Assam land ordinance could land BJP govt in trouble

“In a historic and far-reaching decision to ease out the process of setting up industries in Assam, State Cabinet has approved an ordinance today. Now any one will be able to set up industry in Assam just by submitting one self-declaration,” Assam industries and commerce minister Chandra Mohan Patowary announced on Twitter on Monday.

The minister further said, no permission will be required for three years, and the land will be deemed converted for industrial purpose. The government is believed to have sent the ordinance, which is not available in public domain yet, to Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi for approval.

Perhaps the harshest criticism for the state government’s latest move came from Niloy Dutta, senior lawyer and member of the high-powered committee constituted by the Union home ministry for the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. “Most anti indigenous decision by the Assam Cabinet today to allow indiscriminate conversion of agricultural land for non agricultural purposes without permission of Revenue authorities. Land speculators will benefit. Non locals will take over all rural land of indigenous people,” Dutta tweeted.

Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which was signed by the Centre, the Assam government, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) in 1985, states, “Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards…shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”.

The panel, which submitted its report to the Centre earlier this year, is believed to have recommended land rights, introduction of Inner Line Permit to restrict the entry of “outsiders” to Assam, as well as cultural and linguistic demands, among others.

BJP’s twin failures?

In 2016, the BJP-led coalition came to power in Assam on the planks of Jati, Mati, Bheti (community, land and base), promising to make the state free of illegal immigrants and protect the rights of the state’s indigenous population. And it seems to have failed on both these counts.

First -- the process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, aimed at weeding out illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, was a complete mess as it left out only 1.9 million people from the list while including more than 31.1 million names. The state government is now exploring legal options for re-verification of names in the final list released in August last year following fears that a large number of “suspected” people made it to the list.

The second setback was the CAA, as it defeated the very purpose of updating the NRC in Assam, which set March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for entry of people into India, irrespective of their religions. The amended citizenship law has shifted this date to December 31, 2014, and grants citizenship to immigrants on the basis of their religions.

In December last year, Assam had witnessed violent protests against CAA as indigenous groups in the state saw this move as a betrayal by the BJP-led central government. Not only in Assam, but the CAA had sparked off nation-wide outrage with opposition parties and rights groups dubbing it anti-Constitutional.

Land a sensitive issue

In January this year, the Sarbananda Sonowal government had set a target of giving 1 lakh land deeds to the state’s landless people in a bid to quell fears that CAA would encourage entry of Bangladeshi Hindu migrants, thereby threatening the land, language and culture of indigenous people of Assam. The chief minister also claimed that his government had already distributed 50,000 land deeds among “sons of the soil” since it came to power.

However, the latest ordinance is likely to pose a challenge in protecting the land rights of indigenous people. “Allowing industries to set up without any clearance from the revenue department solely on the basis of a self-declaration form will hit the land rights of Assamese people and make the state a playground for industrialists from outside. We want this ordinance revoked at the earliest,” said Lurinjyoti Gogoi, general secretary of the AASU, which was at the forefront of the anti-CAA stir in Assam.

Needless to say that land is a sensitive issue in Assam and the rest of the Northeast, one of the most ethnically diverse regions in India. In Assam, land rights are protected in tribal areas, but there have been demands to create similar provisions in the rest of the state as well to protect the land of non-tribal indigenous population.

Interestingly, the latest ordinance comes at a time when the state government is supposed to submit its recommendation to the Centre on the granting of scheduled tribe status to six communities in the state -- Chutias, Motoks, Morans, Koch-Rajbongshis, Tai-Ahoms and tea tribes. Last year, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) had cleared the proposal on this matter . It is yet to be seen how the Centre and the state move forward in view of challenges posed by this new ordinance.

Jayanta Kalita is a senior journalist and author based in Delhi. He writes on issues related to India’s Northeast. The views are personal.