Authorities in Assam’s Kamrup Metropolitan district have bulldozed 250 homes in the past two days in an eviction drive that resumed less than two weeks after two men were shot dead by the police amid violent protests.
The demolitions took place at the Kachutali-1 village in the Kamrup Metropolitan district. Additional Deputy Commissioner Biswajit Saikia told Scroll that the eviction drive will continue on Thursday as well.
These eviction operations from the vicinity of Scheduled Tribes are being carried out as part of wider efforts to remove “encroachments” in lands meant for them under the guidelines of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation.
Officials from the district administration had on September 9 bulldozed nearly 240 homes, the majority of them belonging to Bengali-origin Muslims from Morigaon district. The residents had built their homes in the low-lying area over several decades.
Three days later, on September 12, the officials returned and gave them an ultimatum to vacate the land in two hours. This led to a violent clashbetween the residents and the officials, during which two men were shot dead by the police.
Thirty-three persons, including 22 government and police officers, were also injured in the clash.
Of the homes demolished on Wednesday, one belonged to 19-year-old Haidar Ali, who was among the two persons shot dead on September 12, his elder brother Hakim Uddin told Scroll.
Hakim said that the home was marked with red on September 22, after which the family feared that it would be bulldozed.
However, despite these legal challenges, officials continued demolishing homes that had not been in the stay-order courts. The district administration has stated that these actions are aimed at preventing resettlement in the area.
As tensions remain high, the local community leaders and politicians have criticised the government condemning them for evicting the residents in violation of their legal rights and questioning the motives behind the eviction drives. ( With Agencies Inputs )
