Staff reporter
Guwahati: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) today launched a scathing attack on the BJP government, accusing Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP state president Dilip Saikia of pursuing anti-tribal policies and orchestrating large-scale land grabbing in tribal areas.
Addressing the media at Rajiv Bhawan, Dhudhnoi MLA Jadab Swargiary, former Bokajan MLA Jagat Sing Engti, APCC general secretary Shailen Sonowal, and other tribal leaders alleged that the BJP government was working to nullify constitutional safeguards granted under the Sixth Schedule and hand over tribal lands to non-tribals and corporate groups.
Swargiary claimed that recent remarks by Dilip Saikia during BTC election campaigning—suggesting that non-tribals should have the right to buy land in BTC areas—were a direct violation of the Bodo Accord of 2003. He alleged that the government’s policies threaten to undermine the hard-won rights of Bodo and other tribal communities, accusing the Chief Minister of conspiring to dismantle protections ensured under the Sixth Schedule.
Former MLA Engti, alongside Karbi leader Bidya Sing Rongpi, charged the BJP with facilitating the transfer of thousands of bighas of protected Karbi Anglong land to corporate houses, naming Adani and Ambani as beneficiaries. They claimed that 18,000 bighas in one area and 36,000 bighas in another were being diverted for industrial use. The leaders also accused the government of stripping the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council of key powers, including independent teacher recruitment, centralizing the process under Dispur.
Shailen Sonowal questioned the BJP government’s failure to establish the long-promised Mising and Sonowal Autonomous Councils, while demanding a probe into alleged financial irregularities in the existing Sonowal Autonomous Council.
Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress president Mira Borthakur alleged that the BJP was using eviction drives to divert attention from controversies such as cattle theft and vote rigging. She claimed that tribal lands were being handed over to corporate giants, including plans for an “aero city” in Chaygaon and Mirza, which she warned would reduce local youth to low-paying jobs such as security guards and drivers.
Borthakur declared that after the cattle scam and vote rigging, the BJP has its eyes set on tribal lands.
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