In August final 12 months, Md Ruhul Amin and Shaiful Islam utilized for rights to the land on which they’ve lived for over 20 years of their villages in Decrease Assam’s Barpeta district.
They did so via the Assam authorities’s flagship scheme, Mission Basundhara, which permits the state to regularise land held by cultivators and different occupants with out land titles. Underneath the scheme, the state allocates authorities land to residents in the event that they fulfil sure circumstances – a course of referred to as settlement of land.
Amin had utilized for a title to 0.03875 acres of presidency land in Metuakuchi village, a plot on which his home stands. He was in possession of the plot since 1999 and has been paying taxes since then. Scroll has seen copies of the tax receipts.
The choice to grant land rights is taken by the district-level sub-divisional land advisory committee, headed by the district commissioner and with legislators of the world as members.
In keeping with the principles of Mission Basundhara, the conversion of presidency khas land to myadi land – that’s, land to which an individual has possession rights and which may be purchased and offered – in rural areas shall be made solely to these candidates who can show that they’re residents of Assam for 3 generations and who’ve been in steady occupation of the land for no less than three years from the date of utility.
Like Amin, Islam, a 45-year-old police constable, was in possession of .3095 acres of land at Metuakuchi village for over 25 years. Twenty years in the past, his household had migrated from his native village at Baghbar in Barpeta district after the village was swallowed up by the Brahmaputra river. “We’ve been paying tax since 1999,” Islam stated. Scroll has seen the tax receipts.
On November 6, the land advisory committee in Barpeta authorised an preliminary listing of purposes of 42 individuals in your entire Barpeta district. This included Amin and Islam. Scroll has seen the listing of names cleared by the panel.
However two months later, Amin and Islam’s purposes have been rejected by the identical committee.
“All of the Hindu candidates’ names have been cleared and so they got land,” Amin instructed Scroll. “We don’t know why our purposes have been rejected.”
On February 8, two Muslim legislators from Barpeta district, Ashraful Hussain and Sherman Ali Ahmed, introduced up the case of Amin and Islam within the state Meeting, arguing that the rejection factors in direction of discrimination towards Muslims.
“There have been 42 names proposed for the land titles underneath Mission Basundhara 2.0 and the listing was cleared by the sub-divisional land advisory committee or SDLAC,” stated Hussain, the Chenga MLA and a member of the committee, within the Meeting.
He added: “Nonetheless, the candidates from a specific neighborhood have been rejected whereas individuals from just one neighborhood have been chosen for the land settlement. We’ve heard that Muslims won’t qualify for the land underneath Basundhara. Are we even a democracy and secular nation anymore?”
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s response to the query was startling. He declared that landless Bengali-origin Muslims can’t apply for land underneath the Mission Basundhara as they aren’t “indigenous”.
In keeping with the 2011 Census, there are 1.06 crore Muslims in Assam – accounting for 34.22% of the state’s inhabitants. Most of them are Muslims of Bengali origin. Though their households have been residing in Assam’s riverine areas since a lot earlier than Independence, they’re typically branded as unlawful migrants, and are among the many most marginalised communities within the state.
“The definition is evident,” Sarma stated. “Khilonjia [indigenous] means aboriginal. In Assam, the tribal individuals…[communities such as] the Moran, Matak and Chutia are aboriginal. This can be a worldwide recognised definition.”
The chief minister stated that “Miyas”, a derogatory time period for Bengali-origin Muslims, are residents however not indigenous to Assam.
Legislators and consultants identified that Sarma was introducing a brand new, exclusionary definition of “indigenous” that’s neither legitimate in Indian legislation nor has been a part of the principles of Mission Basundhara since 2021, when it was first launched in Assam.
Extra worryingly, district-wise knowledge on the implementation of the scheme means that, in observe, Bengali-origin Muslims are being denied land settlement underneath the scheme.
They aren’t the one neighborhood with considerations concerning the scheme. The chief minister additionally went on to say that landless Muslims from ethnic Assamese communities mustn’t take the Basundhara route – however instantly apply to the district administration for land titles.
