Assam Govt’s Eviction Drive Faces Opposition From Naga Residents In Rengma Reserve Forest
Informing that Naga residents of Uriumghat, initially supported the eviction of Muslim immigrants who left the area soon after the district administration served them eviction notice, but later on opposed the demolition of the demolition of abandoned houses by the administration on Monday, security sources said that a large number of Naga villagers stopped the administration from starting the demolition drive
Guwahati: The Assam government, which on Monday launched another round of eviction drive in the Rengma Reserve Forest, Uriumghat in Assam's Golaghat district along the border with Nagaland, faced strong opposition from neighbouring Naga residents of the area who opposed the demolition of houses vacated by suspected Muslim immigrants.
Informing that Naga residents of Uriumghat, initially supported the eviction of Muslim immigrants who left the area soon after the district administration served them eviction notice, but later on opposed the demolition of the demolition of abandoned houses by the administration on Monday, security sources said that a large number of Naga villagers stopped the administration from starting the demolition drive.
The state administration had announced that they are going to carry out a massive eviction drive in the Uriamghat area to retrieve over 10,000 bighas of forest land that had been encroached upon. Many houses and structures were found to have been illegally constructed on these forest lands.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a social media post said, "Another round of eviction in the Rengma Reserve Forest, Uriumghat, covering nearly 2,500 bighas ( 827 acres ) of land will be carried out tomorrow. Today, the eviction drive in Biswanath has also been nearly completed. We are securing our Forest and grazing land for future generations."
Earlier on Sunday, the district administration of Biswanath district carried out another eviction drive in the district.
The Assam government has so far retrieved over 1.29 lakh bighas of government forest lands across the state from encroachers.
Meanwhile, security sources said that Senior Superintendent of Police, Golaghat, Rajen Singh, was camping in the area and trying to pacify the situation by roping in its counterpart in Nagaland. It is significant that the Nagaland government has been supporting the eviction drive of the Assam government. However border dispute between the two states has always been a matter of concern.