Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) opposes resettlement of evicted families in tribal block

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: The Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) today strongly opposed the BTC government’s move to shift and resettle evicted non-tribal families of Malgaon, Kokrajhar, in tribal block land. The Mancha urged the government of BTC not to give settlement to evicted non-tribal families in any tribal belt and to block land in an illegal manner.

The BTC allotted approximately 900 bighas of land in Malgaon, Kokrajhar district, to APDCL for a project, resulting in the eviction of 72 families, primarily Muslim immigrants, who are being relocated by the BTC authorities to an alternative site near the Malgaon area. Opposing the shifting of the evicted families in tribal block land, the BJSM visited the spot and submitted a memorandum to BTC Chief Hagrama Mohilary to stop the resettlement of non-tribal immigrants in the Malgaon tribal block area.

The working president of the BJSM, DD Narzary, stated that the BTC authority is resettling family members who are claimed to have been affected by the BTC government’s decision to allocate land to APDCL for a power project; however, he emphasised that the villagers and their families belong to a non-protected class within the Bagribari Revenue Circle and cannot be settled in the Malgaon area, specifically in the Revenue Village of Balaghat Nayekgaon tribal block, under the Kokrajhar Revenue Circle, as this would violate Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886. He said the Malgaon area was notified as a tribal block in 1984 and, therefore, resettling them in the Malgaon area is a violation of the Tribal Land Act. He also said that the BTC government’s decision completely goes against Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, and Clause 17 of the Land Policy, 2019, and it breaks the law set by the Supreme Court in the case of Jagpal Singh and others vs State of Punjab and others, as well as several rulings from the Gauhati High Court related to those cases. He urged the BTC authority to give resettlement to evicted non-tribal families on non-notified government lands.

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