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The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Assam CM sniffs conspiracy behind landless people moving to areas dominated by ‘Hindus or Assamese Muslims'
Amid criticisms of targeted eviction from government lands, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has sniffed a conspiracy behind people with their roots in present-day Bangladesh travelling miles to settle in areas dominated by 'Hindus or Assamese Muslims'. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in Assam has been carrying out a series of eviction drives since June. Some 3,500 families, mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims, have been evicted from reserve forests and wetlands so far. They are said to have encroached upon government-owned lands after being displaced by riverbank erosion across the State. 'Why are they moving to places 200-300 km from their native places to where Hindus or Assamese Muslims live? Our people are suffering from insecurity as a result. This is an issue beyond eviction; there is a hidden conspiracy to make us a minority,' the Chief Minister said after an eviction drive in the Goalpara district on Saturday (July 12, 2025). Asserting that the demographic balance in Assam was being threatened due to such migration of people, he said the phenomenon needs to be investigated to find out whether it is poverty-driven or a conspiracy with political leaders behind it. 'During an eviction in Lakhimpur (northeastern Assam), we found that the encroachers were from South Salmara (western Assam) and Sribhumi (southern Assam). If I am landless, will I not look for land in my district?' Mr. Sarma said. Citing the example of the Sarupathar constituency in eastern Assam's Golaghat district, he claimed that people from Dhing and Rupohi in central Assam's Nagaon district settled there in large numbers to change the demographic pattern. Last week, the State government carried out two major eviction drives in the Dhubri and Goalpara districts to clear more than 4,500 bighas (1,485 acres) of encroached land, including reserve forests. More than 2.64 lakh acres of government land were under encroachment across the State, Mr. Sarma said. 'We don't like carrying out eviction drives and pushing people out. But the Supreme Court and the (Gauhati) High Court have given strict orders that forest land, VGR (Village Grazing Reserve), and PGR (Professional Grazing Reserve) land should not be encroached upon,' he told journalists in Darrang district. The eviction drives would continue until government lands were freed from encroachers, he said. Data tabled by Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary in the Assembly in March showed people of the State had been encroaching upon more than 2.5 lakh hectares of forest land, followed by encroachment by neighbouring States on 83,000 hectares, and by tea gardens on over 1,000 hectares. Cry of discrimination Opposition parties, including the Congress, said migrant Muslims were being targeted primarily to create space for power and industrial projects by corporate bigwigs close to the BJP's central leadership. They also alleged a design to polarise the State ahead of the Assembly election, to be held by May 2025. Criticising the eviction drives, the Congress promised compensation for all Indian citizens whose houses had been bulldozed, if it came to power in Assam. The Jamaat Ulama Council slammed the 'discriminatory' eviction drives, which it said affected the Muslims disproportionately. It called for an immediate halt to such 'unjust' measures. On Saturday (July 13, 2025), the All Assam Minority Students' Union organised Statewide protests condemning the 'inhuman' eviction drives that it said displaced thousands of poor and marginalised families across the State. The union also submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through district officials, seeking his intervention to stop the 'anti-people' actions.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
228 bighas of encroached land cleared in Lakhimpur
1 2 Dibrugarh: In one of the largest anti-encroachment drives in recent years, the Lakhimpur district administration on Thursday demolished 218 illegal homes and cleared 288 bighas of encroached land across three Village Grazing Reserves (VGRs). The eviction drive, which was conducted under the supervision of district commissioner (DC) Pronab Jit Kakoty and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gunendra Deka, saw a massive deployment of police and paramilitary forces, along with 12 excavators, at Phukanarhat, Debera Doloni and Christian VGR areas. "The drive was conducted peacefully and no untoward incidents were reported. We had adequate security arrangements to prevent any law and order situation," Deka said. While the eviction drive was carried out under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, the encroachers were served notices weeks in advance, with June 29 being the last date to vacate the VGR land. "The occupants failed to produce any legal documents. We granted had them an additional three-day grace period to vacate the land and remove their belongings. They took away all their belongings and today (Thursday) we demolished all their illegal structures," Kakoty said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Забрави климатика – това е най-доброто решение срещу жегата Coolbox Научете повече Undo The drive aligns with a Supreme Court directive, mandating that all Village Grazing Reserves (VGR) and Professional Grazing Reserves (PGR) should be encroachment-free. These reserves play a crucial role in supporting rural livelihoods, providing grazing areas for livestock owned by villagers, along with access to resources like firewood and fodder. "Our goal is to restore these grazing reserves for their intended purposes and support local livestock, while preventing environmental degradation. We will also ensure that no further illegal occupation occurs. We intend to carry out plantation in the cleared land. Boundary posts will be erected to secure the area," the DC added. VGRs play a crucial role in rural economies, particularly for farmers and cattle-rearers. However, unchecked encroachment over the years has led to legal disputes and ecological concerns.
Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Indian Express
Over 90 families evicted, several houses bulldozed in Assam's latest eviction drive
More than 90 families were displaced by an eviction drive in Assam's Nalbari district on Monday, the second such eviction exercise in the state this month. According to Nalbari Deputy Commissioner Nibedan Das Patowary, the eviction was carried out to clear encroachment on 453 bighas of village grazing reserve (VGR) land in the Barkhetri revenue circle. Ahead of the eviction, the district administration had issued prohibitory orders under section 163 of the BNSS in the Bakrikuchi Reserve, disallowing the assembly of more than five people. The order cited a 'likelihood of breach of peace and tranquility' there, and in nearby areas, and the need to prevent attempts to 'thwart the successful completion of the eviction drive'. On Monday morning, 12 bulldozers and over 500 police personnel arrived at the site to carry out the eviction. 'There was no untoward incident. There are 93 families living here, and there were 319 houses and other built structures here. Since this is VGR land, it is a policy of the Revenue Department to clear such government lands. When we told them to vacate the area earlier, they went to the Gauhati High Court, but did not get relief there. So now, we gave them seven days' notice to vacate the area, and most people vacated their homes themselves on Sunday,' DC Patowary told The Indian Express. The affected families are Bengali-origin Muslims. Like in the case of the eviction drive that took place two weeks earlier in Goalpara district, where over 600 families were evicted from a wetland area, the affected families said they had moved to the area after their previous settlement was lost to river erosion. 'We have been living here for 28-30 years. We moved here in the 1980s from other parts of Barkhetri itself, like the Bhanganmari, Kurihamari, and Bhelengimari panchayats after land was lost to erosion. We occupy only around 80 bighas of land and live bare lives here, with most people working as daily labourers on farms,' said Fakar Uddin Ahmed (40), whose home was demolished on Monday. Apprehending an eviction in 2016, residents of the area had approached the Gauhati High Court against it, submitting that they had been in possession of the land since 1981 and that they had settled there because of river erosion. However, on June 18, a Gauhati High Court Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi did not allow an extension of the interim order protecting them from eviction, stating that this is 'in view of the clear stand of the State that the land in question is VGR land'.
Hindustan Times
30-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Eviction drive launched to clear encroached village grazing reserve land in Assam
Nalbari, The Assam government launched an eviction drive on Monday morning to clear encroachments from 82 bighas of village grazing reserve land in Assam's Nalbari district, officials said. Eviction drive launched to clear encroached village grazing reserve land in Assam The eviction drive began at Bakrikuchi village under Borkhetry revenue circle early in the morning amid tight security. No untoward incidents have been reported so far, District Commissioner Nibedan Das Patowary told reporters here. Through a notice, the circle office on June 3 asked the encroachers at VGR to clear the land but the residents approached the Gauhati High Court which ruled that all VGR lands across the state must be cleared. VGR land is designated for the specific purpose of cattle grazing in villages. "The people residing on the encroached land cooperated with the district administration and over 70 per cent of them had moved out with their belongings," Patowary said. Around 300 families had settled on the VGR and they are cooperating with the administration, he said. Around 500 security personnel have been deployed in the area and more have been kept on standby to prevent any untoward incidents, IGP Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who is also camping at the site, said. "The eviction has been peaceful so far and we have not faced any resistance. A total of 452 bighas have been encroached. But people have built houses only on 82 bighas. They use the remaining area for fisheries and agriculture. A report is being prepared and action will be taken accordingly, a circle official said. There are also schools, mosques and Anganwadi centres in the village. Altogether 12 bulldozers have been pressed into service to demolish the unauthorised structures. Many of the encroachers were seen camping with their belongings on the main road leading to the village and they demanded that they should be adequately rehabilitated. This is the second eviction drive in June. The earlier drive was carried out on June 15 and 16, when 667 families in Hasilabeel village in Goalpara district were evicted. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had recently said that eviction drives to clear encroached land will continue. Many eviction drives have been carried out over the last four years, and his government has ensured that the cleared land is not encroached upon again, Sarma said. "We have conducted at least one eviction drive in each district, and our biggest achievement is that now people are afraid to settle on encroached land," Sarma had said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
