In Assam's West Karbi Anglong district, demonstrations linked to a call for evictions took a violent turn on Monday when demonstrators threw stones and set fire to Tuliram Ronghang, a BJP politician and chief executive member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, at his family house in Dongkamukam.
According to officials, at least three people were hurt as police used force to scatter the demonstrators. The West Karbi Anglong district administration issued prohibitory orders on Monday night, 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 general public." Additional forces, including CRPF and police commandos, were dispatched to the scene.
West Karbi Anglong is a highland district with a tribal majority that is governed by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council in accordance with the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Nine people in Phelangpi, West Karbi Anglong, have been on a hunger strike for the past two weeks, demanding evictions from PGR and VGR lands in the council's area a long-standing demand by Karbi tribal bodies which is linked to the tensions in the district.
After the hunger strike protestors were removed from their demonstration in Phelangpi earlier on Monday, emotions escalated.
They were brought to Guwahati for "medical reasons as their condition could deteriorate after 15 days of being on hunger strike," according to IGP (Law and Order) Akhilesh Singh.
Speaking to the media following the violent occurrences, Ronghang said that this was "misunderstood" as an arrest. "We don't mind if they go on hunger strike, but we also informed them that the issue had to be settled through dialogue.
We were scheduled to speak with them in the Council conference room today at 4 p.m., and I had invited them to come discuss the issue in Diphu," he stated.
"But yesterday, police took some of them for treatment to Gauhati Medical College," he continued. People have mistakenly believed that they have been taken away and taken into custody.
This increased local anger, which led to demonstrators setting CEM Ronghang's Donkamukam residence on fire. Authorities claim that he has moved to the Karbi Anglong district headquarters in Diphu and has not been residing there.
"The CEM's ancestral home was set on fire, and the crowd was dispersed by force." By late afternoon, the situation at Donkamokam was under control.
However, after that, there was unrest in Kheroni, where people began throwing stones at the local police station and attempting to harm members of other communities, including Biharis and Nepalis. More troops have rushed in. IGP Singh stated, "We are controlling the area and have also called the CRPF and commandos."
After days of protests by Karbi tribal organizations, Ronghang declared in February 2024 that it would evict people from reserved grazing areas in Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong.
At the time, he claimed that there were 103 people intruding on grazing lands in the Phuloni circle and 1983 families of "illegal settlers" on PGR and VGR properties in just the Hawaipur mouza under the Donkamokam circle in the West Karbi Anglong district.
A Bihari Nonia community group sent a message to President Droupadi Murmu at that time, demanding the legalization of settlers on these lands in West Karbi Anglong, which set off the demonstrations.
But there were no evictions done there. According to Ronghang, this is due to a PIL that is still pending in the Gauhati High Court.
"We have decided to carry out evictions in the PGR VGR lands in collaboration with all relevant parties and organizations. The residents were given a 15-day notice to vacate.
However, the settlers there filed a PIL at the high court after receiving the notice. That is still going on. We will be in contempt of court if we carry out evictions today," he declared.
