Guwahati, Dec 21: On the first day of the five-day winter session of the Assam Assembly, the opposition staged a walkout after the rejection of an adjournment motion to address the government’s major eviction effort in Nagaon district against alleged land encroachment.
After the Question Hour on the first day of the Winter Session, Speaker Biswajit Daimary informed the House that he has rejected the motion brought by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) to discuss the eviction drive at Batadrava in central Assam district of Nagaon.
The Assam government has launched a massive eviction drive in Nagaon amid tight security to clear nearly 400 acres of encroached land. The eviction drive is being carried out in four villages near Nagaon’s Batadrava – the birthplace of Vaishnav Saint Srimanta Sankardeva, officials said.
The eviction drive began early on Tuesday morning with the deployment of over 600 security personnel and so far it has been peaceful, said Leena Doley, Superintendent of Police, Nagaon.
Talking to media persons, Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia said, “The government must examine what type of treatment they are giving to the people who are living more than 30 years in that place. They are Indian citizens then why government has been evicting them from the land. The government should provide land to the landless people. The government has policies for landless people and the government has a responsibility to provide land for the people who were evicted.”
“The government should provide alternative to them otherwise they will become shelter-less and it will become burden for the nation. If people will (be) left on roads after evicting from their place then it will become a social problem. But the BJP government is repeatedly carrying out eviction drive in Assam. The government should follow set norms of a civilized government and they should give alternative accommodation to the people,” Saikia said.
State Cabinet minister Ashok Singal justified the eviction drive at Batadrava carrying out by their government.
“We are carrying out eviction dive at Batadrava which was a birth place of Srimanta Shankardev. The illegal encroaches captured the land for years and now we are carrying out eviction drive to free the land from them. They are ‘aggressors’ who have captured the Satra land and it’s our duty and religion to free the land from the aggressors,” he said.
The Assam government which has been carrying out an ongoing drive to evict encroachers on land belonging to the government or Vaishnavite Sattras (monasteries), on Monday launched eviction operations at medieval saint Srimanta Sankardeva’s birthplace.
On the other hand, AIUDF also staged a walkout after rejection of an adjournment motion.
