Digboi: While the Assam Government’s move against Bangladeshi immigrants has received widespread praise, concerns have emerged from local Mising bodies.
The Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK) and Mising Mimag Kebang (MMK) in Assam’s Tinsukia district have strongly objected to the stalled relocation of 412 Laika families to the Paharpur area under the Lekhapani forest range.
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According to Mintu Raj Morang, former Vice President of the TMPK Central Committee, the Assam Government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has “miserably failed” to rehabilitate the displaced families as promised.
The TMPK leader alleged that the government failed to relocate all families it had planned to settle in Paharpur. He added that out of 572 Laika families, the government allotted land to 160 families in approximately 72 hectares at Namphai Tapu, while it has yet to relocate the remaining 412 families to Paharpur, despite earmarking 166 hectares for them.
He further added, “The entire process remains delayed, incomplete, and poorly implemented. Several families are still living in temporary camps awaiting relocation.” Morang currently serves as a central executive member of the MMK.
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He questioned, “If the surveyed and proposed Paharpur area belongs to the government, what has prevented the forest department from progressing with the relocation?” suggesting possible irregularities in the process.
Meanwhile, forest department sources revealed that tea cultivators have encroached on 80% of the 166 hectares of Paharpur Reserve Forest (RF) that the government earmarked for relocation over the decades.
“A higher authority has already received the encroachment data for further action,” said a reliable source on condition of anonymity, adding, “We’re now waiting for the eviction order.”
It’s worth noting that MK Yadav, the Special Chief Secretary (Forest), visited the encroached site in Paharpur RF in June 2025 and took stock of the situation.
Sources confirmed that the forest department’s failure to evict encroachers from the Reserve Forest land has stalled the relocation process for the past four years.
Significantly, multiple local tribal student unions and organizations, particularly from the Naga community, have strongly opposed the rehabilitation of Laika families in Paharpur. They cited ethnic rights, demographic concerns, and legal constraints under the Assam Land & Revenue Regulation, 1886.
They warned that such relocation could disrupt social cohesion, provoke inter-community strife, and violate land and forest regulations.
In October 2023, various tribal student unions and local bodies—including Tangsa, Sema, Sonowal Kachari, and others—publicly opposed the government’s e-tender process for development works (boundary walls, housing, water supply) in Paharpur RF, calling it arbitrary and disrespectful of ethnic land rights. They demanded immediate cancellation of the tender.
While the Mising organizations support the relocation on a rights-based foundation, local resistance from Naga tribal groups and student unions continues to mount.
Whether the government will stand firm on its promises or succumb to growing opposition before the end of its current term remains to be seen.