Guwahati, May 27 -- C. R. Bijoy

Forest 'encroachment' under the legal cover of the Forest Act of 1865, commenced with the inception of the Imperial Forest Department in 1864, now India's Forest Department. This colonisation continued post-independence through the colonial era Indian Forest Act of 1927 (IFA). The government proclaimed any piece of land to be 'forest' by notifying it to this effect. These incursions not only ravaged the forests and all its denizens, but also unleashed a bloody saga of resistance in defence of democracy in the forests that continues till date. The centuries-old traditional use of forests by forest dwelling communities got disrupted. This is in spite of the provisions to recognise and settle forest rights in...