A former legislator of Trinamool Congress MP has charged the BJP-led Assam government with singling out the Muslim community since it took office for the second time.
In an open letter, Ahamed Hassan Imran, Ex-Member Of Parliament has written that hundreds of Muslim households were uprooted from their homes after bulldozers demolished them. “Muslim areas were subject to the continuing eviction drive about the alleged encroachment of government lands,” he wrote.
Hassan Imran highlighted that the families forcibly evicted from their homes had resided there for 70 to 80 years, and the majority of them had been paying the required taxes to the government.
“Moreover, under the active vigilance of Hon’able Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, thousands of Muslims are being evicted from their villages. Their houses and shops are being demolished with bulldozers in the presence of police and paramilitary forces. The demolition drive is occurring in all Muslim-dominated districts of Assam. Most of the victims of eviction have been in occupation of their lands for the last 70-80 years. Many of these people were farmers who had lost their lands in the Char areas (Brahmaputra Riverine Islands) due to erosion by the river. They rebuilt their lives on the vacant lands of the surrounding areas.”
Text of the letter
“I am Ahamed Hassan Imran, an Ex-Member of Parliament and The Editor of ‘Puber Kalom’ which is a popular Bengali Daily in West Bengal and Assam. Through this letter, I want to draw your attention to the deplorable and alarming situation of the Muslim Community in Assam. The BJP government in Assam, led by the Chief Minister Mr. Himanta Biswa Sarma has committed many atrocities against Muslims, such as shutting down of state-funded Madrasah institutions, bludgeoning of even private Madrasahs and killing of Muslim youths in false police encounters etc. Moreover, under the active vigilance of Hon’able Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, thousands of Muslims are being evicted from their villages. Their houses and shops are being demolished with bulldozers in the presence of police and paramilitary forces. The demolition drive is occurring in all Muslim-dominated districts of Assam. Most of the victims of eviction have been in occupation of their lands for the last 70-80 years. Many of these people were farmers who had lost their lands in the Char areas (Brahmaputra Riverine Islands) due to erosion by the river. They re-built their lives on the vacant lands of the surrounding areas.
The uprooted victims were supposed to be allotted ‘Patta’ by the government but the documents were never given to them. These people, however, had been paying all required taxes to the government. It has been noticed that in areas where the eviction drive is carried out, only Muslim Houses and Properties are targeted whereas other communities are left undisturbed. The Chief Minister has himself admitted to the media that he has been targeting the Muslims only. The victims have been helpless, and have literally been living under the open sky in the infamous cold of Assam. But so far, no delegation of any political party, Muslim organization or civil rights group has visited the affected people. The entire episode seems to be a repetition of the Rohingya Tragedy.
The Himanta Biswa led government has shown no regard for basic Human rights or Fundamental rights to life and property granted by the Indian Constitution. The Assam chief minister has told the media that the victims of eviction won’t be given any compensation or even a drop of water from the government’s side. The number of evicted homeless people is increasing sharply with every passing day as the government is continuing with the eviction and has planned an extensive uprooting drive in all the districts of Assam. The ‘refugees’ are facing the threat of death due to starvation, illness, cold and unhygienic living conditions. I urge all the conscious and responsible leaders and organizations to pay attention to the ongoing pathetic situation of Muslims in Assam”.
Regards,
Ahamed Hassan,
Ex-Member Of Parliament Editor, Puber Kalom Daily