Amid ‘targeted’ eviction row flare-up, Assam govt moves to clear ‘encroached’ forest land

According to Ashok Dev Choudhury, divisional forest officer, Lakhimpur, about 80 per cent of the RF spanning about 4625.86 hectares, notified in 1941, has been encroached. “If you look at satellite maps, there is no green cover left,” he said.

Apart from Bengali Muslims, a significant population of the Mising tribe, among other communities, also inhabit the Pabha forest area, officials said.

However, a section of locals has alleged that only Bengali Muslims have been “singled out” for the eviction. “Out of some 4,500 hectares, only 501 hectares of land has been earmarked for eviction, where a particular community (Bengali Muslims) live,” charged Raju Rehman, a resident of Lakhimpur and All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU) member. “There are residents from other communities too, who are also residing in the forest land, so why not them?” he asked.

The officials however said that the eviction would be carried out “as per law”. They said over the last two years many locals filed applications to claim forest rights as forest dwellers under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. The FRA recognises the rights of the forest-dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest-dwellers over forest resources on which these communities have always been dependent for their livelihood.

“Accordingly, those who qualified to get FRA have been given forest rights, and those who didn’t were served eviction notices in February-March last year,” said Lakhimpur deputy commissioner Sumit Sattawan.

Sattawan said several rounds of “counselling” by the district administration and police followed and many people “voluntarily” left the area. “Around 75 per cent of those served notices moved by October…The remaining ones are now shifting,” he claimed.

Rehman, however, said that most people had gone to their relatives’ places and that some others had moved to a temporary camp set up in land demarcated by the government. He criticised the BJP government for “unnecessarily using excessive force and militarising the atmosphere”. “Most people are cooperating… they have no choice because they are scared. But the government insists on making a spectacle out of it by deploying a lot of security, and creating a tense atmosphere,” he said.

AIUDF spokesperson Aminul Islam said if people are being evicted, there must be an alternative arrangement for them during the winter. “It is very cold now and an eviction is completely inhumane. In the absence of an alternative living arrangement for them, where will they reside? It’s winter season, we cannot stay inside our homes even without a blanket and the evicted will be without a roof, clothes or food,” he said.

This drive would follow two other eviction exercises carried out in the state last month amid protests from the Opposition parties. On December 19, in what was touted as one of the largest such drives against “encroachers” on government land, around 500 families were evicted from near the birthplace of Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardeva in Nagaon’s Batadrava. Protesting the Nagaon drive, the Opposition MLAs had staged a walkout in the Assembly, demanding that the government ensure alternative land for rehabilitation of the evicted families. Subsequently, another such drive was undertaken at the end of December, when around 40 families were evicted from Kanara Satra in Barpeta district.

During the winter session of Parliament, AIUDF chief and MP Badaruddin Ajmal had raised the issue of “targeted eviction in Assam” in the Lok Sabha, demanding that such drives should not be carried out during the cold season.

On December 30, Ajmal had also written a letter to President Droupadi Murmu, urging her to direct the Assam government to stop the “inhuman” eviction drives during the winter season. “The most objectionable point is that the eviction drive has been initiated in a selective and discriminatory manner by targeting members of a particular community. Some of the people have been evicted from areas where they have been living for decades,” he charged.

“Most people encroach (land) because they have been displaced by flood or erosion. Currently there are about 5,000 families in Assam…homeless…you will find them in Dhubri, Lumding, Barpeta, Karimganj, Sonitpur…and most belong to one community,” Ajmal wrote to the President. He also stated that he and his party “were not in favour of encroachment of government land” and had no “objection if illegal encroachers are evicted, whoever they may be”. He however sought proper rehabilitation for them.

Senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia, the Leader of Opposition, said: “After Dhalpur eviction, we filed a petition in the Gauhati High Court pressing for proper rehabilitation during eviction drives. The court has heard our prayer but no interim stay has been given yet. The matter is pending and we will pray again for quick disposal.”

Saikia charged that while eviction exercises were carried out by the previous governments too, such drives undertaken by the Sarma government have been “specifically targeted at the minorities”.

(With PTI input)