Churachandpur-Khoupum Protected Forest

TheChurachandpur–Khoupum Protected Forestwas declared by theGovernment of Manipurin India in 1966. It is believed to be largely coincidental with theThangjing Hillsrange that bounds theImphal Valleyon the southwest. The protected forest designation was relatively unknown until November 2022, when the government issued a memorandum derecognising 38 tribal villages embedded in the forest area, mainly populated byKuki-Zo people. Amidst the uproar caused by the announcement, a small village called K. Songjang was dramatically bulldozed in February 2023, with the claim that it had encroached into the protected forest. Tensions arising from this event are stated to be one of the causes of the long drawn2023–2024 Manipur violence.
Manipur is a state embedded within thePatkai-Arakan Yomas, the eastern counterpart of theHimalayasthat interject between theIndian Plateand theEurasian Plate.The state consists of a central valley portion, occupying roughly 1,820 km(700 sq mi), and the surrounding hill regions of 20,507 km(7,918 sq mi). The total forest area of the state is 17,346 km, forming 77.7% of the land area of the state.
The protected-area network, consisting ofwildlife sanctuariesandnational parks, covers 1,132 km(roughly 5.07% of the area of the state). In addition, the state has 36reserve forests(1,467 km) and 22protected forests(4,171 km). The remaining area of 11,131 kmis unclassified.
The Churachandpur–Khoupum Protected Forest was notified by the Government of Manipur on 17 September 1966 under Section 29 of theIndian Forest Act, 1927.Manipur was aunion territoryat that time, governed by a centrally-appointed Chief Commissioner, and guided by a Legislative Assembly consisting of 30 elected members and 3 nominated members.The assembly was led by Chief MinisterMairembam Koireng Singh.
The protected forest covers 51.49 kmland area,mainly comprising theThangjing Hillsrange, which borders the centralImphal Valleyon the southwest.Its geographical extent seems to cover the ridge and the slopes on the east and west, including the embedded valleys. It stretches fromSongpiin the south to a little north of theCachar–Bishnupurroad. The highest peak on the ridge isThangjing Hill(2109 m), which is held in reverence by the dominantMeiteicommunity of the Imphal Valley. It is believed to be the abode of godThangching, the presiding deity of the people ofMoirang, and southwest guardian deity for all the Meitei. The devotees of the god conduct an annual pilgrimage to the top of the hill.
According to the government record, there are 38 tribal villages embedded in the forest area, with about 1,000 people each. Each village has several subvillages as per the tribal custom.After the establishment of the protected forest, a settlement officer received claims from villages, evaluated them, and issued settlement orders, defining the land area allocated to the village, which was then excluded from the protected area.Within the protected area, it is said that even the cutting of firewood is restricted.
On 7 November 2022, the state government issued an "office memorandum" cancelling the recognition of all the villages embedded in the protected forest.It stated that assistant (forest) settlement officers (ASOs), who were appointed enquiry officers in 1971 had passed the settlement orders, but argued that their role was only to conduct an enquiry into the "existing rights" of the communities living in the protected forest; they weren't authorised to pass settlement orders. It said that it appointed a committee to examine the orders issued by the ASOs in June 2022, and cancelled them in December 2022, while also initiating fresh enquiries into the "nature and extent of existing rights of people prior to the notification of protected forests". All the villages were apparently issued "show cause notices" in May 2022 to submit relevant documents to support their claims of ownership.
TheKuki Students Organisation, which also acts a community advocacy group, raised serious objections to the "office memorandum" of 7 November 2022. It questioned the very formation of the protected forest, claiming that the Government of Manipur "does not have any proprietary rights" over the area, as allegedly required by the Indian Forest Act, 1927.It asked the government to reverse its policy and start proceedings to ascertain the rights of the government, rather than those the villages.
The state legislatorPaolienlal Haokip(MLAfromSaikot) questioned how the state government could nullify orders passed by the ASOs who, he claimed, were the statutory authority to settle claims of pre-existing rights in the absence of an FSO (forest settlement officer). There was no special need for the state government to "authorise" them as claimed in the November 2022 notification.
K. Songjang(24°37′40″N93°41′41″E﻿ / ﻿24.6278°N 93.6948°E﻿ /24.6278; 93.6948﻿ (K. Songjang)) is a small Kuki village of 16 families on theCachar–BishnupurRoad (also called "Old Cachar Road"), which is said to have been a spin-out (or "bifurcation",machete) of an older village called Kungpi Naosen.The village was sent a show cause notice on 10 August 2022 and a reminder notice on 30 January 2023.According to the village chief, this was the first he heard about the Churachandpur–Khoupum Protected Forest.After he sent a response on 6 February, he heard back within four days the decision of the forest officer informing him that the village was an encroachment into protected forest and that he should vacate it.In a press note, the forest department claimed that the village was established "only in the year 2021",which was apparently concluded by examining Google Maps imagery.
On 20 February, a demolition team arrived with 6JCBbulldozers and a large number of police and forest personnel. "They threw stones at the poultry coops, took away the chickens, destroyed the pigsty, and towed away the squealing pigs," according to a former resident. The houses and a church were razed to the ground. A request for additional time to collect their belongings was denied. The villagers, who used to live on farming vegetables and fruits, have no livelihood after the demolition of the village.
Commentators note that the villagers have deep roots in the area. The village chief said his parents arrived in the area in 1800s, lived through Japanese attacks during theWorld War IIand the chief himself helped the government officials carry out a road survey in 1958.But the forest department said there was no record of a bifurcation of a village and even if that were the case, bifurcation was not allowed in a protected forest.
Two writ petitions were filed in theManipur High Courtto contest the government claims about K. Songjang, one by the daughter of the village chief and another by the son of the former village chief of Kungpi Naosen. The court documents show the government having argued that the settlement order of Kungpi Naosen was now "null and void", on account of the November 2022 notification.
Ukha Loikhai is a village close to the peak ofThangjing Hill, the highest peak in the Churachandpur–Khoupum Protected Forest, which is also of historical and religious significance to the Meiteis. The vicinity of the hill is however populated by theKuki-Zo people.Ukha, locally known as Loikhai, is a compact village on the western slope of the hill. According to legislator Paolienlal Haokip, the lands around the top of the hill were included the village lands of Ukha Loikhai by the settlement order which is now declared contentious.
Disputes around the Ukha Loikhai village arose in May 2022 when the Meitei activists belonging toBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha(the youth wing of the rulingBharatiya Janata Party) went to carry out tree plantation in the deforested areas of the Thangjing Hill. The villagers opposed their efforts, and subsequently theKuki Students Organisationof theHenglep blockissued a statement saying that they were village lands under the control of the Ukha village chief.
Meitei activists in Moirang, organised under the Committee on Protection and Preservation of Historical Rights of Koubru and Thangjing Hill Range (CPPKT), questioned these claims and their own rights as supposedly "indigenous" people. While the immediate dispute was resolved by the Director General of Police, CPPKT asked the government to clarify the issue of ownership.The government's appointment of a committee to study the settlement orders followed these developments.
Following further disputes during the2023–2024 Manipur violence, the Government of Manipur issued a statement calling the Kuki bodies' claim on ownership of the Thangjing Hill "fabricated and concocted", citing its erstwhile cancellation of settlement orders in the protected forest. However, it also said that a fresh inquiry has been initiated. According toThe Hindu, theNational Commission for Scheduled Tribeshas also initiated an inquiry.