The Assam government carried out a two-day demolition drive in the Lutumari Longjap Reserve Forest, evicting more than 1100 Muslim families who had been living on forest land for decades. On Saturday, over 500 families were also evicted from three other districts. Residents claim they were settled by the government and not encroachers.
On Sunday, the Assam government demolished the homes of more than 600 Muslim families in the Lutumari Longjap Reserve Forest in Nagaon district, which the administration claimed were encroaching on forest land. This was the second day of such evictions, following Saturday's eviction of over 500 families in three Assam districts: Nagaon, Golaghat, and Hojai. The affected residents claim they were settled by the government and not encroachers.
Abdul Noor, a resident of Lutumari whose home was demolished on Sunday, told Scroll that his family had been living there since 1974 when they were settles by the government. He added that more than 10 mosques, some over 50 years old, were also demolished.
Under the taungya system of forest management, four villages in Lutumari – Kandarpa Longjap, Padumoni, Hatijur and No. 9 Kheroni – had been cultivating food crops alongside commercially valuable trees while working for the Forest Department. In June, the All India Union of Forest Working People urged the Assam government to halt the planned eviction of villagers in Lutumari Longjap Reserve Forest.
According to data compiled by Scroll, over the last ten years of Bharatiya Janata Party rule, about 19,000 families – the majority of them Muslim – have been evicted from government land.
On Saturday, more than 547 families – 336 in Nagaon, 59 in Golaghat and 152 in Hojai – were evicted. Most of those affected were Bengali Muslims.
Source:
Scroll.in
