BJP Evicting Minorities From Assam To Capture Majority Votes: Akhil Gogoi

In its largest eviction drive yet, the Assam government displaced over 1,500 families to clear 3,500 bighas (around 250 hectares) land in the Dhubri district. The evictions are to make way for a proposed thermal power project. Though initially proposed for the tribal-dominated Kokrajhar district, after widespread protests, the Adani Group-led project was moved to the Bilapshipara area of Dhubri.

Three days into the eviction drive, protests and violence erupted in the area, as residents pelted stones at bulldozers. The police retorted to lathi charge and 19 residents were arrested and later released on bail. Sivasagar Member of Legislative Assembly and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi was arrested while on his way to the protest and eviction site.

“The eviction is being carried out by the Bharatiya Janata Party for two reasons. Firstly, they want to clear the land for the Adanis to set up a thermal power plant. Secondly, evicting minorities will be beneficial for them, as it will lead to a flurry of Hindu votes,” he said. 

Bilapshipara is predominantly inhabited by the Miya Muslim community. Gogoi asserted that even the opposition was silent on their evictions as they fear being labeled as “minority sympathisers”. A delegation of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), however, sent a delegation of eight MLAs to meet the recently evicted families on Thursday. The party has demanded proper rehabilitation and sufficient compensation for those displaced.

The MLAs and party workers also staged a protest by blocking NH17 which eventually led to their detention. 

Following the protest, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the media that the government aims to free encroached land across the state and use it for public interest purposes. “Over 90 per cent of families vacated the land voluntarily at Chapar,” he said, adding, “Only about 10 per cent were evicted on Tuesday.” He also informed that an eviction drive at Paikan in Goalpara district would “make the reserve forest encroachment-free”. 

The eviction notice was issued under the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, which says that each landless family would be provided with Rs 50,000, apart from resettlement. “Most people have been living here for around fifty years. The land ownership is of three categories: patta (land owners), government allotments, and others living here. Those who will become landless are being transferred to a low-lying area near the Bramhaputra river,” says a lawyer representing the evicted residents who did not wish to be identified. “The Baizar Algha area is prone to flooding and people are reluctant to move there,” he says. 

He said that most residents of the area lived on allotted land and had been evicted without notice.

Biswa, however, presents the eviction drives as a significant achievement of his government. “In my view, we have cleared around 25,000 acres of land so far. The number is substantial, and I will share full details next week. In the past four years, these eviction drives have benefitted the state,” he said, without providing further details at the press conference.