Guwahati, Dec. 23: Fresh violence broke out in a market area of Kheroni in Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district on Tuesday afternoon, with protesters reportedly setting on fire several shops and establishments belonging to non-Karbi residents, in defiance of the prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
According to reports, several police personnel sustained injuries during clashes with the protesters when the security forces resorted to lathi-charge and tear-gas shelling, amid pelting of stones by the demonstrators, to control the situation.
Assam minister Ranoj Pegu, who had arrived on Monday evening, had interacted with the protesters and assured them that the government would convene a tripartite meeting involving representatives of the agitators, and members of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) and resolve the issue.
It may be noted that the protest was staged against alleged encroachment on PGR (professional grazing reserve) and VGR (village grazing reserve) land in the district. Despite an attempt to evict the settlers last year, a petition was filed in Gauhati High Court, which passed an interim order staying the eviction process.
The West Karbi Anglong district administration had on Monday imposed prohibitory orders under BNSS, citing “apprehension that certain individuals or groups may create trouble, thereby causing disturbance of public peace and tranquillity and may also pose a threat to the life and property of the general public”.
The directive came after at least three persons were reportedly injured in police firing as protesters went on a rampage on Monday and torched KAAC chief Tuliram Ronghang’s ancestral home at Donkamokam, apart from several shops.
Additional security forces, including CRPF and police commandos, were subsequently deployed at the site on Monday evening.
Reacting to the unrest in the district, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the PGR-VGR land eviction issue needs to be carefully addressed through dialogue within a democratic framework in order to find out a solution.
“There is a perception among the Karbi people that they constitute just 35 percent of the district’s population while the remaining 65 per cent people are from non-tribal communities, triggering demands for eviction. However, we do not know from where the data has been generated,” the chief minister said.
