Aizawl: The Youth for Environment Justice, Mizoram, an environment movement spearheaded by the youth in Mizoram, said they were aggrieved by the recent passing of the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha.
“We vehemently oppose this bill as it flagrantly breaches the rights enshrined in the Forest Rights Act of 2006, particularly those of Scheduled Tribes and indigenous communities of India. The integrity of our ancestral lands is being violated, and we are left feeling powerless in the face of these environmental injustices being perpetuated with government stakeholders seemingly complicit at every level,” they said.
Sharing that the NHIDCL has disregarded environmental laws and regulations in ecologically sensitive Mizoram, the group said that they believe the newly passed bill is even more concerning.
Members of the group explained why they believe the bill is dangerous for Mizoram, saying, “The proposed exemption of forest lands within 100 km of forest land for security and defense projects, without requiring forest clearance is simply unacceptable.”
The group explained, “According to our analysis, at just 50 km from the border, the conservation efforts practically diminish to a negligible point – close to zero.”
“The FCA bill would modify our ancestral relationship with our forests and threaten our historic coexistence with nature, as we know it today. Ironically, the bill does not seem to be aimed at ‘conserving’ our ancestral lands as the name suggests, but rather, it attempts to promote our complete ‘destruction’ and ‘displacement,” the group added.
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In July 2022, over 2,000 thousand youths of Mizoram participated in a first-ever youth-led environmental rally jointly spearheaded by the Youth for Environment Justice Mizoram and Aizawl City College Students Union in Aizawl opposing the alleged environmental damage caused by the developmental works of NHIDCL.
Later in the same year, the representatives from the Youth for Environment Justice Mizoram (YEJM) met Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati at the Raj Bhavan to inform the Governor that many exotic animals were being smuggled through Mizoram to Southeast Asian countries for sale in destinations outside Mizoram.
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