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by IANS |
Guwahati, Nov 9 (IANS) Accompanied by around 1,000 security personnel and using elephants, excavators and tractors, Assam government officials on Monday launched another eviction drive to remove encroachers from the Lumding Reserve Forest area in Hojai district, officials said.
Forest and district officials said that the eviction drive was undertaken following the direction of the Gauhati High Court and it would continue on Tuesday.
After hearing a PIL filed by a BJP leader, the court had in September asked the state government to vacate the encroachments in a phased manner.
The All Assam Minorities Students' Union (AAMSU) held demonstrations at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Monday to protest against the eviction drive.
The AAMSU strongly objected to the government action alleging that the latter's move is "selective and motivated".
Officials said that Monday's eviction operation was smooth and there was no resistance from the illegal encroachers.
The police said that many illegal settlers had moved away after the district officials persuaded them.
Some settlers had earlier approached the court, claiming that they have been living in the forest land for decades.
According to the forest officials, of the 22,403 hectares of forest area, around 1,410 hectares were encroached upon by around 1,500 families belonging to the minority and tribal communities, who settled there many years back and built a school, a church and a mosque.
The settlers cultivated ginger and turmeric in the forest land.
Several political parties have criticised the government for the eviction drive claiming that the settlers relocated after being affected by the floods.
The AAMSU in a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the Assam government with a political agenda is "arbitrarily conducting the eviction drive in a selective manner even as genuine Indians live in the unused land due to historical reasons".
Monday's eviction drive came after the September 23 eviction drive in the Gorukhuti area in Darrang district in which two people, including a 12-year old boy, were killed in police firing and over 20 were injured in the clashes with the security personnel.
