STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) has extended full support to the ongoing movement by indigenous Karbi tribal people against alleged land encroachment by non-indigenous settlers in West Karbi Anglong district, a Sixth Schedule area.
In a statement, AJYCP president Palash Changmai and general secretary Bijan Bayan alleged that outsiders—particularly Hindi- and Bengali-speaking people—have been systematically encroaching upon tribal land in Karbi Anglong by illegally purchasing land and occupying areas classified as Professional Grazing Reserve (PGR) and Village Grazing Reserve (VGR). They warned that such activities have pushed the indigenous Karbi people to the brink of existential crisis.
The leaders pointed out that under the Indian Constitution, non-tribals are prohibited from acquiring land in Sixth Schedule areas. However, they claimed that these constitutional safeguards have been blatantly violated for decades, allowing outsiders to settle permanently in Karbi Anglong in large numbers. According to the organization, lakhs of non-indigenous people have now settled in the district, enjoying land ownership and even political rights, while the indigenous Karbis are being marginalized in their own homeland.
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