GUWAHATI, Nov 13 � The State�s main Opposition party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today questioned the motive behind the recent eviction of tribal forest dwellers in Kokrajhar district.
Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who led an AGP team to the areas yesterday, questioned the real motive behind the eviction drive and favoured the need for a thorough investigation into it.
Mahanta maintained that the local people of the affected areas had also linked the eviction drive with the recent massacre of non-tribal people by NDFB militants.
�To me, the entire developments appear to be a part of a conspiracy that needs to be investigated,� he stated.
The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) administration had carried out an eviction drive in Lungshung and Laupani blocks under Chirang Reserved Forest on October 30-31, during which around 500 houses were demolished, as per government records.
�The administration has claimed that these (evicted) people were living there illegally since 1996-97, but these people have shown us land revenue receipt of 1992-93,� the two-time Chief Minister said, adding that the evicted were mostly victims of ethnic clashes in the district in the last decade.
�These people have no shed over their head and the administration, as alleged by the people, have done a very little to mitigate the problems,� Mahanta said, while demanding rehabilitation and proper security for the displaced people.
The people are now living in make-shift houses and even the books of the children were destroyed during the eviction drive. The Government should take immediate steps to ensure their right,� Mahanta added.
