Assam Carries Out Anti-Encroachment Drive in Sonitpur District Amid Recent Madrassa Demolitions

The Assam government carried out a major eviction and anti-encroachment drive in Sonitpur district on Saturday to clear encroachments from 330 acres of land.

The drive was carried out at No. 3 Chitalmari area in Barchalla assembly constituency, currently represented by BJP MLA Ganesh Kumar Limbu, along the northern bank of Brahmaputra River.

“We are ready to carry out the eviction drive from tomorrow morning. All the necessary formalities have been completed and around 1,000 security personnel have arrived for operation,” a senior official of the Sonitpur district administration had told PTI earlier.

According to News18 sources, 70 per cent of people in the area had already left, however, 30 per cent were adamant to not vacate the area. The notice served to locals, over 15 days ago, asked them to leave their homes before September 3.

After getting inputs of alleged ‘jihadi’ activities in Assam, directions have been given to all police stations and outposts, particularly, in areas bordering Bangladesh, to keep a close watch on these villages.

Recent Action Against Madrassas

The recent demolition of three madrassas in Assam has sparked widespread political debate not only in the state, but across the country. The move is being seen by some as similar to that of the ‘bulldozer trend’ in Uttar Pradesh.

So far, state authorities in Assam have shut down three madrassas on the grounds that they were unlicensed and had ‘Jihadi’ connections. The three madrassas are located in the districts of Morigaon, Barpeta, and Bongaigaon.

District authorities in lower Assam’s Bongaigaon district demolished a private madrasa over alleged links to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Bangladesh-based terror outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).

According to Goalpara SP Rakesh Reddy, Hafizur Rehman was a teacher at this Bongaigaon madrassa. He was recently arrested under the ‘Goalpara Module of Jihadis,’ according to cops. Cops also stated that they recovered certain objectionable evidence from his shop on school grounds. Additionally, cops believe the office was used to indoctrinate people into ‘dark Jihad.’

However, authorities stated that the madrassa was demolished because it was built under Assam state disaster management and thus had to be demolished. Just before it was demolished, the madrassa housed and educated over 200 students. After authorities issued a demolition notice, the students were asked to leave the madrassa.

Reactions

The AIUDF chief and Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal, which is the third-largest party in Assam, had called for refrain and even sent out a strong message to the Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“Madrasas are public properties that cannot be bulldozed without any legal notice. Even the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has stopped using bulldozers now,” Ajmal said on Wednesday.

“If any individual is caught for a link with jihadi organisations or anti-national activities, the government should arrest him immediately and punish him according to the law. This is not UP. Stop behaving the same way by using bulldozer politics in Assam,” Ajmal had said.

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