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Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Bulldozers arrive in Assam village as drive to evict over 600 families from wetlands begins
The Assam government Monday launched a massive drive to evict over 600 families from a 1,550-bigha wetland area in Goalpara district. The eviction and demolition of homes began with heavy security deployment on Monday morning in Goalpara district's Hasila Beel village, where most of the residents are Bengali-origin Muslims. Goalpara DC Khanindra Chaudhury, who oversaw the eviction drive, said the residents had been illegally encroaching on government land. 'This is actually a wetland, and we had issued notices both in 2023 and 2024 to the illegal encroachers to vacate the area themselves. Some people still had not left, and on Friday, we issued notices again. Almost 20-25% of the people have left by themselves,' he told reporters. The administration has estimated that 667 houses would be evicted. However, the drive was not completed on Monday as it was hampered by rain in the afternoon. 'It has been peaceful and there has been no resistance,' said Chaudhury. Suleman Ali (50), whose house was demolished on Monday, expressed distress at the lack of rehabilitation arrangements. He said his family had been living on this land for over 70 years and that he had been born there. 'The demolitions started two days after the notice was given, which is not enough time to gather all our belongings and make arrangements. We had a pucca house here. The children have exams in a few days. They are in terror now, and I am very worried about their future. We stood in the rain for two hours after they demolished our house, and now the police have told us not to set up any kind of tent or shelter here. I don't know where we will spend the night. There should have been some kind of rehabilitation arrangement for us, we are completely landless people,' he said. Leaders of the All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) arrived at the site on Monday afternoon. AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar also said there should have been a proper rehabilitation plan. 'The Supreme Court has already given guidelines that people cannot be evicted in this way without rehabilitation. If they are given notices one day and the bulldozers are operated the next day, the people will not be able to gather all their belongings and leave. These people are all from Goalpara, who have been living here for 50-60 years after being affected by river erosion in riverine areas. The government's first responsibility was to come up with a rehabilitation plan for them or to give them some time,' he said.
Hindustan Times
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Exploring old law allowing ‘push back': Sarma
The Assam government is looking into the details of 'an old law' that will allow it to 'push back' infiltrators without having to mandatorily approach foreigners tribunals, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Nalbari, Sarma said that a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, had said that there is no legal requirement for the Assam government to always approach the judiciary in order to identify foreigners. 'There exists an immigrants expel order, which is an old law. The Supreme Court has said that this law is in force and a deputy commissioner can give permission for immediate pushback under it,' he maintained. 'For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us and we too didn't know about it. The entire matter has come to light in the last few days. We will now discuss it further,' he added. The chief minister said pushing back illegal migrants will continue, adding that the process of identifying foreigners, which had been paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be accelerated. 'And when the identification of a foreigner happens, there will be no need to send the case to any tribunal. We will directly push them back. We have been preparing for it,' he added. Sarma said the process of pushback will continue, though no person with a case pending before the court will be sent back. His comments came even as the state witnessed protests over 'harassment' of minorities in the name of detecting illegal immigrants. Members and supporters of the All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) wore black badges and displayed placards against the purported recent pushback of Bangladeshis in the state. They carried out the protest in different parts, including Chirang and Jogighopa, after Eid namaz.
Hindustan Times
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Himanta says drive to identify foreigners to be 'accelerated'; AAMSU protests 'harassment'
Guwahati, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday asserted that the process of identifying illegal foreigners, which was "paused" due to NRC-related matters, will be accelerated, even as protests were witnessed in different parts of the state during Eid prayers on Saturday over "pushback" and "harassment" of minorities in the name of detecting illegal immigrants. Sarma maintained that the state government was looking into the details of an old law, which allows it to "push back" the declared infiltrators without having to mandatorily approach the judiciary. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Nalbari, Sarma said that a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, had said that there is no legal requirement for the Assam government to always approach the judiciary in order to identify foreigners. "There exists an immigrants expel order, which is an old law. The Supreme Court has said that this law is in force and a deputy commissioner can give permission for immediate pushback under it," he maintained. "For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us and we too didn't know about it. The entire matter has come to light in the last few days. We will now discuss it further," he added. The chief minister said pushing back illegal migrants will continue, adding that the process of identifying foreigners, which had been paused due to NRC-related matters, will now be accelerated. "And when the identification of a foreigner happens, there will be no need to send the case to any tribunal. We will directly push them back. We have been preparing for it," he added. Sarma said the process of pushback will continue, though no person with a case pending before the court will be sent back. Meanwhile, members and supporters of the All Assam Minority Students' Union wore black badges and displayed placards against the purported recent pushback of Bangladeshis in the state. They carried out the protest in different parts, including Chirang and Jogighopa, after Eid namaz. AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar maintained that more intensified protests will be carried out if the government does not stop "harassment" of genuine citizens. "We have seen cases where the entire family is Indian but one member is taken away as an illegal foreigner. Such acts are against humanity. The government should stop harassment of genuine citizens, else we will carry out more agitations in a democratic manner," he said.
