Never-ending tensions

Madhupur has a history of conflict and tension between the foresters and forest dwellers, especially the indigenous people.

Piren Slan, a Mandi youth, was killed when forest guards and police opened fire on a procession brought out in Jalabada area on January 3, 2004.

The procession was organised to protest the Forest Department's attempt to construct a boundary wall inside the forest under the Echo Park project.

About 30 others were injured in the firing.

Chalesh Richhil, a local Mandi leader, was killed in the custody of law enforcers during the Caretaker Government on 2007.

Tensions were created between the foresters and indigenous communities on several occasions later over different issues.

One such occasion was when the Ministry of Environment and Forests on February 15, 2016 declared 9,145-acre land at Arankhola mouza in the upazila as a reserve forest under Section 20 of the Forest Act of 1927.

The foresters said the locals want no foresters in the forest at all. It is not possible to protect the forest with people in the forest area, they add.

On the other hand, the forest dwellers say around 25,000 indigenous people, including those from Mandi, Koch and Bormon communities, live in the Madhupur forest areas. And the forest exists only where they reside.