GUWAHATI, Aug 6: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday urged people not to take the law into their own hands but continue to protest against encroachers.
He asserted that the state government supports such protests and the “situation will turn worse if anyone attempts to harm the Assamese community”, the chief minister said on the sidelines of a programme here.
Sarma was responding to questions regarding the recent call by several student and regional youth organisations asking Bengali-speaking Muslims to leave the districts of Sivasagar, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, and Jorhat in Upper Assam.
Related Posts:
Some incidents of assault have also been reported from these areas.
“People will protest if someone tries to destroy our culture and beliefs. We will have to firmly stand against such attempts, and this has to be stopped”, he said.
Sarma said what was witnessed in the recent eviction drive at Uriamghat in Golaghat district was ‘shocking, and I am going to show some more videos in a few days, which is even more alarming”.
‘They (the encroachers) have illegally occupied thousands of bighas of land and converted it into fisheries, he said.
He said Lakhimpur, Jorhat and Sivasagar are historically significant places of the state and ‘if we do not raise our voice against such encroachments, then who will?’
‘I firmly believe that our people must stand united and resist this lawfully. There will not be another opportunity after this, but it must be done within the boundaries of the law,’ Sarma said.
Nobody should take the law into their hands but protest and agitate against these issues, the CM said.
‘Our responsibility is to stand firm and protest against these illegal elements because if Assamese people don’t raise their voices, how can the law or police support us? Let us protest lawfully and leave the rest to the police,” the CM said.
Opposition parties have alleged that the BJP-led state government’s patronage is creating communal tension in Upper Assam and urged residents to avoid Hindu-Muslim conflicts instigated by some “misguided youths”.
The state government has carried out seven eviction drives since June this year affecting more than 50,000 people, and the CM had earlier said that all unauthorised occupation of forest land, village grazing reserve), professional grazing reserve, satras, namghars, and other public areas would be cleared in a phased manner.
Most of the people displaced due to the eviction drive are Bengali-speaking Muslims who claim that their ancestors had moved and settled in the areas where drives were carried out after their land in the ‘Char’ or riverine areas was washed away due to erosion by the Brahmaputra. (PTI)
