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Sringeri
Friday, March 29, 2024

Islamists encroach reserve forest land & convert it into Kabristan, erect Mazar atop the hill: Uttarakhand

Islamists have allegedly encroached on reserve forest land in the Kalsi forest area located in Dehradun Zilla’s Chakrata forest division. Reports of Muslims having turned the forest land into a Kabristan (Islamic cemetery) reached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Union Government has ordered the state government and forest department to investigate the matter and send the report to the Centre.

encroach

According to available information, Muslims illegally encroached on 0.95 hectares of the Kalsi river range’s Ward 17. Hindu organizations protested against forest land being turned into a Kabristan. There used to be a training centre for SSB on the land on which the Islamists have constructed a graveyard. Villagers wrote to the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India (MoEFCC), after which regular correspondence has been taking place regarding the investigation report between the Forest Secretary, District Administration and DFO Chakrata.

Chakrata DFO confirmed that the land on which the Kabristan has been built belongs to the forest department and earlier too there have been complaints of dead bodies being buried there. Admitting the encroachment, Kalyani DFO has written to the Forest Secretary stating that a high-level order should be issued to remove the encroachment and demanding the deployment of the PAC Rapid Action Force. Furthermore, the letter notes that the issue is communally sensitive.

“In such a situation, the question also arises that the forest department knew about the illegal encroachment by the Muslim community and turned a blind eye. Due to this negligence, the Mazar Jihad started in the forests of Uttarakhand and more than thirteen hundred illegal mausoleums were made here which are now being removed”, notes Panchajanya.

It has come to light that in addition to the Kabristan, a rest house and a Mazar have been constructed illegally. Hindu organizations alleged they approached the forest department and district administration and have been in talks with both for several months now. They further alleged that these talks have not yielded any result. Hindu organizations also said that the forest department has turned a blind eye to these illegal encroachments even though permission is required to even enter the area.

On behalf of Muslim encroachers, Saeed Ahmed says that we had demanded this place from DM since 2016 for the cemetery and that he had also written a letter to the Forest Secretary. They claim that the graves are here since 1976. However, locals allege this is a white lie and they say that the SSB Guerillas were given training in weapons and fighting in the jungle when they were recruited during the China war. Later this forest was made a part of the Reserve Forest.

It must be mentioned neither the DFO nor the Forest Secretary has the authority to transfer the land to any organization without permission from the Central Government. Furthermore, locals are opposing the construction of a Kabristan here since the area around the forest is a Hindu-majority area.

Local Hindu leader Surendra Dutt Joshi and his colleagues have been continuously demanding action from the Central as well as Uttarakhand Governments on this issue. They have also written to the PMO and sought information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Several times the Forest Department gave roundabout answers to their queries.

However, the negligence of the officers and employees of the Forest Department, due to which the Muslim community encroached on forest land and carried out Mazar Jihad in the forests, has also come to the fore in this matter.

As the Muslim population in both the plains and hills increases, cases of illegal encroachments are being increasingly reported from across Uttarakhand. The Haldwani encroachment on railway land is a prime example. Reports highlight that about 4000 families, the majority of them being Muslims, have illegally occupied around 29 acres of Railway land for several decades. Railway authorities have emphasized that the encroachments are acting as an impediment to its expansion and growth plans.

In July 2020, reports emerged of a Jesus statue being erected atop a hill that falls under the jurisdiction of the forest department. A similar case of the Catholic church encroaching forest land on top of a hillock in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvannamalai came to the fore in December 2021.

These cases highlight the importance of dealing strictly with encroachments and nipping them in the bud.

(Featured Image Source: Panchajanya)

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