Staff reporter
Guwahati: The All Assam Goria Jatiya Parishad (AASGJP) has strongly condemned what it termed as “discriminatory treatment” towards the Goria community, despite the government officially recognizing them as an indigenous group in 2022 along with four other communities.
In a statement AASGJP general secretary, Mir Arif Iqbal Hussain alleged that Goria families are being disproportionately targeted in the ongoing eviction drives in forest and grazing reserve lands.
“Although the Chief Minister has repeatedly assured that no indigenous people will be evicted, nearly 100 Goria households have already been displaced,” the statement said.
According to the organization, the evictions include 16 households in Phukonorhat and Dhakukhonia villages of Lakhimpur district, and 80 households in No.1 Madhupur village under Uriamghat in Golaghat district. The Parishad further claimed that in the same areas, non-Goria indigenous or other communities have not been served eviction notices.
In addition, Goria families residing in Guwahati’s Kotahbari, Gorchuk, Maligaon’s Debkata Nagar, Dhirenpara, and Kalapahar have received eviction notices, raising fears of further displacement.
“This selective targeting makes us feel that our community has been made indigenous only on paper,” the Parishad said, adding that under Assam’s land policy, every landless indigenous person is entitled to land pattas.
The AASGJP also informed that it had already approached the Deputy Commissioner of Lakhimpur district seeking rehabilitation for the evicted families, but no action has been taken by the government so far.
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