Eviction on at Amchang for second day

The eviction drive to clear alleged encroachment at Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary here was carried out for the second day today amidst protests by the opposition political parties and the affected people.
The eviction was conducted for clearing forest land from encroachers as per the directions of the Gauhati High Court.
During the day, the administration brought down a government school and a 'Namghar', a place of worship of Vaishnavite followers, along with hundreds of houses.
Forest Minister Pramila Rani Brahma said the eviction drive will continue "without a second thought".
Asked about the presence of resorts, tea gardens and cement factories inside the forest, she said "We do not have any such information. Their units are outside the boundary. If they fall inside, then we will evict them also."

Though the resistance put up by the people today was less than that of yesterday, the police lathicharged a few times during the drive as some individual families opposed the demolition of their houses.

An affected woman even laid herself under an excavator in a futile attempt to stop the eviction in the area and was pulled out by the security forces.
"We are from flood affected Dhakuakhana area. My family has been staying here for the last 12 years. Where will I go now? The government did not think for once that school exams of our children are going on," another woman said.

"We will shed our blood, but will not give away our land," she said.
A senior citizen, whose concrete Assam-type house was bulldozed, claimed that no notice for the eviction was served and most of the families have been voting with their photo identity cards from the same place.
"If we are staying here illegally, then why did the present MLA of this area from the ruling party come and seek votes from us before the election? Why did he come to an illegal settlement inside a forest? We were given electricity connections by the previous government," he added.
The area falls under Dispur Legislative Assembly constituency, which is represented by BJP's Atul Bora.

Yet another woman shedding tears said, "We have lost hope. We do not believe in any government now. Sarbananda Sonowal (CM) had promised not to demolish any religious place and vowed to protect all indigenous people. What about the promise now?"
Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Tarun Gogoi termed the eviction as inhuman and said the government is acting "very insensitively under the pretext of a court order".
"Most of these people are from Missing tribe from Majuli, Dhemaji and Dhakuwakhana. They are flood affected people. I demand the government to stop it immediately and give proper compensation to them," he added.

The CPI(M) staged a protest near the eviction site and demanded immediate halt of the eviction.
Various groups held protests by burning tyres and halted traffic and blocked railway tracks at various places, mostly in upper Assam.
A torchlight procession was taken out during the evening from the site to the main city.
Four persons were injured yesterday when police burst teargas shells when they attempted to obstruct the eviction, Assam Police had said.