Himanta Biswa Sarma slams opposition over ‘poor’ tag for evictees owning land, fisheries, buildings

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday strongly defended the ongoing eviction drives across the state, asserting that land belonging to the indigenous people should never remain in the possession of any suspected foreigner. Addressing the media, Sarma countered the views of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Gaurav Gogoi and Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi, who have raised concerns over the evictions.

“Gaurav Gogoi and Akhil Gogoi may have different perspectives. But our clear stance is that Assam’s land, under no circumstances, can be in the possession of any suspected foreigner,” Sarma said.

The Chief Minister lamented that Assam has “bit by bit lost its community, nation, land, and identity” and posed a pointed question to the opposition leaders: “If the 10,000 people illegally residing in Uriamghat had cast their votes, would the verdict the indigenous people wanted have been reflected? Or did the indigenous people lose their rights because of these votes?”

Sarma also challenged the portrayal of the evicted individuals as economically disadvantaged, questioning whether “a poor person owns 200-300 bighas of land, 9-10 fisheries, 200-300 bighas of betel nut plantations, or a three-storey building.” He urged the media to verify such claims before labelling them as poor.