Letters to THE EDITOR: How much more land Assam has to surrender?

How much more land Assam has to surrender?

Dark clouds of uncertainty are looming large in our minds over on one very pertinent question: will we be able to keep the remaining land mass of Assam for our future generations? We are well aware that around 5 lakh hectares of land have been already devoured by the mighty river Brahmaputra and its tributaries. As things stand, many governments have come and gone, but no one in the helm of affairs seemed to have brainstormed to find out a workable solution to contain erosion permanently. The erosion by the river Brahmaputra started in early part of 1950. It left millions of riverine families in the lurch and the state of Assam lost priceless land mass which cannot be reclaimed. Those apart, we are all aware that our bordering states like Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram have been indulging in encroachment of our lands without let or hindrance, since their very inception. That's not all. They forcefully occupy our areas and establish villages, offices, schools, churches, tea gardens etc., under the very nose our administration. It is also alleged that they have been backed by their official machineries. They all have created mayhem in different point in time by taking toll of lives and property of Assamese people. We can ignore the ghastly events only at our own peril. When they all push us to the wall, is there any reason to buy peace by surrendering our lands under their illegal occupation?

Now, Assam government is busy to resolve the vexed issue with our neighbouring states once for all, when Assam is the aggrieved party. However, agreement should not be done at the cost of Assam and Assamese people. It is for sure that land-grabbers have no limit. The recent acts of Arunachalis after the Namsai Declaration provide a case in point. I want to conclude with the phrase "survival of the fittest" which was originated from the Darwinian theory of evolution.

Prafulla Dowarah

Guwahati.