In a brutal and inhuman eviction drive, the Bishwanath district administration carried out a massive eviction operation on December 28 at the Baghmari area of Behali co-district, evicting 664 Muslim families from 265 bighas of VGR category land where they had been residing for decades.
Out of a total of 732 families living on this land, only 68 families had approached the High Court seeking land rights. While the High Court has not yet delivered its final judgment, it had stayed eviction in the case of these 68 families. Ignoring the humanitarian consequences, the administration went ahead with the eviction of the remaining families, excluding those protected by the court order.
As many as 20 JCB machines were deployed to demolish houses and clear the land. In order to prevent resistance and silence voices of protest, the Bishwanath police detained the AMSU district president, two other district-level leaders and a journalist a day before the eviction, holding them at the Bishwanath police station.
The CPI(ML) Bishwanath District Committee visited the Baghmari area during the eviction operation and stood by the affected people. Due to fear and apprehension that their homes and belongings would be destroyed, most families had already vacated their houses nearly a month ago.
Local residents stated that they have been living in the area for the last 60 to 70 years. These families are flood-affected people who had lost everything due to recurring floods and erosion and had settled in the area in search of survival. They categorically rejected the false and communal narrative branding them as Bangladeshi citizens, asserting that all of them are Indian citizens.
The scenes during the eviction were truly tragic, reflecting the inhuman and anti-poor character of the present government. Such eviction is entirely unjustifiable. In Behali co-district, several sections including tea tribes, indigenous tribal communities, Gorkhas and poor Assamese people have also been residing on VGR land since land allotments during the Janata Dal government in 1977 and even earlier, often with due permission. All these communities are flood-affected, erosion-affected and marginalised due to poverty.
There is a strong apprehension that after targeting Muslim families in Baghmari, the government will proceed to evict poor Hindu families as well, as seen earlier in places like Shilsanko. As the saying goes, “What happens to Bali will also happen to Sugriva.” Therefore, people must unite to oppose such eviction drives and take preventive measures.
The CPI(ML) strongly condemns this eviction and stands firmly in support of the affected people’s right to rehabilitation, dignity and human rights.
