Guwahati (Assam), 10 August (HS): Assam BJP has claimed that except for the BJP-led government, no other government has taken action to vacate even a single house of suspected illegal encroachers of former East Bengal origin Muslims after the historic Assam Movement. Party spokesperson Ranjib Sharma said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, about 1.5 lakh bighas of land have been freed from encroachment and restored to forest areas, water bodies, PGR and VGR.

Sharma said that recently, after freeing about 10,000 bighas of government land in the Rengma Reserve Forest area of Uriamghat in Golaghat district, the state government has launched a major plantation drive by planting 15,000 saplings. He added that around 29 lakh bighas of land are still under encroachment in Assam. The BJP government is freeing land belonging to Satras, forests, water bodies, public and national institutions from encroachment. Around 16,000 bighas of land of Satra institutions in Assam, including Batadrava Satra, have also been freed.

Currently, on the 180 bighas of land freed from Batadrava Satra, the state government is constructing a state-of-the-art project worth ₹186 crore, which will feature Guru Asana, a museum, cultural heritage of various communities, and works created by Srimanta Sankardev. Similarly, 7,800 bighas of land, including the historic Dholpur Shivdham in Sipajhar, have been developed under the Gorukhuti multipurpose agricultural project, where about 300 local youths have been engaged as agriculture soldiers. This project generated an income of ₹4.85 crore in 2024-25.

Sharma further said that the BJP strongly condemns the appeasement politics carried out by Congress, other opposition parties, and people with so-called leftist ideology in favour of suspected people of former East Bengal origin. CM Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has made it clear that the eviction drive will continue in a lawful manner in the future as well.

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash