A CORRESPONDENT
BOKAKHAT: More than 1,000 people participated in a mass gathering and protest rally organised by the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK), Mising Mimang Kebang (MMK) and Takam Mising Miming Kebang (TMMK) in Bokakhat on Sunday, demanding periodic land pattas for tribal and indigenous people and a zero-width Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) in inhabited areas around Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Representatives of social and political groups and residents of 12 villages around Kaziranga joined the meeting at Agam Kebang field in Udayanagar. Addressing the gathering, TMPK central president Tilak Doley said uninhabited areas should be protected to conserve Kaziranga and its one-horned rhino, while the ESZ should be reduced to zero in populated areas. He also demanded that Green Cards held by indigenous people living in forest areas be replaced with land pattas without conditions.
Doley said people should not lose land rights merely because their land falls under grazing areas, PGR or VGR. He demanded that the government complete procedures and issue pattas within a month.
The memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister through Bokakhat Sub-District Assistant Commissioner Ankita Baruah sought village-specific ESZ demarcation instead of a uniform distance. It also demanded land rights for around 250 Mising families in Barbill and No. 2 Shildubi, resolution of the Negheribil boundary dispute and regularisation of land holdings in Panbari.
After the meeting, participants took out a rally through Bokakhat town, raising slogans demanding land rights and a zero ESZ in inhabited areas. On Pranab Doley, Tilak Doley said the matter was before the judiciary and that TMPK would examine the government’s court report before deciding on a demand for his release.
He also said TMPK would support Sammilita Ganashakti Assam in the forthcoming Mising Autonomous Council elections and work for its victory in all 40 seats.
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