Court stay blocks Karbi eviction demand: Himanta

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the demand by the Karbi people to evict alleged Hindi-speaking encroachers from grazing lands cannot be accepted immediately, because of a stay by the Gauhati High Court.

The two communities have been at loggerheads in West Karbi Anglong district over allegations of encroachment on Village Grazing Reserve (VGR) and Professional Grazing Reserve (PGR) lands in the tribal belts by the Hindi-speaking people.

Two persons were killed, and at least 45 others, including 38 police personnel, were injured on Tuesday in violence in the Kheroni area in West Karbi Anglong district in central Assam. “A section of the Karbi people made demands to evict people living in VGR and PGR. There is a stay order by the Gauhati High Court in this regard. No one can ignore the court. If I try to do something, it will be contempt of court,” Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of an official function in Naharkatia on Wednesday evening.

In fact, all the evictions the Assam Government has carried out so far in different forests were done only after fighting cases in the high court and the Supreme Court, and the administration proceeded only after the courts said yes to its move, he added. The Chief Minister also pointed out that the rights of the people settled in PGR and VGR lands will also have to be discussed in the court. Sarma said that many times, people ask him to evict encroachers instantly, but he always tells them that no Government can work by disregarding the law and the court.

“Even if we say we will evict, the police cannot do it because contempt of court will be applicable to them. I cannot say why these things are not understood. We will certainly talk face-to-face, and if they have misunderstood anything, we will address those issues. Usually, if there is a court order, people do not force things. We will have to look into the incidents of the last two days,” Sarma said. He, however, asserted that the first priority is normalisation and let the situation become peaceful, and the Government will examine the matter thereafter. “Peaceful protests are different, but nobody can solve any problem through violence,” Sarma said, appealing to all to shun violence.

Agitators from the Karbi community had been on a hunger strike for the last 15 days, demanding the eviction of alleged illegal settlers, who mostly hail from Bihar, from the VGR and PGR lands in the two districts — Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong.

They went on a rampage on Monday after police took away three agitators from the protest site during the wee hours, a move which the administration later claimed was for their hospitalisation.

The badly affected Kheroni area in West Karbi Anglong district witnessed massive violence on Tuesday, as one person was killed in police firing and another was burnt alive inside his house, while 45 others, including 38 police personnel, were injured. Assam Police DGP Harmeet Singh was hit on the shoulder with a stone, while IG (Law and Order) Akhilesh Kumar Singh suffered injuries on his leg.