Latest news with #NationalSocialistCouncilofNagaland
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Assam begins eviction drive to clear encroached forest land on Nagaland boundary
The Assam government has launched an eviction drive to clear 11,000 bighas of encroached forest land in Uriamghat area of Golaghat district. The Rengma Reserve Forest, where the first phase of the drive was carried out on Tuesday (July 29, 2025), shares a boundary with Nagaland. A large contingent of police and Assam Forest Protection Force personnel, along with more than 150 excavators, were deployed in the area, anticipating violence. Officials said the exercise passed off peacefully, as a majority of the illegal settlers had vacated the area after receiving notices from the government Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) Akhilesh Kumar Singh, who was at the site, told presspersons that shops and houses built in the reserve forest areas were demolished. 'We provided adequate police protection, and the locals are supporting the exercise. The law and order situation is under control,' he said. 'More than 20% cleared' A Forest Department official in the district said more than 20% of the reserve forest has been cleared of encroachment so far. 'The encroachers started leaving a few days ago when it was conveyed to them that they cannot stay inside the reserve forest any longer,' he said. Some 15,000 people, mostly migrant Muslims, were living in the reserve forest after turning vast swathes of the land into betel nut plantations. The eviction drive followed Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's visit to Uriamghat recently. 'People of Assam are victims of the mass-scale encroachment, demographic alteration, and violence, which is caused by illegal settlers. They are firmly behind our Govt in our crackdown against encroachment and realise the need to reclaim what's truly ours,' he posted on social media platform X. The security forces in Assam have been wary of a bid by extremists in Nagaland to take over the cleared forest, claiming it to be an ancestral Naga area. Assam and Nagaland have a decades-old boundary dispute that has claimed more than 150 lives. 'Move to grab land of Nagas' On Monday, the Niki Sumi faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland stated that the eviction drive was a 'well-planned' move by the Assam government to grab the lands of the Nagas. It accused successive Assam governments of first encouraging 'illegal Bangladeshi immigrants' to settle in forests along the interstate border and then evicting them to grab the lands of the Nagas. The eviction drive at Uriamghat is one of a series of such operations since June. More than 55,000 people, mostly Muslims with roots in present-day Bangladesh, have been evicted from forestlands, grazing lands, and government revenue lands in Dhubri, Goalpara, Lakhimpur, and Nalbari districts.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
NSCN faction says Assam eviction drive planned to grab Naga ancestral lands
The Niki Sumi faction of the extremist National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) said the Assam government's proposed eviction drive in Golaghat district's Uriamghat was designed to grab the ancestral lands of the Nagas. Uriamghat is close to Assam's border with Nagaland. The faction said the areas targeted were 'fictitiously' marked 'disturbed area belt' (DAB), citing pre-1947 demarcations by the British, who had transferred these areas for administrative convenience without consulting the Nagas. The faction said successive Assam governments made 'illegal Bangladeshi immigrants' settle down in the DAB with the alleged long-term plan to evict them and grab the lands of the Nagas. 'In the name of evicting the encroachers, the Assam government has double-crossed the Nagaland government by violating the terms and is occupying Naga ancestral areas by permanently stationing Assam police in the DAB,' it said in a statement. Assam and Nagaland have been locked in a bitter border dispute since the latter was carved out of the former in 1963, claiming more than 150 lives over the decades. Several rounds of talks have not helped resolve the dispute, but the two governments agreed to maintain the status quo more than a decade ago. The NSCN faction accused the Assam government of violating the status quo. It also underlined Assam's boundary disputes with other northeastern States. Assam has partially resolved its dispute with Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The faction appealed to the Naga people to pressure the Nagaland government into boosting security along the borders of their ancestral lands. It said more police personnel, home guards, and village guards should be recruited and deployed along the border with Assam. The Assam government has engaged a large number of police personnel and bulldozers to clear 11,000 bighas of land at Uriamghat. However, the eviction drive is unlikely to take place on Tuesday, as initially planned. 