Assam: Law sought to save land of locals from settlers

GUWAHATI: The Committee for Protection of Land Rights of Indigenous People, headed by former Chief Election Commissioner HS Brahma, said in an interim report that unrestricted infiltration from Bangladesh has reduced indigenous people of Assam to a landless class of people.

This prompted the All Assam Students Union (AASU) to demand a new legislation to protect the land rights of indigenous people.

The report said that if a proper survey is conducted, it would be clear that more than 90% of encroachments in the state have been done by illegal Bangladeshis in a professionally organised way.

Consequently, the interim report said, many illegal new villages have sprung up overnight not only in the char (riverine) areas but also in the reserved land of various kinds.

The government’s position has all along been one of facilitator and connivers to such infiltrators, it said.