Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: The Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch (BJSM) is pushing for immediate evictions of illegal occupiers from protected tribal belts and government lands within the Bodoland Territorial Council region. The organization specifically highlighted Mojabari and Soraikonsra as urgent targets for restoration. Official records and administrative rulings have already confirmed the land belongs to tribal owners, yet the authorities remain stagnant.
Daorao Dekhreb Narzary, working president of the BJSM, noted that original Bodo pattadars currently pay land revenue for property they cannot actually access. An executive magistrate in Chirang previously confirmed tribal ownership of the Mojabari land, but the BTC authority failed to follow through. The situation is dire. Families are losing their ancestral homes to outsiders.
Regarding Soraikonsra, the Circle Officer of Sidli issued an eviction notice on August 5, 2023, against 56 families occupying government land. Records show these families are registered voters in Bongaigaon district, not the BTC area. Despite this, the encroachers remain in place. "The Bodo People Cannot Be Made Strangers in Their Own Homeland," the organization stated in a recent press release.
Roughly 349,505 bighas of land within protected blocks are currently under illegal occupation. The BJSM claims this demographic pressure threatens the cultural survival of indigenous groups. Narzary emphasized that the movement is not about malice. "If this trend continues unchecked, the day may come when the Bodo people become strangers in the land of their ancestors, a deeply painful prospect that no responsible government should allow."
The group has lobbied the Assam government and the Governor since 2014 without success. They are now demanding the strict enforcement of Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation of 1886. If the BTC authority refuses to act, the BJSM plans to launch a mass democratic movement. The organization insists their patience is nearing an end.
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