Assam: KMSS demands land rights and rehabilitation of evictees in Guwahati

On February 24, 2014, Pranab Boro, a member of the Krishak Mukti Morcha, committed suicide in front of the Assam Secretariat as part of a land rights movement. Today marks the ninth anniversary of his death, and the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti held a wreath-laying ceremony in his honor at Chachal in the city.

During the ceremony, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti demanded that indigenous residents of Guwahati be granted land pattas, and for the eviction of families who have been living in forests, hills, water bodies, grants, and other areas to be stopped. They also called for an end to government harassment in the name of eviction, and for every displaced family to be properly compensated.

Protesters held placards demanding the rehabilitation of evicted people, land rights for indigenous Khilonjiyas rather than capitalists, land for the landless, and for the government to keep its promise to give land to the Khilonjis.

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti president Deben Sharma and general secretary Bidyut Saikia addressed the media, emphasizing the importance of protecting the land of the Khilonjiya people and opposing inhuman evictions.

The June 22, 2011 land rights movement, which saw the martyrdom of three comrades, Biren Kalita, Shivakumar Chauhan, and nine-year-old Ruhul Ali, in police firing, was also recognized as a historic movement for land rights in Assam.

The leaders of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti stated that every government had promised to give land rights to the people of Guwahati before elections and in the session of the Assam Legislative Assembly. However, instead of fulfilling these promises, the government has repeatedly carried out evictions on Khilonjiyas.

Despite the government's rhetoric about Khilonjiya rights, thousands of bighas of land have been allotted to influential people such as Badruddin Ajmal and Baba Ramdev, causing great pain to the indigenous Khilonjiya people.

Most of the people living in Guwahati's hills, forests, water bodies, grants, government lands, and other areas are tribals and indigenous Khilonjis in Assam. Therefore, the officials of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti have sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma through Assistant Commissioner of Police of Dispur Division Himanshu Das, demanding June 22, 2011, be the base year and granting land pattas to the indigenous landless people of Guwahati as well as several other demands.

On the ninth anniversary of Pranab Bodo's death, the demand for indigenous land rights in Guwahati remains a pressing issue for the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and its supporters.