INHUMAN EVICTION AND STATE SPONSORED MURDER AT GARUKHUTI OF SIPAJHAR, DARRANG DISTRICT OF ASSAM

DATE 30/09/21

We, the undersigned citizens groups and individuals, are appalled at the events of September 23, where Assam Police personnel opened fire on people rendered homeless by a heartless eviction drive in some areas under the Sipajhar circle of Darrang district. These helpless families, whose dwellings were demolished, were trying to protect the meagre belongings they had managed to salvage and protesting the unfair eviction, and as unfortunately the protests turned somewhat violent with stone-pelting etc., the police targeted them with firepower.

Sheikh Forid was only 12 years old. And everyone saw the brutality with which the 28-year-old Moinul Hoque, wielding just a wooden stick at his hand, was first shot at the chest by the police, and even after that physically assaulted with sticks by several policemen, and then barbarically jumped upon his body by one Bijoy Bania, a photographer hired by the district authorities to cover the eviction. At least ten others were also injured in the police atrocities, many bearing wounds in the upper parts of their bodies – head, face, chest and stomach – in clear violation of the established crowd control procedures.

The families were given inadequate notice before the demolition. In fact, most of them were informed late in the evening, just before the day armed police arrived with the demolition crew of the district authorities and bulldozed their homes. The actions of the district authorities are in complete violation of national laws and set procedure as well as international statutes including UN mandates pertaining to treatment of displaced persons.

But, amidst this shocking tragedy, let us not lose sight of the wider and more devious agenda of the Assam government. One cannot ignore how, almost all families evicted from their homes hail from the Bengali speaking Muslim community. And while the evictions are purportedly for a “community farming project”, many members of the Assam government have openly spoken about the land belonging to a Shiva temple. Thus, the communal hue of this eviction drive, is rather stark, and should not be ignored. The other shocking element in this entire tragedy is the complete apathy of the administration. The Chief Minister has openly said that he does not feel the need to discipline any of the officials involved as they were all following his orders. Add to this, the Superintendent of Police of Darrang is happens to be the Chief Minister’s brother. Therefore, not only the most powerful person in the state of Assam is abusing his power to further his party’s divisive agenda, but a police official has also allowed familial bonds and politics to control and discharges his duties.

One cannot also ignore how this is also inextricably linked to the exercise of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The political aspirations of the regime are closely tied to conflating the identities of Bengali speaking Muslims with illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. They know fully well that the evicted families are descendants of farmers whose lands were washed away due to river erosion in other parts of Assam. Besides, most of the families have been living there for almost 50 years! But since the NRC failed to exclude the “desired” number of Bengali speaking Muslims, the Assam administration is using the tactic of evictions to achieve their targets.

In light of the above, we have the following demands:

- The eviction drive should be stopped with immediate effect, and they must be rehabilitated.

- Targeting of Bengali-speaking Muslims should be stopped immediately.

- The District Collector (Deputy Commissioner) and the Superintendent of Police of Darrang should be relieved of their duties with immediate effect.

- The Chief Minister of Assam should resign.

- FIRs should be registered against all those police officers who can be seen on the spot in uniform, under sections pertaining to attempted murder as well as violation of set procedure
And code of conduct for crowd control.

- An FIR should be filed against the SP for permitting such violation of procedure and virtually allowing the killings to take place.

- An FIR should also be filed against Bijoy Bania and he shouldn’t just be let off on bail.

- A judicial inquiry should be instituted under a sitting judge of the High Court.

- The NRC was a Supreme Court monitored process and therefore the final NRC should be notified by the Registrar General of India.

- Reason for Rejection during the Claims and Objections process should be made available immediately to people excluded from the NRC, so that they can defend themselves properly before Foreigners’ Tribunals.

- State and District Legal Services Authorities should start training their legal staff on how to effectively handle citizenship related cases, so that good quality pro bono services can be offered to applicants excluded from the NRC and expected to appear before the Foreigners’ Tribunals.

We request you to support us by highlighting the key elements of this tragedy, so that the Assam government does not succeed in gaslighting the nation.

Forum for Social Harmony

Citizens for Justice & Peace (CJP)

Asom Mojuri Shramik Union (Affiliated to NTUI)

All India Krishak Majdoor Sabha (AIKMS)

New India Students’ Association (NISA)

Minority Democratic Youth & Students' Federation

Jharkhandi Aadivasi Sangram Parishad

Barak Human Rights Protection Committee