Guwahati: The Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Manch (BJSM) has reiterated its demand for the immediate eviction of illegal encroachers from protected belts and blocks and government khas lands within Assam’s Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) region.
The organisation said the eviction process should begin without further delay in Mojabari and Soraikonsra, where official records and previous administrative proceedings, it said, provide sufficient grounds for legal action.
In a statement, BJSM working president Daorao Dekhreb Narzary said Mojabari village falls under the Sidli Tribal Block (PT) under Sidli Circle, covering the Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon areas, which was constituted on December 5, 1947, vide Notification No. 69/45/20.
He said the land in question is currently occupied by alleged illegal encroachers, while the original Bodo pattadars continue to pay land revenue.
Narzary said this had created a situation in which the rightful tribal landholders had effectively been reduced to revenue payers on land that they legally own but cannot possess.
After hearing the matter, the executive magistrate of Chirang, in its judgment, confirmed that the land belonged to the Bodo people and was under the occupation of encroachers, he said.
As the land is a transferred subject under the BTC, the matter was subsequently forwarded to the BTC authority for necessary action. However, the land has not been restored to its rightful tribal owners till date.
The BJSM questioned: if an administrative proceeding has already established the ownership of the tribal pattadars, what further evidence is required for the competent authority to act?
Similarly, the Circle Officer, Sidli Circle, Chirang, issued a public eviction notice on 5 August 2023 against 56 families occupying government khas land at Soraikonsra.
According to records available to the BJSM, the voter list published on 10 February 2026 indicates that these 56 families are registered as voters in Bongaigaon district, with their polling station identified as Polling Station No. 619, Bhadragaon LP School, Tana, Bongaigaon.
The BJSM questioned why effective legal action had not yet been completed despite an eviction notice having already been served, if the occupants are not ordinarily inhabitants of the BTC area and are occupying government khas land.
The organisation urged the BTC authority and the concerned government departments to act strictly according to law and restore government land to the government and protected tribal land to its lawful tribal owners.
“The Bodo People Cannot Be Made Strangers in Their Own Homeland,” the BJSM said, adding that the issue was not merely a question of land but also one of identity, dignity, survival and the future of an indigenous people.
The BJSM said Bodo and other tribal communities had lived on the land for generations, cultivated it, protected it and preserved their language, culture and traditional way of life.
It said the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Council was the result of decades of struggle, sacrifice, democratic movements and the aspirations of the indigenous people of the region.
“Today, however, unabated encroachment and the failure to restore tribal land are creating a situation in which the very people for whom the protective framework of the Tribal Belts and Blocks and the Sixth Schedule was intended may gradually become marginalised in their own homeland,” Narzary said.
The BJSM said a tribal person should not be forced to stand helplessly outside the boundary of the land inherited from his ancestors while an illegal occupant exercises control over it.
It also said a pattadar should not be reduced to a revenue payer and an indigenous community should never be compelled to watch silently as its ancestral homeland slips away, piece by piece.
“If this trend continues unchecked, the day may come when the Bodo people become strangers in the land of their ancestors, a deeply painful prospect that no responsible government should allow.”
The organisation said there were already records and accounts of Bodo and other tribal families being compelled to leave their villages because of aggression and pressure associated with encroachment.
In Gossaigaon Sub-Division, seven villages have reportedly faced such serious problems. Likewise, in Takimari village under Lakhiganj Police Station in Bilasipara, Bodo families were compelled to leave their ancestral settlement amid such circumstances.
The BJSM said it had been consistently raising the issue of protection and restoration of tribal land since 2014. On numerous occasions, it has submitted memoranda to the BTC authority, the Assam government and concerned departments and organised peaceful democratic demonstrations.
The organisation has also approached the Governor seeking intervention and appropriate direction to the BTC and Assam government, recognising the Governor’s constitutional role in relation to the Sixth Schedule areas.
Despite repeated memoranda, appeals, demonstrations and democratic protests, the problem continues, the BJSM said.
According to the information and records, approximately 3,49,505 bighas of land within Tribal Belts and Blocks, excluding government khas land, in the BTC region have been occupied by encroachers.
The BJSM said continued encroachment on such a scale would have consequences beyond individual land disputes and could affect the demographic character, economic security and cultural future of the indigenous tribal communities.
“Land is not merely soil for an indigenous people. Land is identity. Land is history. Land is livelihood. Land is culture. Land is the grave of our ancestors and the inheritance of our children.”
“When tribal land is lost, something far greater than property is lost.”
The BJSM also expressed deep resentment over the “No Eviction” stand of the present BTC government, saying such a position had deeply hurt the sentiments of the Bodo people.
It said the Bodo masses had made enormous sacrifices and contributions in the historic struggle that ultimately led to the creation of the BTC.
The protective institutions of the region were created with the expectation that the land, rights, identity and dignity of the indigenous people would be safeguarded.
The BJSM said that when the legitimate demand for eviction of illegal encroachers and restoration of tribal land was not acted upon, it created a sense of betrayal, pain and disappointment among the Bodo people.
The organisation said protecting tribal land was not an act against any community but an obligation to uphold the law and protect the rights of the indigenous people for whom the protective provisions exist.
The BJSM once again appealed to the BTC authority, Assam government and all concerned administrative authorities to take immediate, transparent and lawful action.
It specifically demanded the immediate eviction of illegal encroachers from Mojabari and restoration of the land to the lawful Bodo pattadars, as well as immediate implementation of the eviction notice concerning the 56 families occupying government khas land at Soraikonsra, subject to due process of law.
It also demanded strict implementation of Chapter X of the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation, 1886, as amended, a comprehensive survey and identification of illegally occupied tribal land and government land throughout the BTC region, restoration of tribal land to its lawful owners through a time-bound process and protection of the demographic, cultural and constitutional rights of the indigenous tribal communities of the BTC area.
The BJSM said it had always preferred a peaceful, constitutional and democratic path and had submitted memoranda, held demonstrations and repeatedly appealed to the authorities. “We have waited patiently because we believe in democracy, constitutional institutions and the rule of law,” it said.
“But patience must not be mistaken for surrender.”
The organisation said that if the government continued to ignore these legitimate demands despite official records, administrative proceedings, eviction notices and repeated democratic representations, the BJSM would be compelled to launch a peaceful and democratic mass movement for the protection and restoration of tribal land.
“Our movement is not against any individual or community. It is a movement to protect the constitutional rights, ancestral land, identity and dignity of the indigenous tribal people,” it said.
The BJSM appealed to the authorities to act before the wounds become deeper and restore the land before the next generation asks why their ancestral homeland was allowed to disappear.
“The Bodo people seek justice, not privilege; protection, not domination; and restoration of their lawful rights, not the rights of anyone else.”
“Save Tribal Land. Protect Tribal Identity. Secure the Future of the Indigenous People.”