
Aamsu to protest in Delhi against evictions
Rezaul Karim, president of Aamsu, said the union has always opposed the "inhuman eviction being carried out by the govt targeting people of a particular community."
"Encroachment can be seen in many parts of the state by people of other communities as well. An eviction drive was conducted at Paikan Reserve Forest and 140 hectares of land was freed by evicting 1,080 families. At the same time, many families belonging to the Rabha community are also occupying the forest.
Why no action on them?," he asked.
Karim said no provisions for rehabilitation were made before they were evicted. "They (the evicted families) are landless people. They lost their land in erosion at some point in time. They were sitting on this govt land. The govt wants to clear the forest area, which is fine, but they should have been rehabilitated," he added.
The eviction at Paikan Reserve Forest in Goalpara was carried out on Saturday. An eviction drive at Chapar in Dhubri district was carried out last week to evict over 800 families, allegedly occupying 3,500 bighas of land.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Indian Express
6 days ago
- Indian Express
As top ULFA(I) leader joins BJP, what it means for peace talks in Assam
Manoj Rabha — alias Drishti Rajkhowa — who joined the BJP earlier this week was the second-in-command of the United Liberation Front of Asom (Independent) before he surrendered in 2020. Rabha was inducted into the BJP along with a set of other leaders, including the Aam Aadmi Party's former Assam state-in-charge Manoj Dhanowar. Speaking about Rabha's entry into the BJP, Assam BJP chief Dilip Saikia said he has 'assimilated into our mainstream society for quite a while now'. 'He has left guns and bullets and entered the politics of ballots. What we have been saying for a very long time is 'Bye bye to bullet and welcome to ballot'… We, along with the central government, are always telling Paresh Baruah [ULFA(I)'s commander-in-chief] that bullets and talks cannot go together. The Constitution does not permit it. There can be talks… That is what we want, but Assam has to be peaceful,' he said. One of the BJP's biggest talking points in Assam is the numerous peace pacts its governments have signed with various insurgent groups in the state, but ULFA(I) under Baruah's leadership is the only one that has repeatedly refused to enter peace talks. A pro-talks faction of the ULFA had signed a tripartite peace pact with the Union and state government in December 2023, but the ULFA(I) has resisted coming to the table for talks without discussing sovereignty for Assam. Rabha, 55, is from Western Assam's Goalpara district. He was known to be a close confidant of Baruah and was the deputy commander-in-chief of ULFA (I). His surrender in November 2020 had been hailed by the central government as 'a major blow' to the outfit that was 'ushering a new dawn of peace in the region'. He had been an active member of the outfit for three decades, was a well-known Improvised Explosive Device (IED) expert, and headed the outfit's operations in Western Assam. His parents — Dhaneswar Rabha and Sushila Rabha — had been killed in 1999 in the infamous 'secret killings' of Assam. These were extra-judicial killings of close relatives of numerous ULFA leaders by unidentified killers between 1998 and 2001. Rabha's formal induction into the BJP comes amidst criticism over the government's handling of the ULFA(I). It took place days after the ULFA(I) claimed that its camps in Myanmar along the border in India had been bombed in a 'drone attack' by Indian forces in which three of its senior functionaries had been killed. While the Indian Army has denied information on such an operation and the Assam state government has distanced itself from it, the alleged operation has drawn criticism from both civil society groups and opposition parties in Assam as being detrimental to the cause of facilitating talks with the ULFA (I). 'Sudden and unprovoked attacks of this nature could disrupt the peace process, which neither the people of Assam nor AASU desires,' the All Assam Students' Union had said in a statement. Opposition parties such as the Congress and the Asom Jatiya Parishad have also questioned the implications of the incident on future peace talks. Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi claimed that 'precision strikes' could not have taken place without the knowledge of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Sarma. He asked: 'What is the reason that the approach of dialogue and peace has been abandoned in favour of killing youths from Assam in precision attacks?'


Time of India
18-07-2025
- Time of India
Cong slams Himanta, Assam govt over tribal evictions, corporate bias
Guwahati: Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora criticised chief minister and his govt, accusing them of unjust shooting and dispossession of indigenous and tribal communities through eviction drives and favouring corporate interests. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Bora's sharp remarks come just months ahead of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections and amid ongoing mass evictions across several districts of Assam. Addressing a press conference on Friday, Bora alleged that the BJP, which came to power on the promise of 'Jati-Mati-Bheti' (community, home and hearth), has instead displaced tribal communities and handed over land to corporate tycoons under the guise of clearing encroachments. "Their slogan has shifted from Jati-Mati-Bheti to the interests of Adani, Ambani, and Ramdev," he said. He recalled the 2017 Amchang eviction under former CM Sarbananda Sonowal, which left over 1,000 Mising, Bodo, and Karbi families homeless, and alleged police firing injured two women -- Bina Doley and Malati Das -- during a separate eviction drive in city's Panjabari area. "During the protest against AIIMS at Raha in 2017, Mintu Deori, a youth from Tiwa community, lost his life during a gun fire. Similarly, during the CAA protest, five men died," Bora added. Further, he alleged that thousands of bighas of land have been lost, and indigenous tribes have been displaced as a result of development projects like the satellite township in Palashbari, thermal power in Dhubri and Kokrajhar, solar power plants in Karbi Anglong and Nagaon, and more. "A 55-MW hydropower project is planned at Kulsi river in Ukiam on the Assam-Meghalaya border. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A 62-metre dam threatens 26 villages near Chandubi lake, inhabited by Rabha, Bodo, Garo, and Khasi people in south Kamrup, which would damage about thousands of lands comprising about 400 villages," he added. He also accused the govt of cutting funds meant for SC, ST, and OBC welfare — citing reductions of up to 10-20% — and delaying ST status for ethnic groups awaiting recognition since 2016. "Similarly numerous autonomous councils like the Raha, Mising, Sonowal Kachari and more have faced repeated fund cuts, or delays in disbursements, which were meant for their development," he further added.


Time of India
14-07-2025
- Time of India
Aamsu to protest in Delhi against evictions
Guwahati: All Assam Minorities Students' Union (Aamsu) will demonstrate in Delhi on Wednesday to protest against the eviction drives being carried out by the state govt, allegedly targeting people of a particular community. Rezaul Karim, president of Aamsu, said the union has always opposed the "inhuman eviction being carried out by the govt targeting people of a particular community." "Encroachment can be seen in many parts of the state by people of other communities as well. An eviction drive was conducted at Paikan Reserve Forest and 140 hectares of land was freed by evicting 1,080 families. At the same time, many families belonging to the Rabha community are also occupying the forest. Why no action on them?," he asked. Karim said no provisions for rehabilitation were made before they were evicted. "They (the evicted families) are landless people. They lost their land in erosion at some point in time. They were sitting on this govt land. The govt wants to clear the forest area, which is fine, but they should have been rehabilitated," he added. The eviction at Paikan Reserve Forest in Goalpara was carried out on Saturday. An eviction drive at Chapar in Dhubri district was carried out last week to evict over 800 families, allegedly occupying 3,500 bighas of land.