On Wednesday, the campaign to evict Bengali speaking Muslim families from forest land in Assam’s Lakhimpur district continued, leaving 299 households living on a 250-hectare area in the dark.
The majority of the Bengali-speaking Muslims who were forcibly evicted claimed they were unable to gather all of their possessions, and their crops were also damaged.
The state started the exercise on Tuesday in order to clear about 450 hectares of Pava Reserve Forest. 200 hectares of the 201-family Mohghuli village were cleared by officials on the first day.
“The eviction drive resumed today at 7.30 am. It has been peaceful so far. We have not faced any resistance,” a senior official of the district administration told news agency PTI.
According to the official, over 70 bulldozers, excavators, and tractors were deployed in Adhasona village while 200 civic authorities and 600 members of the CRPF and police kept watch. Tractors and bulldozers were used by the authorities to level the crops. The earth was also added by the excavators to the ponds and fisheries.
The All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) described the eviction campaign as “inhuman and one-sided” and organised a small demonstration un the Lakhimpur district’s Sonapur neighbourhood.
