Guwahati: The Assam United Citizens Convention (AUCC) on Thursday issued a scathing condemnation of the recent eviction drive in the Chap Revenue Circle of Dhubri district, which it claims has rendered thousands of farmers and laborers homeless.
In a press statement, the conveners of the AUCC, Hiren Gohain, Harekrishna Deka, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Paresh Malakar, Abdul Mannan, and Santanu Borthakur, termed the evictions “inhuman, brutal and cruel” and indicative of a “perverted mind.”
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The AUCC challenged the government’s labeling of the displaced individuals as “encroachers,” arguing that the ruling classes’ attitude towards land has been exploitative since colonial times, viewing it primarily as a means of generating revenue rather than for the productive livelihoods of citizens.
The statement highlighted a historical lack of focus by successive governments on leasing and resettlement for landless indigenous people and other legal residents.
While acknowledging that previous governments at least permitted residents on government land to live with “some degree of humanitarian sympathy,” the AUCC accused the current BJP government of acting like “heartless zamindars.”
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The convention further alleged that the government’s true intention is to transfer the land of indigenous residents to “big capitalists at home and abroad,” effectively turning “poor tribals, backward castes and char people into beggars on the streets within a day.”
The AUCC denounced this “development” and “industrialization” as having assumed a “demonic form,” sacrificing the well-being of the populace for economic gain.
Furthermore, the statement accused government-owned media of running an “anti-Muslim propaganda campaign openly and sometimes subtly” to “cover up this evil character” of the evictions.
The Assam United Citizens Convention demanded an immediate halt to such evictions and urged the public to “be vigilant against this evil government conspiracy.”