Guigailong Women’ Development president Simla Kamei on Monday said that the villagers of Guigailong, Langol, Imphal West strongly condemn the allegation that the villagers threatened the forest officials and police personnel who came for eviction.
Womenfolk of Guigailong and youth club staged a one-day sit-in protest at the community hall of Guigailong village, Langol, Imphal West on Monday, protesting “the allegation made by the government officials.”
Simla told the media that a team of forest officials came on Friday and asked to remove the house of one Azen Kamei, wife of late Francis Kamei, Guigailong village which was illegally constructed at Langol reserved forest.
As the government did not serve any prior notice, the family members requested to give some time so that they can voluntarily remove the house. The forest officials told them to meet the district forest officer on Monday, she said. However, a team of forest officials along with a team of Lamphel police came around 7 am on Saturday and started demolishing the house, she added.
It may be mentioned that the state government had earlier issued an eviction notice for removal of any illegal structures in reserved forest areas. Chief minister N Biren Singh had also tweeted earlier in June, stating that “the State Government has initiated a drive against all the encroachment in different parts of the state.”
They continued the demolition work despite the family members appealing to them that they will dismantle the house on their own so that they could reuse the materials in the future. However, the government officials demolished the house on the same day by ignoring the request of the family, said Simla.
When a youth tried to stop the demolition work, requesting the officials to let them dismantle the house by themselves, he was physically assaulted by the police team, she added.
Some of the forest officials who came to take care of the demolition work were suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, she continued. The unlawful demolition of the house provoked civil unrest, resulting in verbal and physical harassment and even causing injury to the victims, she added.
She also clarified that the villagers of Guigailong did not threaten to kill anyone as reported in some local media and refuted the allegations as baseless and unfounded.
The village authority is against the forced eviction without warning and the demolition of houses without any written notice, she said.
Besides the forceful demolition that was carried out without serving any prior eviction notice, the victims were also called up at the police station without issuing any written summons which was biased and unprecedented, she added.
She appealed to the government not to repeat such incidents in the future as the people are there to support the government, and the authority concerned should also stop such forceful evictions without serving prior notice.
The protesters staged placards that read, ‘do not misuse law’, ‘no harassment of peaceful citizens’, ‘we demand justice of the right to live’, ‘we demand impartial justice’ and others.
