AIUDF MLAs protest on the first day of the winter session (PTI)
The Assam assembly today saw chaotic scenes with opposition leaders walking out of the house after rejection of an adjournment motion to discuss a massive eviction drive. It is being carried out by the government in Nagaon district against alleged land encroachment. Today was the first of the five-day winter session of the state assembly.
After the Question Hour, Speaker Biswajit Daimary told the house he has rejected the motion brought by the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) to discuss the eviction drive at Batadrava in Nagaon.
The Assam government is carrying out the eviction drive to clear some 400 acres of encroached land in four villages near Nagaon's Batadrava, the birthplace of Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva.
The eviction drive began this morning with some 600 security personnel guarding the officials. It has been peaceful so far, Nagaon police chief Leena Doley said.
Opposition leader Debabrata Saikia told reporters the government must see what type of treatment they are giving to the people who are living for over 30 years in those lands.
"They are Indian citizens. Why is the government evicting them from their land? The government should provide land to landless people. It has policies for landless people and it has a responsibility to help the evicted people," Mr Saikia said.
"The government should provide an alternative to them, otherwise they will become homeless and a burden for the nation. If people are left on the roads after being evicted, it will become a social problem," he said.
"But the BJP government is repeatedly carrying out eviction drives in Assam. The government should follow set norms of a civilised system and give alternative accommodation to the people," Mr Saikia said.
Assam minister Ashok Singal justified the eviction drive at Batadrava.
"We are carrying out eviction dive at Batadrava, which is the birthplace of Srimanta Shankardev. The illegal encroaches captured the land for years and now we are freeing the land. They are aggressors who have captured the Satra land and it's our duty and religion to free the land from the aggressors," Mr Singal said.