Political and Economic Notes:
Assam Peoples Struggle against Forcible
Evictions and for Radical Land reforms
Eversince BJP came to
power in Assam in May 2016 it is
using repression as well as
communal division as two
weapons to trample the rights of
the common people and enable
the MNCs and Indian Corporate
houses to grab and control large
tracks of lands and valuable
natural resources in Assam. The
developments in the last one year
provide a mirror for this.
In Raha, the people are
protesting against the transfer of
the site for a proposed AIIMS in the
State. On 15 th July 2016, the govt.
opened fire and killed a 25 year old
man Mintu Dueri during a protest
in Raha. The people of Banderdubi
village near Kaziranga National
Park were demanding resettlement
and adequate compensation for
the lands seized from them. The
police shot dead two persons
Anjuma Khatun and Fakhruddin on
Sept 19,2016 when they were in
a protest demonstration led by
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and
All Assam Minority Students Union.
It must be noted that of the 198
displaced families in Banderdubi
village, around 40 families were
forced to take shelter in the
houses of their relatives. The rest
are living under the open in
Baghmari, village. These people
are mainly Muslims of earstwhile
East Bengal origin settled in
Banderdubi villagemore than half
a century back. The Govt. had
shifted 7 Hindu families to a safe
place, but did not bother about the
rest of the families. A clear show
of communal discrimination!
After the eviction drive, an
influential Assam Minister Himanta
16
Biswa Sarma said in an official
face book page that the Govt.
would never compromise on Jati,
Mati, and Bheti (Nationality, Land
and Home). Here is an attempt on
the part of BJP Govt. to divide the
Assam people as “Assamese”
and “outsiders” and push the
Muslim Community into an
uncertain, insecure and pathetically
dependent state and make them
easy targets of repression.
A year back, the BJP Govt. in
Assam started a drive to evict the
people from the government lands
calling them as ‘illegal
encroachers’. It began with
Kaziranga and very soon extended
to the entire state. After almost a
year, it carried on this eviction drive
in Sipajhar on 24 th Nov 2017. Here
one person called Ananda Das, a
native of Kuruva village was
mysteriously kidnapped (Nov 21 st )
and murdered (Nov 23 rd ). But a
violent mob went on rampaging
alleging that the Gandhia Pather
villagers are illegal immigrants and
they are responsible for the murder
of Ananda Das. They even
ravaged and torched some
homes. Dramatically, the District
administration has immediately
moved into action on 24 th Nov
2017 and forcibly evicted almost
60 families from their lands.
The evictions did not stop with
Sipajhar. On 27 th November,
2017, they were carried out in the
Amchang reserve forest around
Guwahati. 700 families were
evicted from the forest land
alleging them as illegal
encroachers. While Sipajhar
evictions were carried in the name
of an order from the High court,
the Amchang evictions were
carried out on the demand of
Bhajrang Dal activists. The
Amchang eviction received much
flak from every section of
Assamese society as the evicted
people were largely from Mishing
and Bodo communities who lost
their lands in Majuli, Lakshimpur,
Dhemaji due to river erosion.
These evicted people were left
with no rehabilitation, no roof over
their head.
The Sipajhar evictions were
sought to be justified by portraying
the villagers as illegal immigrants.
But the fact is, almost all of them
are legitimate citizens of Assam
having voter ID cards. Their earlier
generations moved from places
like Jonia in Barpeta to escape
poverty and river erosion. The
people were further tricked into
buying the Govt. lands from the
locals of Kuruwa. The ruling party
got them voted in the 2016
elections but when it came to their
right over the lands they branded
the same people as illegal
immigrants and illegally and
forcibly evicted them from their
own lands.
Coming to Amchang evictions,
here, the tribal people are
coexisting with nature and
sustaining it for ages. But they are
accused of ruining the forest
resources. The Govt. has evicted
these people on the allegation that
they are destroying the ecology. As
per the May 2017 notification of the
Central govt. some of the evicted
villages are revenue villages. They
are marked as the eco-sensitive
Class Struggle