KOKRAJHAR: Observing the illegal land allotment and unabated encroachments in tribal belt and blocks, the All-Assam Tribal Students’ Union (AATSU) on Monday expressed strong resentment over the government of Assam and BTC for severely failing to protect the tribal belts and blocks over the decades. The student body also blamed the successive state government for its total failure to protect tribal lands as per land act of tribal people and its reluctant to follow the order of the Gauhati High Court issued in 2019 to evict all the non-tribal illegal encroachers people from the lands of tribal belt and blocks. The AATSU also sent a memorandum to the President of India Draupadi Murmu through the District Commissioner, Kokrajhar seeking her intervention to evict all illegal encroachers in protected tribal lands and to stop the allotment of tribal lands to non-protected class of people.
In the memorandum, the president of AATSU Hareswar Brahma and secretary Deba Kr. Pegu said the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act, 1886 was brought by the British rulers to protect the lands belonging to tribal people from illegal encroachers and the then tribal leaders like Bhimbar Deuri, Rupnath Brahma, Gurudev Kalicharan Brahma and Satish Chandra Basumatary under the banner of Tribal League moved the then Chief Minister Gopinath Bordoloi and brought amendment of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act in 1949 to protect the tribal land from illegal occupation by non-protected people. But this act has not been followed in a strict manner. The government machinery let loose the act to give opportunity to non-tribal people to occupy tribal lands in illegal means over the years and this practice is still prevalent. They said the Assam government and the BTC administration had failed to oblige the eviction order dated 09/12/2019 passed by the Gauhati High Court in PIL no. 78/2012 between Pradyut Kumar Bora vs the State of Assam and others against the illegal encroachers in tribal belt and block areas whereas, BTC was formed under the 6th schedule of the Indian constitution in 2003 to protect and develop tribal land, identity, culture, tradition, language and literature along the political rights.
In the memorandum, they said the Bodoland Territorial Council government had been allotting land patta to the illegal settlers in tribal belt and blocks through ‘Land Mela’ organized by the BTC government. The Deputy CEM of BTC Gobinda Ch. Basumatary had been distributing land patta to illegal settlers under Majbat Circle in Udalguri district, several hundreds of bighas of land pattas are allotted vide no. BTC/ LR -35/2021/pt -II/37 A and the same practice is also being implemented in other districts by violating the chapter- X of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act, 1886, they said adding that the land patta allotted by the BTC government to the non-protected people through land mela must be stopped and cancelled at the earliest. They urged the President to consider the eviction of illegal encroachment on tribal belt and blocks as per the order of the Gauhati High Court and to carry out regular survey and demarcation on the tribal belt and block areas in Assam. They also said the cabinet decision of the government of Assam taken on 07/07/2021 where the protected of non-tribal people are allowed to reside in the tribal belt and block areas should be reviewed and repealed immediately as this is nothing but a systematic mechanism of land aggression in tribal belt and blocks which cannot be allowed.
The tribal student body put their demand before the government of India to recommend the inclusion of all Autonomous Councils of Assam like -Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council, Mising Autonomous Council and Tiwa Autonomous Council etc. into the sixth schedule of the Constitution of India. They also demanded special drive for the tribal employable or unemployed youths as per the constitutional provision and to provide a constructive direction to fill up the tribal backlog posts and stop discrimination on ST officers in promoting one position to the next higher position and regular and prompt delivery of ST students’ scholarships from lower primary school to university every year besides demanding to direct a CBI enquiry to WPT department of Assam for irregularities of ST scholarships or fund misuses by the previous government.
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