On February 15, per week after Sarma’s remarks, the Sadou Asom Goriya Moria Deshi Jatiya Parishad, a gaggle claiming to signify the curiosity of “indigenous” or ethnic Assamese Muslims, held protests throughout the state towards the alleged discrimination towards them underneath Mission Basundhara. “Simply because we now have Ali, Ahmed as surnames, are we not indigenous?” requested Sahid Ali Ahmed, the vice-president of the organisation.
Software rejected
For many years, land has been on the centre of the ethnic Assamese anxiousness over undocumented immigration and fuelled hostility in direction of Bengali-origin Muslims.
Within the Nineteen Thirties, lots of of Muslim peasants from what’s present-day Bangladesh have been settled by the British in Assam’s sparsely populated and fertile plains to “develop extra meals”.
After Independence, the query of who’s indigenous to the state and who has claims to its sources has roiled Assam’s politics a number of instances. The ethnic Assamese communities – each Hindus and Muslims – imagine that the alleged unchecked inflow of undocumented migrants poses an existential menace to the state and their identification. This anxiousness was behind the widespread assist for a Nationwide Register of Residents, which unnoticed 19.06 lakh residents of Assam in 2019.
For the aim of the second part of the Mission Basundhara scheme, in accordance with the state income division notification issued on November 11, 2022 , “an individual whose household has been residing within the state repeatedly for the final three generations or extra as on January 1, 2022, will probably be considered indigenous individual for getting settlement of land.”
“They’ve set an arbitrary standards to find out ‘indigeneity’ whereas settling sure lands,” stated Vasundhara Jairath, who teaches Growth Research on the Indian Institute of Know-how in Guwahati. “However even going by that definition, the scheme doesn’t mechanically exclude Miya Muslims.”
When Amin utilized for land allotment to the district administration in January 2021, he was instructed to take the Mission Basundhara route. “We weren’t given land titles as we have been instructed by district officers that we are going to be eligible underneath the Basundhara scheme,” he stated.
Among the many paperwork an applicant can submit underneath the Basundhara scheme to assist this declare is a real refugee certificates previous to March 25, 1971, given to those that fled East Pakistan within the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties, or proof that the applicant’s households have been included within the 1951 Nationwide Register of Residents.
The primary NRC was compiled completely for Assam in 1951 to examine undocumented immigration from throughout the porous border with East Pakistan, within the years after Partition.
Amin had submitted paperwork that confirmed “household linkage” with residents included within the 1951 NRC, in addition to voter lists of 1966, 1971, 1997 and 2019. His father and grandfather’s names seem within the older voter lists.
Amin’s identify was cleared by the land advisory committee, headed by the district commissioner, on November 6. However, in accordance with the net utility standing at Sewa Setu, his utility was rejected on January 14 by the identical committee.
“January 14 was a Sunday. There was no SDLAC assembly on that day, in accordance with different members of the panel,” Amin stated.
The rationale cited for the rejection was that the land utilized for is “already reserved for presidency or public goal”.
Nonetheless, in a letter written on September 13, 2021, the then circle officer of Barpeta income circle had famous that there was “no public establishment” on the proposed land sought by Amin. The circle officer additionally talked about that Amin is a “landless indigenous” [sic]. Scroll has seen the letter.
Amin identified that the plot he had utilized for was part of a land parcel, referred to as Dag quantity 1302. “Previously, different individuals have gotten plots in the identical land parcel,” he stated.
In keeping with land information, referred to as Jamabandi, which Scroll has seen, two residents of the village, Mukuli Basfor and Indrajit Chandra Das, got land titles in 2007 and 2017 to plots of the identical parcel (Dag quantity 1302).
“We do not know why our purposes have been rejected even supposing we met all of the requisite circumstances. We should always get the land,” Amin stated.
Scroll referred to as and texted the Barpeta district commissioner, asking for a response to Amin and Islam’s queries. There was no response.
What the figures say
Within the second part of Mission Basundhara, the federal government acquired 13.39 lakh purposes for land titles. To this point, 2.29 lakh individuals have been granted land titles.
