Eviction in progress as a JCB clears alleged encroachments at Bidyapur area, Assam on July 29.
Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 29
Residents displaced by the eviction drive in Bidyapur, located in the Disputed Area Belt (DAB) between Assam and Nagaland, have claimed that the village was originally established under the patronage of the Assam government in the late 1970s.
The massive eviction drive underway in Assam’s Golaghat district is to clear alleged encroachments on more than 3,600 acres of forest land in the Rengma Reserve Forest along the Assam-Nagaland border, according to the Assam government.
The eviction, affecting around 1,500 families, began in the Bidyapur area of Sarupathar sub-division on Tuesday morning and is expected to continue over the coming days across 12 villages, which have been divided into nine operational zones.
Nearly 11,000 bighas of forest land had been encroached upon, primarily by people who had settled in the area over the last few decades, officials stated.
Speaking to journalists from Nagaland covering the eviction, on July 29, one of the displaced residents said, “We are branded illegal settlers today, but my parents were settled here by the Assam government when Golap Borbora was Chief Minister (1978–79).”
Assam asserts that the evicted site falls within the Rengma Reserved Forest and is therefore government land. However, the residents have contested this, asserting that their settlement was legitimised decades ago.
A Bengali Muslim man, who identified himself as being born in Bidyapur in 1988, said his father was among the original settlers during the 1970s, following promises of development support. He stated that the village mosque dates back to 1972–73 and that the Village Defence Party (VDP) was formed around 1979.
While the Assam government maintains that the area was illegally encroached, residents alleged they were settled there by earlier governments. Several displaced persons claimed their families were encouraged to occupy the land in the 1970s and 1980s to counter alleged encroachment from neighbouring Nagaland- with villages like Bidyapur established as “buffer” against these alleged encroachment, in disputed territory.
Another displaced resident alleged that the eviction was selectively targeting members of a particular community, even though Bidyapur had long been home to a diverse population including Kachari, Bengali, Axomiya, Muslim, Nepali, Meitei, and Adivasi residents.
“I appeal to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to arrange alternatives for us. We are not new here—we were settled here by the Assam government in the 1970s,” he said. Despite their decades-long residence, he claimed they are now being labelled as encroachers and driven out.
A third resident, also displaced, said, “We have nowhere else to go. If there were other options, we would have left. We are accused of being Bangladeshi foreigners, but we have documents.” He urged authorities to verify their citizenship status. “If we are not Indians, deport us,” he said, while maintaining that it is not an act of revolt but a cry for help from a marginalised community.
Assam Police, along with CRPF personnel, have been deployed to maintain law and order during the operation.
