Massive eviction drive launched in Assam's Golaghat; 15,000 people, mostly Muslims, affected

New Indian Express

6 days ago

Contrary to government claims that the area was encroached, the demolished properties include houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G), water connection under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), government schools under Sarba Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) and electricity connections to almost every household, besides markets, mosques, madrassas and churches, according to locals.
The affected families questioned the rationale of the eviction drive and claimed that they were brought to the place by the earlier governments to protect the area from the alleged invasion of Nagaland.
"Where will we go from here? My father had come from Nagaon district around 40 years ago, but I was born here. We were brought here during the 1980s to protect the forest land from encroachment from Nagaland," said Ali Kazi, who also received an eviction notice.
He claimed that most of the alleged encroachers' previous generation was settled in the forest area by the Janata Party government, headed by ex-CM Golap Borbora, in 1978-79 and the first AGP government, which came to power in 1985.
Notably, the assembly was informed in March that almost 83,000 hectares of land belonging to Assam were being occupied by four neighbouring states.
It was also stated that Nagaland captured the highest amount of land in Assam -- 59,490.21 hectares.
Kazi claimed, "We have been cooperating with the authorities in this eviction drive. We requested them to settle us somewhere else, but they refused. We now have no option but to stay under tents. We are not even given drinking water; forget about food. It's very inhuman."
Another eviction victim, Mamtaj Ali, asked, "If we were illegal settlers, how did we get electricity connections? Why did the government open schools and give us JJM connections? We were also given houses under PM Awas Yojana."
When asked about these government infrastructure, a senior official of the forest department accepted that such facilities were provided by the authorities, and some of these installations were made even after 2016 when the BJP came to power for the first time in Assam.
"I do not know why these were sanctioned and established in this area. These were made before I came here," he added.
There were mosques and madrassa for people belonging to the Muslim community, while churches were set up by the Bodo people, the official said.
Meanwhile, the Niki Sumi faction of National Socialist Council of Nagaland viewed the eviction drive as a 'well-planned' move by the Assam government to grab the ancestral lands of the Nagas.
The rebel group alleged that successive Assam governments encouraged the policy of settling 'illegal Bangladeshi immigrants' in the inter-state border areas with the alleged intention to grab the lands of the Nagas.
The massive eviction drive followed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's recent visit to Uriamghat.
'People of Assam are victims of the mass scale encroachment, demographic alteration and violence which is caused by illegal settlers. They are firmly behind our Govt in our crackdown against encroachment and realise the need to reclaim what's truly ours,' Sarma posted on X on July 29
Earlier this month, the Assam government had carried out major eviction drives in Lakhimpur, Goalpara and Dhubri districts which displaced thousands of Muslims.
(With inputs from PTI)