'The eviction drive has not been finalised yet. Land survey operations are underway,' Gunadeep Das, Golaghat's Divisional Forest Officer, said. He said about 60% of some 15,000 settlers, mostly Muslims, have already left Uriamghat after having been served notices. The Assam government has been carrying out a series of eviction drives across the State since June. At least 55,000 people, mostly Muslims with roots in present-day Bangladesh, have been evicted from forest land, grazing land, and government revenue land.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Eviction drive at Uriamghat is a 'well-planned' move to grab ancestral lands of Nagas: NSCN
GUWAHATI: A Naga rebel group, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, stated that the Assam government's proposed eviction drive at Uriamghat in Golaghat district bordering Nagaland is a 'well-planned' move to grab the ancestral lands of the Nagas. The Niki Sumi group said the areas were 'fictitiously' dubbed as the Disturbed Area Belt (DAB), citing colonial demarcations by the British who had also transferred the Naga ancestral areas for administrative convenience without consulting the Nagas. The outfit alleged that successive Assam governments had encouraged the policy of settling 'illegal Bangladeshi immigrants' in the DAB with the alleged intention to grab the lands of the Nagas. 'In the name of evicting the encroachments by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, the Assam government has double-crossed the Nagaland government by violating the terms and is occupying Naga ancestral areas by permanently stationing Assam police in the DAB,' the outfit also alleged in a statement. Assam and Nagaland have been locked in a bitter border dispute for decades. The problem could not be resolved despite a series of talks at the government level over the years.
Time of India
13-06-2025
- Time of India
NSCN (K-YA) operative arrested in Arunachal's Tirap
1 2 3 4 5 6 Itanagar: On the intervening night between June 9 and 10, security forces arrested an active National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN)-(K-YA) operative from Old Kothung in Arunachal Pradesh's Tirap district, a senior police official said on Friday. Based on intelligence inputs by the Assam Rifles, the Tirap unit of Arunachal Pradesh Police executed an operation, resulting in the arrest of the self-styled cadre, captain Kamwang Chakhtey, Tirap superintendent of police Sinjalta Singpho said. Singpho said Chakhtey had been involved with the group since 1995. A revolver, a hand grenade, live ammunition, organisation stamps and Rs 1,50,000 cash were recovered from Chakhtey's possession, the official said. He further said the items confirmed the cadre's involvement in underground activities, extortion and communication with group's leadership. While Chakhtey has been apprehended, all the seized items have been handed over to police. The SP said the arrest of the NSCN-(K-YA) has dealt a major blow to their gropu, undermining their local network and reinforcing public confidence in the security forces. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
3 from ‘NSCN faction' killed in encounter with security forces in Assam
Three gunmen, suspected to be from a faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), were killed in an encounter with security forces in Assam's Dima Hasao district on Tuesday. According to police, the encounter broke out when a search team comprising personnel from the Assam Police Special Units and the Assam Rifles, who were conducting a search operation based on a tip-off, came across an armed group. According to a police statement, the National Highways Authority of India in Dima Hasao had received an extortion letter and security forces had received information that armed cadres, who had allegedly issued the letter, were hiding in the area. Based on this information, a search operation was launched on Saturday evening. 'This morning, the search parties came across an armed group, after almost 60 hours of the search, in the area between N Kubin-Hera Kilo. The armed miscreants fired on the government forces, who retaliated. There was a heavy exchange of fire. Search of the area led to the discovery of three bodies with two AK-series rifles and one pistol,' police said, adding that the dead are suspected to belong to 'some faction of the NSCN'. In recent years, the Assam government has made efforts to bring militant outfits in the state to the mainstream. In 2023, a tripartite agreement was reached with the Dimasa National Liberation Army (DNLA) based in Dima Hasao, after which Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced 'the end of tribal insurgency in Assam'. However, Dima Hasao borders both Nagaland and Manipur, where factions of the NSCN are active.