Of these, 2.07 lakh bought land titles underneath the “settlement of presidency khas and ceiling surplus land” class.
An evaluation of the information uploaded on the Basundhara dashboard and statements by the state income minister within the state Meeting reveals that the rejection price in districts with a sizeable inhabitants of Bengali-origin Muslims is considerably larger than that of Higher Assam districts, inhabited by the ethnic Assamese and tribal communities.
In Dhemaji district, which is dwelling to ethnic communities, over 40% candidates got land titles – 43,085 candidates out of 1.07 lakh have been chosen.
Equally, 38.5% candidates bought land titles in Dibrugarh district and 36.4% in Tinsukia district.
In distinction, solely 0.23 per cent candidates within the Muslim-majority Barpeta district have been authorised – 82 individuals bought land titles, although 35,246 had utilized.
Equally, solely 2% of the full 77,180 candidates have been eligible for the land titles in Muslim-majority Dhubri district.
In Barak Valley’s Karimganj, a Muslim-majority district, a complete of 13,361 purposes have been acquired, out of which 383 individuals got land underneath Mission Basundhara 2.0. Solely one in all them was Muslim.
Authorities officers, nonetheless, deny any bias within the implementation of the scheme.
In keeping with Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, commissioner and secretary to state income and catastrophe administration division, which is liable for implementing the Mission Basundhara, the most typical purpose for rejection was that the candidates couldn’t show that they’d been residing for 3 generations in Assam.
“About 4,67,000 individuals [applicants in Mission Basundhara] couldn’t show that they have been residents for 3 generations,” Tripathi instructed Scroll.
Many others, he stated, utilized for land which was a part of the village grazing reserve or skilled grazing reserve – which can’t be settled or changed into non-public land.
He denied any cases of Muslim candidates being excluded. “There is no such thing as a such case to my discover. Each Hindu and Muslim candidates have been rejected once they couldn’t show they’ve been Assam residents for 3 generations.”
In 2022, too, the All India Democratic Entrance, or AIUDF, had accused the BJP of communalising land settlement, by excluding individuals residing on chars – the shifting riverine islands on the Brahmaputra – from the scheme. Majuli was exempt from this rule.
Not surprisingly, underneath Mission Basundhara 2.0, not a single applicant was chosen for land titles in South Salmara-Mankachar, the western Assam district bordering Bangladesh which has nearly 95% Muslim inhabitants.
South Salmara Mankachar is without doubt one of the worst erosion-hit districts within the state. Hundreds of its residents dwell on chars and have been rendered homeless through the years because of the erosion of their lands.
Whereas elevating Amin and Islam’s instances within the Meeting, AIUDF legislator Ashraful Hussain criticised this older rule. “That is only a conspiracy to to not give land to the Muslims individuals who dwell on the chars,” he stated. “Why is it that land pattas may be given in Majuli however not in different char areas? All landless needs to be given land.”
The politics of evictions
In 2016, the Bharatiya Janata Social gathering made the safety of land as one in all its foremost ballot planks, with the slogan jati (identification), maati (land), bheti (fireside).
After coming to energy, the BJP-led authorities underneath Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal carried out a collection of eviction drives, which disproportionately focused Muslims. In keeping with authorities knowledge, between Might 2016 and July 2021, about 4,700 households, largely Muslim, have been evicted from authorities land.
Underneath the brand new BJP authorities headed by Himanta Biswa Sarma, the evictions towards Muslims turned extra common, typically violent.
Between Might 2021, when Sarma turned chief minister, and February this 12 months, greater than 9,200 households, overwhelmingly Bengalis of Muslim origin, have been evicted for allegedly encroaching authorities land.
In case of the Dhalpur eviction, the federal government not solely evicted over 1,000 Muslim peasant households from land which they’d been cultivating for generations, however allowed the indigenous individuals to take over the land by forming a state-run neighborhood farming undertaking.
Within the backdrop of those evictions, the purported exclusion of Bengali Muslims from Mission Basundhara solely provides to their marginalisation, say leaders of the neighborhood.
