OUR CORRESPONDENT
KOKRAJHAR: In a fresh demand, the Indigenous Bhumiputra People's Party (IBPP) on Wednesday urged the new government of Assam, led by Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, to start the eviction of all non-tribal people illegally settled in tribal belts and blocks from August.
In a statement, the President of IBPP, Dr Phukan Chandra Boro, said that the British rulers brought the Assam Land and Regulation Act, 1886, to protect the lands of indigenous tribal people, but that the State Government had failed to protect the tribal lands from the illegal encroachers. He said that the Gauhati High Court had issued an order to DCs of tribal-dominated districts in 2019, but that the respective district commissioners and the autonomous councils are yet to follow the order.
Boro also demanded that the government must stop acquiring vast tribal lands in the name of government institutions and allotment to capitalists. He said that the government should carry out eviction drives against illegal encroachers in tribal belts and blocks as early as possible and distribute land pattas to indigenous tribal people.