GUWAHATI: A Naga rebel group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, stated that the Assam government’s proposed eviction drive at Uriamghat in Golaghat district bordering Nagaland is a 'well-planned' move to grab the ancestral lands of the Nagas.
The Niki Sumi group said the areas were “fictitiously” dubbed as the Disturbed Area Belt (DAB), citing colonial demarcations by the British who had also transferred the Naga ancestral areas for administrative convenience without consulting the Nagas.
The outfit alleged that successive Assam governments had encouraged the policy of settling “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” in the DAB with the alleged intention to grab the lands of the Nagas.
“In the name of evicting the encroachments by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, the Assam government has double-crossed the Nagaland government by violating the terms and is occupying Naga ancestral areas by permanently stationing Assam police in the DAB,” the outfit also alleged in a statement.
Assam and Nagaland have been locked in a bitter border dispute for decades. The problem could not be resolved despite a series of talks at the government level over the years.
However, an agreement could be reached to maintain the status quo. Accusing the Assam government of violating the status quo, the Niki group pointed out that Assam has boundary disputes with most States in the Northeast.
It asked the Naga public to question the Nagaland government as to how the visits of Naga politicians to a border area when the situation flares up and then leaving the place unattended help in the defence and protection of Naga ancestral lands.
“…The need of the hour is boosting security along the borders of Naga ancestral lands,” the outfit said, insisting that more police personnel, home guards and village guards should be recruited and deployed to the border areas.
The Assam government has deployed a large number of police personnel and bulldozers to clear 11,000 bighas of land at Uriamghat.
Divisional Forest Officer, Golaghat Gunadeep Das told TNIE that the drive on Tuesday, as initially planned, appeared unlikely.
“The eviction drive on July 29 has not been finalised yet. Land survey operations are underway,” Das said, adding that an estimated 15,000 people were settled in the area, but 60% of them had already left.
These people are mostly from Muslim families. This will be the biggest eviction drive in Assam in recent times. Major eviction drives were carried out in Lakhimpur, Goalpara and Dhubri districts earlier this month.