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Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government has decided that while cases Gauhati High Court on evictions in Village Grazing Reserve (VGR) and Professional Grazing Reserve (PGR) lands in West Karbi Anglong continue, the remaining vacant PGR/VGR lands will be fenced off and trading licences of all commercial establishments on them will be cancelled.
The decision was taken after a meeting with representatives of Karbi community organisations and the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council on Friday following tensions earlier this week.
Sarma also announced that all cases – except those in connection with the death of a man in arson during the protests – will be withdrawn.
Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district has been on edge this week, with the Kheroni area seeing violence resulting in death of two residents – Suraj Dey, who was killed when his house was set on fire, and Linus Phangcho, who died of injuries suffered during police action against the protesting mob – and dozens of police personnel getting injured and a trail of arson and destruction.
The tensions in the area, which comes under the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and has special protections for tribal rights under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, are primarily linked to the demand for eviction of non-Karbi populations, particularly from Bihar who have settled there, allegedly encroaching on vast tracts of reserved PGR and VGR lands.
While the KAAC, following earlier protests, had announced a decision last February to evict around 2,000 families from over 7,000 acres of PGR/VGR lands, this has not taken place as a total of 339 residents of the concerned area have filed writ petitions challenging this in the High Court and have received stay orders while the court has been waiting for the KAAC to submit its affidavit on whether the lands they are occupying are declared PGR/VGR lands.
Following Friday’s meeting, CM Sarma said the KAAC has been directed to file its affidavit by January 5 and that Karbi groups will also present their views to the court as a party to the case.
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“The state government will also appeal to the court that since the matter is sensitive, the decision on this should be made soon so that we can act according to its orders,” he said.
He said it has also been decided that all government offices that had been built on PGR/VGR lands will be shifted from there and KAAC will soon fence around 8,000 bighas of vacant PGR/VGR land and carry out afforestation to prevent future encroachment.
On further decisions, he said, “It was also decided that KAAC will immediately cancel the trade licences of all commercial establishments operating on VGR/PGR land. Apart from these lands, the lands of various departments of Karbi Anglong such as irrigation and soil conservation have been encroached by people. The council will start eviction in these.”
He also announced that KAAC will provide a job to the next of kin of Linus Phangcho and the state government will provide ex gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh.
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He said that the next meeting on this issue will be held with stakeholders on either January 16 or 17.
Representatives of Karbi groups who were present in the meeting said that it was a starting point. “We cannot say yet whether this is a satisfactory outcome. We will go back to our people and communicate these decisions and discussions with them and listen to what they have to say,” said Litsong Rongphar, who had been on a hunger strike over this issue in West Karbi Anglong.
