Guwahati: Raijor Dal chief and Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi today launched a scathing attack on the Assam government, alleging that the ongoing eviction drives are a calculated move to benefit corporate giants like Adani and Ambani, rather than safeguarding indigenous rights as claimed.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati, Gogoi asserted that the government was “pushing both minority and indigenous communities out of their land” under the false pretext of protecting ‘jati-mati-bheti’ (identity, land, and base).
Gogoi didn’t mince words, stating that the evictions were not just anti-minority but “blatantly anti-indigenous.” He highlighted a perceived shift in the government’s focus, initially targeting indigenous tribal communities and then, as those communities protested, turning its attention to evicting minorities, all, he claimed, for “political mileage.”
During the press briefing, Akhil Gogoi presented data, claiming that the government is allegedly preparing to allot a staggering 50,837 bighas of land to corporate entities by forcibly evicting indigenous people. Of this substantial tract, he added, 6,500 bighas belong to people from minority communities. “The government is creating colonial enclaves through these evictions and is planning to hand over land to Adani and Ambani. This is not development. This is exploitation,” Gogoi charged.
He further elaborated on specific instances, alleging that over 1,200 indigenous residents were evicted from the Silsaako area in Guwahati, with another 1,000 individuals forced out from the Amchang area. Gogoi termed this a “sinister ploy to mask the eviction of indigenous people by now targeting minorities,” reminding that “this regime was elected with the votes of Assam’s indigenous people, and now it is selling the land and its resources to outside corporate houses.”
Beyond land, Gogoi also claimed that the state government has a hidden agenda of handing over Assam’s valuable mineral resources to big business houses, accusing it of functioning as an “agent of corporate interests.” Calling the evictions part of a larger plan to polarize voters and suppress dissent, Gogoi demanded an immediate halt to what he termed a “corporate land grab and divisive politics.” He concluded by urging the government to “identify illegal Bangladeshis through a legal and transparent mechanism” but warned against “using the bogey of infiltration to evict indigenous or minority communities and hand over their land to corporates,” thereby weaponizing eviction as a tool of political and economic domination.
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