Guwahati: An temporary Jamiat-e-Ulema office and some partially completed stores that were reportedly built on encroached land were demolished by the Nagaon district administration on January 4th, an official said.
According to Circle Officer Ishan Kumar Singh, the construction was allegedly done on the playground of Sonaighat Government School, and the demolition was done in response to complaints from the school authorities.
The land was allegedly encroached upon by a local Jamiat office bearer named Nurul Amin Choudhury, who also started the construction of about ten shops and a temporary office for the group.
According to reports, the district authorities received a written complaint from the school administration before deciding to proceed with the demolition, according to Singh.
A teacher named Mainul Haque Choudhury said that the authorities had written to the administration as a result of the children being unable to play due to the illegal building in the playground. Reporters went to the home of the Jamiat office-bearer, who locals believed to be the local unit’s treasurer, but he rebuffed their requests to speak with him.
The refusal to remark on the demolition was shared by other Jamiat members. At Batadrava in the Nagaon district, a significant eviction effort on encroached land was conducted last month, affecting roughly 1,000 households.
Earlier, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while speaking to the media had said that the state government would stop the eviction process in Assam given the President of India’s intervention.
Badruddin Ajmal wrote President Droupadi Murmu asking for her help in stopping the eviction; in response, CM Sarma responded that Assam evictions take occur in accordance with the high court’s judgement.
“We only follow the high court and Supreme court’s order while carrying out the eviction process in Assam. It is only the high court that directs us to clear forest land and others. If the President can interfere in it I have no problem with that. Even I don’t like the eviction process,” he said.
Sarma had stated that the President interfering with the process wouldn’t be a problem because the high court has directed the Assam Government to carry out the eviction in Goalpara forest land.