'Don’t stoke communal divide', Assam Civil Society tells CM Sarma
The organisation alleged that state-directed evictions are being used to create communal divisions while masking a larger plan to clear nearly 60,000 bighas land.
Press Conference of Assam Civil Society held on Wednesday
Guwahati, Aug 14: The Assam Civil Society has called on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to refrain from making statements that incite communal tensions or harm national interests, urging him to uphold the dignity of his office.
Addressing the press on Wednesday, the organization’s president Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury alleged that recent state-directed evictions are being used to create communal divisions while masking a larger plan to clear nearly 60,000 bighas of agricultural and forest land for corporate groups close to the Central government. Around 49,000 bighas of the targeted land, it claimed, are occupied by indigenous tribal communities. The group accused the Narendra Modi government of dismantling farmer-based agriculture to hand it over to corporates, citing large land allotments for oil palm cultivation, industrial projects, and urban expansion.
The organization further alleged that in Assam, land acquisition processes are under way for corporate-linked ventures, including Ramdev’s oil palm projects, Adani’s Aero City in Azara, and other large-scale industrial and urban projects. Discovery of valuable mineral deposits in Assam by the Geological Survey of India has, it said, attracted corporate interest in the State’s land, risking the displacement of farmers and tribal communities.
The Assam Civil Society also criticized the government for alleged double standards, pointing out that politically influential individuals have built resorts and hotels in Kaziranga’s animal corridors without facing eviction.
The Assam Civil Society posed three questions to the Chief Minister: whether the so-called “Miya” people targeted in evictions are Indian citizens or foreigners, whether they are recognized as Assamese, and whether the State government lacks information on those it labels as illegal Bangladeshis or doubtful citizens.
Citing the example of Sivasagar, the group said that while misinformation was spread against local Assamese Muslims under the pretext of “Miya eviction,” conscious civil society groups in Sivasagar and Jorhat took firm stands to protect communal harmony.
“Assam has always drawn its strength from unity and solidarity,” the organization stressed, vowing to support indigenous struggles to protect land and livelihoods.
By
Staff Reporter