Srinagar, Aug 18: Senior tribal leader and Member of Parliament Mian Altaf Ahmad, who also served as Forest Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2006 to 2014, on Tuesday said the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, was not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir before the constitutional changes of August 2019.
Speaking to Greater Kashmir amid ongoing discussions over land and forest rights in the region, Mian Altaf said the Act became applicable to Jammu and Kashmir following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which extended central laws to the Union Territory from October 31, 2019.
“Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is fully applicable in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir now. It became applicable following the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which extended central laws to the region starting October 31, 2019,” he told Greater Kashmir.
Mian Altaf said that despite the absence of the FRA before 2019, tribal communities, including Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, had traditionally been protected and did not face systematic harassment or arbitrary evictions.
“The narrative being pushed around forest rights requires historical context,” he said, adding that any legal framework extended to Jammu and Kashmir should prioritise genuine forest dwellers and protect vulnerable nomadic families rather than burdening them with bureaucracy or ground-level difficulties.
Recalling his tenure as Forest Minister, he said, “I was Forest Minister in 2014 and no such FRA was applicable to J&K then.”
His remarks come amid ongoing discussions in Jammu and Kashmir over land rights, forest conservation and the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, which provides a legal framework for recognising the rights of eligible forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.
Mian Altaf expressed concern over what he described as the difficulties currently being faced by traditional forest dwellers. He said that instead of receiving recognition of their rights, some vulnerable families were facing eviction notices and administrative pressure.
He said nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal communities and other traditional forest dwellers had protected forest resources for generations and maintained a longstanding relationship with the forest ecosystem.
“Before August 5, 2019, the Central Forest Rights Act was not applicable here, yet nobody harassed these vulnerable communities or rendered them homeless,” he said.
Mian Altaf urged the administration to ensure that the implementation and assessment of the Forest Rights Act remain transparent and fair, with the focus on safeguarding the legitimate rights and livelihoods of traditional forest dwellers.
He called for genuine implementation of the law on the ground so that the rights of tribal and forest-dwelling communities are protected and the process does not create unnecessary hardship for vulnerable families.
