Guwahati, Jul 10 (PTI) Asserting that eviction drives will continue in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that over 25,000 acres of land have been cleared of encroachment across the state in the last four years.
The Congress, however, criticised the eviction drives and promised that all Indian citizens, who have been evicted from lands during the BJP rule, will be duly compensated if the opposition party comes to power in the state.
Another opposition party, AIUDF, also staged a protest in Dhubri district, where a massive eviction drive two days ago turned violent with police using force to control the alleged encroachers.
Addressing a press conference after a cabinet meeting here, Sarma announced that an eviction drive will take place in Goalpara on Saturday to clear forest land of alleged encroachment.
“As of now, the Assam government has cleared thousands of bighas of land in the last four years. In my view, it is not less than 25,000 acres of land. This is huge,” he added.
Sarma said that he will hold another press meet next week and furnish all data related to eviction drives since he became the CM in May 2021.
“We will have another eviction drive on Saturday in Goalpara. The Gauhati High Court has asked us to clear forest land. It only said that we should provide drinking water and other essential items to the evicted people,” he added.
In Goalpara, the district administration had planned to carry out the eviction drive to clear around 1,040 bighas of land in Paikan Reserve Forest of Krishnai Forest Range, displacing 1,080 families.
Sarma said, “The government is willing to provide land rights to the evicted people provided they are bona fide Indian citizens and they are landless. Regarding the condition of landlessness, they have to be landless in their native places, not at the evicted place.” He claimed that a very minuscule percentage usually come forward to claim land rights after an eviction drive.
Talking about the Lakhimpur eviction drive conducted earlier this month, the CM claimed that people from Sribhumi, South Salmara-Mankachar and other minority-dominated areas were living in the northern Assam district.
“There was a big conspiracy to change the demography of Lakhimpur. If there is no BJP, there would not be restoration of the demography. We have restored the demography at several places where eviction had taken place,” he claimed.
Congress MP Rakibul Hussain said that if voted to power in the state, the party would provide compensation to all Indian citizens, who have been evicted in drives conducted under the BJP rule.
The MP’s comments came two days after the Assam government carried out a massive eviction drive in Dhubri district, which is represented by the Congress parliamentarian, to clear around 3,500 bighas (1,160 acres) of land for a proposed power plant by the Adani Group.
“The eviction drives have been carried out by the state government without 15-day prior legal notices to the affected families as per the law. Mostly, houses were demolished within 2-3 days of the issuance of notice. I appeal to the government to stop the inhuman eviction,” Hussain said at a press conference here.
He strongly criticised the eviction drives across different districts, including Dhubri, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, Dima Hasao, Karbi Anglong and Hojai.
“If the Congress comes to power, every evicted Indian citizen will be provided with proper compensation and a rehabilitation package. Also, the Adani Group will not be given any land in Assam to loot the state,” Hussain said.
He further alleged that Sarma has been carrying out the eviction drive only to “please” the Adani Group and the BJP-led central government.
“I have sent a letter of appeal to the Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court to register a suo motu case against the Assam government for its unlawful activities regarding ongoing eviction drives in the state,” the MP said.
He alleged that fearful of losing power in Assam in the 2026 assembly elections, Sarma has been resorting to “undemocratic” tactics to compel the people of the state to “live with fear psychosis”.
“Almost all sections of the greater Assamese society are being deprived of their constitutional and democratic rights, and are facing serious problems of unemployment, price rise of essential commodities and non-payment of proper daily wages to tea garden labourers,” the MP stated.
Meanwhile, several AIUDF MLAs, including Aminul Islam and Karim Uddin Barbhuyan, marched in Chapor revenue circle of Bilasipara in Dubri district along with scores of evicted people protesting against the recent drive.
“The eviction drive carried out by the BJP government was inhuman and unjustified. Thousands of people were made homeless and such an injustice is not acceptable,” Islam told reporters.
About 3,500 bighas of land (around 1,160 acres), affecting around 1,100 families, in Charuwa Bakra, Chirakuta and Santoshpur villages under Chapar circle were cleared during the drive on Tuesday for handing it over to Adani group to set up a power plant.
Alleged encroachers damaged excavators and tried to attack police personnel during the eviction drive, prompting security forces to resort to baton-charge to disperse the mob.
Last month, Sarma had visited the site for the proposed power plant, and announced that a 3,400 MW thermal power plant will be established there and a tender for the project will be floated soon. PTI TR ACD ACD
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