Guwahati: After 800 families occupying 4,500 bighas of Assam’s Darrang district were evicted since Monday. Several families mourned the loss of their loved ones and criticized their administration for its brutality. Four illegally constructed religious structures at Sijhapur were demolished. With several injured and 2 dead, the eviction aroused tension in the state, protests prevailed demanding rehabilitation of those displaced. Section 144 was imposed in the Darrang district to mitigate the protests.
Speaking to media reporters on Friday, Additional SP Rupham Phukan reported that the eviction drive was carried out on agreed principles, since they received no cooperation from the encroachers, the forces were coerced to open fire and mitigate the crowd. The drive conducted under the state governments authorization sources confirmed. Giving his views over the violence, CM Biswas has asserted that an enquiry would be conducted into the Dhalpur firing by a retired judge of the Guwahati HC.
Pakistan in the meanwhile has summoned an Indian diplomat and expressed its concern over the recent eviction drive. The summon stemmed from a notice issued to the Indian government that was instructed to investigate the anti-muslim violence in Assam and punish the perpetrators.
The state government has targeted freeing 77,000 bighas of land from “encroachers”- all of whom are identified as Bengali speaking Muslims. As per the notice issued by the Biswas government, the land is undergoing an eviction for an agriculture project for indigenous people.