A day after the eviction drive conducted by the administration in Darrang district in Assam turned violent, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma addressed the media. He said that the eviction drive was initiated with an agreed principle that landless will be provided 2 acres each as per land. “Peaceful drive was agreed upon, then who instigated the mob of illegal encroachers,” questioned the CM.
#WATCH | You cannot demean state govt with one video…Since 1983 that area is known for killings… Otherwise, normally people don’t encroach on temple land. I’ve seen encroachments all around. Peaceful eviction drive was agreed upon, but who instigated?:Assam CM Himanta B Sarma pic.twitter.com/MJ63OCyr8S
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2021
The anti-encroachment drive was being carried out after a lengthy and cordial discussion with local Muslims. The local Muslims had been promised alternate land as per land policy, and they had agreed to the same. The govt said that the eviction drive in the last two days was peaceful, but then people attacked police and in retaliation the police was forced to fire, causing the death of two people.
Calling eviction drive “urgent”, the Himanta Biswa Sarma said it was not done overnight and discussions were on for 4 months. “Congress delegation had met me and agreed on land allotment to landless. 27,000 acres of land has to be productively used. There was a temple, which was also encroached upon,” Biswa Sarma added.
This (eviction drive) was urgent. It was not done overnight, discussions were on for 4 months. Congress delegation had met me & agreed on land allotment to landless…27,000 acres of land has to be productively used…There was a temple, which was also encroached upon: Assam CM pic.twitter.com/C8po2NQSpT
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2021
The BJP leader furthered said that since 1983 the people of that particular area where the violence took place are known for notoriously engaging in killings and murders. Recently something similar had happened in the same Darrang district in Assam. As a result, what happened a day ago was nothing out of the ordinary, according to Biswa Sarma, who added that no one in Assam engages in such acts of violence otherwise.
“In Assam, no one trespasses on temple lands. These are self-restraining things that the people of Assam honour”, said the CM, asserting that one cannot demean the entire state based on a 30-second video. One needs to understand what had preceded and what followed before drawing any conclusion, told the CM to the media.
The CM confirmed that over 10,000 people had surrounded the cops and used violence which led to police retaliation.
Himanta Biswa Sarma issued the statement after the eviction drive in Assam turns violent
Yesterday, (Thursday, September 23) an eviction drive conducted by the administration in Darrang district in Assam had turned violent after illegal encroachers of the land attacked security forces. While 9 policemen were injured in the attack by the mob of illegal encroachers, 2 attackers were killed in retaliatory police firing.
The incident took place at the Dholpur in the Garukhuti area near the Sipajhar town in Darrang district in Assam, where the Himanta Biswa Sarma government is conducting an eviction drive of illegal settlers on land belonging to the government or other organisations like temples. When the eviction party reached the place inhabited by Bengali speaking Muslims on Thursday, thousands of people clashed with the police, attacking them with stones, machetes, pointed bamboo sticks etc.
As the mob could not be dispersed even by using tear gas shells, and several policemen were injured in the attack, the police opened fire on the attackers.
According to the administration, the people living in the area were served notices to vacate the encroached land well in advance, and when they didn’t comply with the notices, the eviction drive was conducted.
Sources in the Assam government said that Dholpur is an area with 25000 acres of land along with a 5,000 years old Shiva temple and a cave. This area is facing encroachment and gradually more people are coming and settling there. . According to the govt, around 30,000 acres of land have been encroached upon by Bangladeshi immigrants. As a result, indigenous people are completely devastated. This has also led to an increase in incidents of robbery and dacoity in the area, and the locals blame the encroachers for the same.
Hours after an eviction drive in the Darrang district of Assam turned violent, video footage of frenzied illegal encroachers had surfaced on social media.
The state government has ordered a judicial enquiry into the entire incident.
