Sidhra demolition drive ‘illegal’, will not spare those involved in unjust act: Javed Rana

Jammu, May 19: Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment, Javed Ahmed Rana Tuesday announced that he has ordered an inquiry into, what he described as, “illegal eviction drive” in Sidhra area on the outskirts of Jammu and would take action against all those involved, including those from forest department in this ‘unjust act’.

Rana, while speaking to media persons after visiting the drive spot and meeting the affected families, said, “This was absolutely an illegal and unjust action. I’ve ordered an inquiry and will not spare those involved in this illegal act. I will take action against the officials of the forest department, involved in the eviction drive.”

He asserted that he would take up the matter with the Chief Minister to seek justice for the nomadic community.

Earlier, while carrying out an “anti-encroachment drive” in the Raika Bandi forest belt on the outskirts of Jammu, the officials of Forest Department, Revenue department and the Police in a joint operation demolished around 25 structures.

The officials stated that around 60 kanals of prime forest land was retrieved in the drive that lasted around four hours.

The action triggered protests by the affected families, mainly nomadic families, which claimed that the drive was “illegal as it was conducted without prior notices.”

“They (officials) conducted this drive in the name to contain the menace of Chitta. Our submission to the Lieutenant Governor is – Was the whole colony involved in it? Why were all houses demolished? This is injustice,” one of the members of aggrieved families maintained.

The families alleged that they had been living in the area for the last six generations and their names were there in 1952 voter lists.

Minister for Forests condemned the action on his social media handle as well and stated that he was “deeply shocked and outraged by the clandestine, unilateral demolition of homes in Sidhra, Jammu by the LG administration.”

 “Decades of heritage of our innocent Gujjar-Bakarwal families has been reduced to rubble without taking the elected, popular government or my Ministry into confidence. This is not a mere regulatory drive; it is a targeted, cruel eviction explicitly aimed at terrorising and marginalizing our nomadic tribal communities who have protected these lands for over half a century,” Rana posted.

He said, “We will not stand by as silent spectators to this selective harassment and high-handedness. I am immediately taking this up at the highest level with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah sb to demand an immediate halt, an institutional inquiry against the responsible officers and officials, and full rehabilitation for the affected families. Our people deserve justice, not displacement!”