Assam: AJYCP demands Indigenous Land Rights, Inner Line Permit

Staff reporter

Guwahati: The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) staged a massive sit-in protest at Lakhidhar Bora Kshetra in Guwahati on Tuesday, urging the state and central governments to introduce stringent legal measures to protect the land rights of Assam’s indigenous communities.

Thousands of AJYCP members from across the state participated in the protest, raising slogans and holding placards demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system across Assam and exclusive land rights for native residents. The demonstration underscored longstanding concerns about the marginalisation of indigenous people due to unchecked migration and alleged encroachment on ancestral lands.

Addressing the media, AJYCP president Palash Changmai outlined the organization’s key demands. “Our foremost demand is that land rights must be granted exclusively to the indigenous people of Assam. The right to buy and sell land should be reserved solely for them,” he said.

Changmai pointed to an existing law passed by the Assam Legislative Assembly prohibiting land transactions within a 5-kilometre radius of the Barpeta and Bordowa Satras. He called on the government to enforce this provision statewide to safeguard culturally and religiously significant areas from demographic shifts.

He further demanded that land ownership be restricted to families who have lived in Assam for at least three generations, thereby defining a clearer criterion for indigenous identity. Reiterating the call for an inter-state ILP mechanism, Changmai argued that such a system would prevent evicted illegal settlers from relocating to other regions within the state.

“This demonstration is a strong message to both the state and central governments,” Changmai asserted. “If you are serious about protecting Assam’s indigenous communities, start by safeguarding their land.”

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