By Scroll Staff
Around 1,200 homes of Bengali Muslim families in Assam’s Sonitpur district were demolished in an eviction drive carried out earlier this week.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the evictions, carried out on January 5 and 6, were aimed at clearing alleged encroachments from around 650 hectares of land inside the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary.
The evictions were conducted in areas under the Tezpur Sadar and Dhekiajuli revenue circles, including Jamuktol, Arimari, Siyalichar, Baghetapu, Galatidubi, Lathimari, Kundulichar, Purba Dubramari and Batulichar, PTI reported.
The alleged encroachers had constructed houses and cultivated crops inside the wildlife sanctuary, the news agency quoted an unidentified official as saying.
Ahead of the eviction, most residents had demolished their homes and left the area themselves. However, many had stayed back due to the severe cold, requesting the authorities to give them time to harvest their crops.
“Despite the encroachers’ request not to evict them in the ongoing winter season, they will not be excused by administration from the ongoing eviction drive as they were illegally staying in the forest areas,” PTI quoted Sonitpur District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das as saying.
In February as well, the administration had cleared 2,099 hectares of land in the wildlife sanctuary and nearby villages in one of the state’s largest eviction drive.
Since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in Assam in 2016, multiple demolition drives have been conducted across districts, mostly targeting areas populated by Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Sarma claimed on Monday that the government has reclaimed close to 1.5 lakh bighas of land in the course of the eviction drives, Northeast Now reported.
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