Guwahati: The commission formed to conduct a survey on Satra (Vaishnavite monastery) land encroachment in Assam submitted its interim report to Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma in Dispur on Friday. According to the report submitted by the commission, headed by senior AGP MLA Pradip Hazarika with BJP MLAs Mrinal Hazarika and Rupak Sharma as members, 1898 hectares of land belonging to the 303 Satras in 11 districts of Assam have been under encroachment.
The three-member commission visited 62 Satras and collected land records of 303 Satras through various sources. It was mentioned in the interim report that minority populous Barpeta, Nagaon and Lakhimpur district tops the list of highest encroachment of land belonging to the Vaishnavite Monasteries.
A substantial amount of Satra lands were also encroached on in Bongaigaon, Dhubri and Goalpara districts with a Muslim-majority population. It should be mentioned that the committee will continue its survey on Satra land encroachment and will submit its final report very soon.
On occasion, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the government would notify the district deputy commissioners to verify the data collected by the committee on its interim report. Based on the data furnished by the DCS Assam government will take appropriate action to evict the encroached land belonging to the Satras. He further mentioned that the government would continue its eviction drive to clear encroachment cases on a case basis.
Terming it the first scientific data collection on Satra land, CM Dr Sarma said that indigenous people who are residing in Satra land as ‘Rayoti’ would get their rights according to the land and revenue act of the state. Committee chairman and senior MLA Pradip Hazarika mentioned that Muslim league leader Sayed Sadullah who believed in two nation theory systematically allowed the encroachment of Satra and government land in Assam before India’s independence. This was done to make Assam a Muslim-majority state so it could be clubbed with Pakistan.
