In Assam’s Lakhimpur district, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government has evicted around 500 families, alleging that they have encroached on forest land. Most of those who were forcibly evicted are Bengali-speaking Muslims who live on the 10,000 acres that are part of the Pabha Reserve Forest.
The Muslim residents said that they have been living there for more than 25 years and they could not even take away their belongings and lost everything.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma announced on Twitter on Sunday that 90 per cent of the encroachment in the reserve forest has been cleared in five days.
“Our commitment to preserving our natural resources is sacrosanct. Happy to share that after five days of eviction exercise, 4,163 ha (32,000 bighas) of Pabha Reserve Forest freed from encroachers,” Sarma said in a tweet.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com . Read the full story here