Outrage over BJP’s equal land rights offer in 6th schedule councils

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: Subsiding the constitutional provision of tribal land laws, BJP’s offer of equal land rights in 6th schedule councils in their election campaigns has witnessed sharp reactions among the tribal intellectual circles. The lack of uploading of comprehensive draft amendment on management and administration of land by the Land Commission of the Government of Assam has raised questions among the intellectual circle in BTC who expressed doubt that inviting suggestion, opinion on the draft from stakeholders would be a meaningless exercise if the concerned authority tries to keep them in the dark regarding the comprehensive draft policy on land.

Bodoland Jagaran Manch (BJM), a huge platform of Bodo intellectuals revealed that land was the key issue in BTC, created under 6th schedule of the Constitution of India, mostly comprising the lands of tribal belts and blocks where tribal people have the sole land rights but, that in every election, the Chief Minister, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, and state BJP President Dilip Saikia had been offering equal land rights to non-tribal and non-protected communities in BTC. It said that this move of the BJP had been a ringing alarm bell for the urgent need of unification of genuine tribal communities to stand together against BJP’s anti-tribal move by violating the essence of 6th schedule administration as well as chapter-X of Assam Land and Revenue Regulation Act, 1886.

In the discussion about the comprehensive draft policy on land at BJM, retired IAS, officer Kolen Mochhahary of Kolkata said that it appeared that an entity named ‘Legal Assam Online’ on behalf of the State Government of Assam, had circulated an appeal inviting stakeholders and people at large to give  pointwise suggestions and opinions relating to a comprehensive draft amendment on management and administration of land, reportedly prepared by the Land Commission headed by Justice (Retd) Prasanta Kumar Deka of the Gauhati High Court, but that surprisingly the aforesaid comprehensive draft amendment prepared by the Land Commission was not uploaded to any designated website or prominent daily newspapers. “It must be made public for the sake of natural justice. But our Boro and other indigenous tribal leaders in power and position of the BTC Government, our MPs, and MLAs are conspicuously silent about the hasty move of the State Government to amend and overhaul the time-tested land law, the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, (ALLRR), 1886, as subsequently amended in 1947 ,1949, 1981, etc. Perhaps, they are scared of expressing their dissenting voices in fear of their political masters belonging to their dominant coalition partner, BJP,” he said, adding that they were inclined to cling hard to power and position at the cost of difficulties and sufferings of the people who voted them to power.

“There is no denying the fact that unless the entire text of the comprehensive draft amendment prepared by the Land Commission headed by Justice Prashanta Deka, retired Judge of the Gauhati High Court, is widely circulated in daily newspapers, website of the Land department etc., it is not possible to understand the merits and demerits of the draft amendment,” he said, adding, “It is a well-established practice of the State Government or the Union Government to widely circulate such draft law which is directly related to the interests of the people.”  He also said that a Statement of Reasons (SOR) must be there in the draft law and that it was quite surprising as to why the State Government was hesitant in circulating the same widely in the public domain. “Is the State Government not inclined to act in a fair and transparent manner?” he questioned.

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