AJP accuses Assam Govt of environmental betrayal and police crackdown over secret tree-felling at Dighalipukhuri

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 9, 2025

The Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has strongly condemned the Assam government over the covert felling of trees near Dighalipukhuri, accusing it of environmental hypocrisy, authoritarian tactics, and anti-people governance.

In a scathing press release, AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi and general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan said the government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is “destroying the environment under the guise of development” while pretending to champion green causes. “They promote tree-planting campaigns in broad daylight and cut trees in the dead of night. This double standard is both deceptive and disgraceful,” the leaders said.

The criticism comes after trees were reportedly chopped down late Friday and Saturday night in the Ambari area—despite earlier public assurances from the Chief Minister that no trees would be harmed. Protesters, who had initially withdrawn their demonstrations after those assurances, were angered to learn that the tree-cutting had resumed stealthily. Some were allegedly detained and harassed by police when they tried to raise fresh objections.

Earlier, in response to public pressure, the government had staged a media event showing trees being ‘relocated’ with their roots intact, a move many saw as a thoughtful, scientific approach. But the AJP claims this was merely a diversion to pacify dissent while continuing with ecologically damaging construction behind closed doors.

The party also condemned the state’s police crackdown on environmental activists, calling it a clear sign of authoritarianism. “The government has turned its Home Department into a tool to silence dissent,” the statement said.

Pointing to the contradiction between the Chief Minister’s appeal on World Environment Day for people to plant trees in their mothers’ names and his administration’s role in environmental degradation, AJP leaders said such posturing insults public intelligence. “You can’t ask people to plant trees while your own bulldozers clear them out by night,” the statement read.

Calling the ongoing flyover project in the area “unscientific and ecologically disastrous,” the AJP demanded an immediate halt to all construction activities that threaten the region’s natural heritage. The party also urged the public to stay alert and hold the government accountable for what it described as a pattern of “greenwashing and suppression.”