Half-naked women protestors dragged down, kicked in the stomach as Silsako eviction drive intensifies

Residents living near Silsako Beel and police had a faced off on Friday, September 1, after a Guwahati Municipal Development Authority (GMDA) team with hundreds of police personnel arrived this morning to demarcate the areas for an eviction drive to make the wetland free from encroachment.

Giving the last until blood and sweat to save their land from being evicted, women stripped to their under garments, while agitating pregnant women allegedly dragged down, and kicked in the face and stomach by officials, residents of the Silsako Beel area have witnessed the gruesome act of protest dispersal after the six-month-long protest in the Silsako Beel area intensified amid the district administration's renewed eviction drive to clear over thousand bighas of land.

Although the police tried to disperse the crowd, the women refused to budge. Meanwhile, the police administration had to detain several protestors including women.

"There is no words to describe as Assam witnessed a strange protest where women stripped half naked in the streets of Guwahati city to stop the eviction drive. The government forced them to take this unfortunate decision today. The government is having close-door discussions with brokers instead of the victims. More than 15 people were arrested during the protest. Himanta Biswa Sarma's Hitler-style governance is not acceptable where women were kicked on the stomach and face, pregnant women were thrashed by police officials," a local said expressing his anger at the government.

Locals have thrown light on the state government’s selective eviction drives. While the houses of Silsako Beel have been reduced to rubble and dust, some houses and hotels are still stands tall at the same site.

"My house is far from the boundary line. But today morning, I woke up and saw that a JCB is destroying my home which I had built with my blood and sweat and they have not given any kind of notice. I have a big family including little children and now I have nowhere to go. I have asked the GMDA officials to spare me some time to shift my stuff but they have raised their voices on me saying they have no time.

The drive, conducted by the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), had allegedly caused discontent. Thousands of police personnel were deployed at Guwahati’s Silsako Beel to clear out around 132 acres of land from alleged encroachers. One central committee formed after the first eviction have taken a hefty amount of money from the people and ensured to take care of everything.

"More than three thousand police personnel were deployed in our area to carry out the eviction drive. We have been protesting for seven months. We were promised compensation which haven't received yet and we are living in a rented house, paying our own bills. The central committee formed after the first eviction drive in February took Rs 10,000 from us and promised to take care of everything. The brokers namely Kamini Sharma, Narayan Deka, Montu Bora, Rahul Bodo and many others were involved. We are Assamese people, we have not come from another country. We need our land back and answers as to why the government is carrying out the eviction selectively. Why Ginger Hotel and the land of Badruddin Ajmal is standing still amid this massive eviction, we need answers", one woman resident said.

It is to be mentioned here that earlier in May 2023, the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) directed the Kamrup Metro District administration to conduct a magisterial enquiry in connection with the incident of the eviction drive at Silsako Beel in Guwahati.