepted; the petitioners had also been informed of it. “They filed another writ petition in 2016,” he said and added that the state government cannot give settlements in reserve forests without permission from the Central Government.
After hearing both sides, the court declined to pass any interim order and asked the petitioners to file representations before the authorities.
Also Read: "Is This Your Tribute to Zubeen?" Rajesh Bhuyan Condemns Piracy of 'Roi Roi Binale'