AATSU Leads Torchlight Rally Against Tikak Colliery’s Alleged Land Grab

GUWAHATI: The All Assam Tangsa Students’ Union (AATSU), alongside local residents, staged a torchlight rally in Malu village, Assam, on Tuesday to protest against the alleged encroachment of tribal land by Tikak Colliery.

The demonstrators voiced their concerns over the continuous dumping of coal waste on their land, which they say poses a serious threat to their community and environment.

In response to the issue, protestors marched through the village in the evening, chanting slogans against Tikak Colliery’s alleged forceful disposal of coal waste in their area. Tikak Colliery, operated by Northeastern Coalfields Coal India Ltd (CIL), has faced repeated accusations of using tribal land for waste disposal, leading to growing tensions between the local population and the authorities.

“The land belongs to us. We had given it to Coal India, but now they are dumping waste materials on it without our consent. We have informed the authorities, yet the dumping continues. Where will the Tangsa people go? We have lived here for decades,” said a member of AATSU.

The student body accused the authorities of neglecting indigenous rights and warned that protests would intensify if the dumping did not stop. The issue has sparked widespread concern among the villagers, who fear the loss of their ancestral land and the environmental damage caused by the waste disposal.

Tensions escalated on Saturday when members of the Tangsa community confronted security personnel in Malu village over the dumping of waste materials.

The protest gained further momentum as school students also joined the demonstration against Coal India Limited, highlighting the growing unrest among the younger generation regarding the issue.

The proposed dumping site poses a severe threat to the region’s ecological balance, impacting four villages—Malu, Mulong, Jharna Basti, and China Basti—that collectively house over 1,500 residents.

The area is known for its rich biodiversity and diverse communities, including Tangsa, Gorkha, Assamese, Hindi-speaking, Bengali, Muslim, Manipuri, and Adivasi residents. Many of these families have lived there since the villages were established between 1947 and 1952, making the land dispute a matter of deep cultural and historical significance.

ALSO READ:

ALSO WATCH: