Evicting encroachers from xatra land

Now it is official: Large tracts of land belonging to the various xatra institutions across Assam are in the grip of encroachers. The interim report submitted to the Chief Minister on Friday by the Assam State Commission for Review and Assessment of Problems of Xatra Lands has clearly mentioned that at least 7,504 bighas of land belonging to as many as 303 xatra institutions of the state are currently under encroachment. As reported, the interim report also states that the highest quantum of encroachment of xatra land has been found in Barpeta district, where around 74 per cent of the total Xatra land is in the grip of encroachers. Four other districts where the menace of xatra land encroachment has been alarming are Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Bongaigaon and Dhubri. The report – interim though – only vindicates the stand of the Axom Xatra Mahasabha that large tracts of land belonging to various xatras have been under encroachment. In 2014, the Mahasabha had stated that over 7,000 bighas of land belonging to 39 xatras were then under encroachment. A study conducted by the Northeast Policy Institute in 2012, on the other hand, had said it found over 5,500 bighas of land belonging to 26 xatras encroached, with the encroachers in most cases believed to be people of doubtful origin. While the present government must be appreciated for having constituted a Commission to examine the issue of encroachment of xatra land, the BJP-led coalition, which had first come to power with the "jatai-maati-bheti" slogan in 2016, had in the past few years freed land belonging to the Barpeta Xatra and Bardowa Xatra by evicting the encroachers. It is also important to place on record that the first move to protect xatra land was initiated by the then AGP government way back in 1986, and a report was published for the first time on the menace of encroachment in the Vaishnavite monasteries. In 1997, on the other hand, the Gauhati High Court had reportedly issued an order asking the state government to protect the xXatras from encroachers. What is probably important for the government is to look at encroachment of land – be it of xatras and other religious institutions, on PGRs and VGRs, in tribal blocks, of reserved forests, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, and wetlands – with more focus and attention, take the most stringent of actions against the encroachers (the overwhelming majority of whom are people of doubtful origin and citizenship), and at the same time also draw up a plan to help the xatras to utilize their land in a more productive manner.