Ashraful Hussain, the legislator from All India United Democratic Entrance, identified that 1000’s of Muslims of Bengali origin are shedding their houses on account of erosion and flood.
“Those that are on authorities lands are being evicted with out rehabilitation,” he added. “The federal government just isn’t giving land titles to the landless Muslims. That is double discrimination and there’s no hope in sight.”
Jairath from IIT and Muslim legislators alleged that Sarma’s remarks have been aimed to polarise the voter in upcoming elections. “The Chief Minister is actively spreading disinformation concerning the scheme, to make sure will probably be applied in partisan methods and to help within the dynamic of electoral politics,” stated Jairath. “It isn’t a welfare scheme meant just for sure sections of individuals, however for all residents.”
The driving pressure behind Mission Basundhara 3.0 is to ease restrictions which have traditionally are available in the best way of Assam’s tea backyard neighborhood, indigenous individuals and different landless residents from securing rights on lands they’ve lived on for generations. pic.twitter.com/965AL5Qy5I
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) February 16, 2024
A U-turn
For the so-called indigenous Muslims of Assam, the chief minister’s remarks have come as an disagreeable shock.
In 2022, the Sarma granted indigenous standing to about 40 lakh Assamese-speaking Muslims within the state, from 5 Muslim teams, to tell apart them from the Bengali-origin Muslim neighborhood.
“Are indigenous individuals topic to spiritual discrimination now?” requested Ahmed, the vice-president of Sadou Asom Goriya Moria Deshi Jatiya Parishad.
About 1,500 Muslims belonging to the Goriya, Moriya and Deshi Muslim communities had utilized for the land titles underneath Mission Basundhara 2.0, Ahmed claimed. “However not even 1% made it to the listing.”
An official at Bilasipara circle workplace in Dhubri district instructed Scroll that not a single applicant belonging to the Desi Muslim neighborhood has been chosen for land underneath the scheme final 12 months. All the chosen candidates are Hindus from Koch Rajbongshi, Bengali Hindus, tribals or Assamese communities.
“Many purposes belonging to the Desi Muslim neighborhood have been handed by the circle officer as they met with the eligible standards,” the official instructed Scroll on situation of anonymity. “Nonetheless, there was strain and orders from larger authorities to reject the purposes,” he alleged
Systemic exclusion?
Whereas the BJP has claimed that its schemes don’t discriminate towards any neighborhood, Muslim legislators within the state see a systemic exclusion of Muslims.
“The denial of land to the Muslims underneath Basundhara is only one incident,” stated Baghbar MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed.
“There may be systematic deprivation in a large means. Not a single highway underneath Asom Mala [ a programme to develop state highways and district roads] has been allotted in a Muslim space,” he alleged. “It’s the precept of RSS-BJP to make Muslims second-class residents.”
A number of others identified that Muslims are being excluded by design by the Assam authorities.
For instance, the newly introduced Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyamita Abhiyaan, a scheme for selling girls entrepreneurs excludes all girls who’ve greater than three kids.
Underneath the scheme, the state will present an entrepreneurship fund of Rs 10,000 to 39.67 lakh girls members of self-help teams within the rural areas topic to sure circumstances. As soon as they avail this profit, a financial institution mortgage of minimal of Rs 25,000 will probably be offered to the beneficiary.
For Scheduled Tribe or Scheduled Caste candidates, nonetheless, the standards is relaxed – girls with greater than 4 kids are ineligible for the scheme.
“This can positively exclude many Muslim girls within the villages,” stated Aminul Islam, the AIUDF MLA from Mankachar. “They’re creating separate classes of residents, by arbitrarily deciding who will probably be eligible for presidency schemes or land underneath Basundhara. All that is government-sponsored discrimination.”
The same separate class seems to be on the best way in Mission Basundhara. On February 14, chief minister Sarma introduced within the Meeting that tea tribes, Adivasis and the Gorkha neighborhood won’t want to provide paperwork proving their residence in Assam going again to 3 generations within the upcoming model of Mission Basundhara. “We’ll allocate land to those two communities with out asking for paperwork within the third part of Mission Basundhara,” he stated.