STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Xatra Commission (XC), led by MLA Pradip Hazarika as chairman, completed the assigned inspection of xatras across the state. The Commission said to had noticed during the inspection that some of the lands gifted to the xatras by Swargodeos (kings) are now in the hands of people of another faith. The Xatra Commission will examine the present status of the places where mahapurushes (great men) breathed their last.
Speaking to The Sentinel, Pradip Hazarika said, “The Xatra Commission has completed its visit to the xatras of Assam. We have already submitted an interim report to the Chief Minister. Since the assignment is a heavy one, the State Government had to extend the term of the Commission by a year. We will start the drafting of the final report, which will take around three months to depict the present status of Xatra lands. We hope to hand over the final report to the Chief Minister by December this year.”
When asked about the findings of the Commission, Hazarika said, “We will give details in the final report. However, the worst-affected xatras due to encroachment are in Nagaon and Barpeta districts. We have even noticed that some of the lands that the xatras got from different swargodeos slipped to people belonging to another faith over time. The people belonging to other faiths got possession of the Xatra lands using diverse tactics. The situation has come to such a pass that insecurity continues to haunt some of the xatras. We need to provide security to such vulnerable Xatras. We will see that the gravity of the situation gets etched in the final report.”
He said, “Now we will see the present status of the places where Srimanta Sankardev, Madhabdev, Damodhar Dev, Haridev, and others breathed their last. Srimanta Sankardev breathed his last at a place in Cooch Behar. We have reports of 16 or 17 xatras, including Madhupur Xatra, in Cooch Behar. We will see the present status of these xatras as well. We will also include the status of the xatras in Cooch Behar in our report.”
If need be, the Xatra Commission may pay a visit to a few other xatras in the state.
Soon after coming to power, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma constituted this three-member commission to ascertain the present status of xatras and their landed property in the face of encroachment. The other two members of the Commission are MLA Rupak Sarma and MLA Mrinal Saikia.
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