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Time of India
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Will reclaim 4,400 acres of encroached land belonging to satras: Himanta
1 2 Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday reiterated his govt's pledge to reclaim over 4,400 acres of land, belonging to 922 Vaishnavite satras (monastic institutions) in four districts of the state, alleging that they have been encroached upon by illegal immigrants during previous Congress govts. "The Congress govt ignored sentiments of the indigenous people, while pandering to their illegal immigrant vote bank, which led to 922 Satra lands being encroached upon. Thousands of bighas of Satra lands are encroached across major centres," Sarma posted on X. Detailing the extent of encroachment, Sarma wrote that 7,137 bighas (2,355 acres) of satra land in Barpeta, 2,583.79 bighas (852 acres) in Nagaon, 2,757.39 bighas (909 acres) in Bajali and 896.76 bighas (295 acres) in Lakhimpur were being occupied by illegal immigrants. "We are on a mission to reclaim them," the CM added. The state govt has previously launched large-scale eviction and land recovery drives, successfully reclaiming significant portions of encroached land in recent years. To further protect these heritage sites, the Assam assembly has also passed the Assam Land and Revenue Regulation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024, which restricts outsiders from buying land near heritage institutions, including major satras. In a comprehensive approach, the govt has also established a temporary Satra Aayog (commission) to oversee the protection, welfare and sustainable development of satras, with a long-term vision plan for their revival and preservation. This includes initiating legal and administrative reforms, such as satellite mapping and protective zoning under Mission Basundhara 3.0, to formalize land ownership and prevent further encroachment.
The Hindu
27-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Congress 'appeasement' of illegal immigrants led to massive encroachment of Satra land: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday (June 27, 2025) alleged that the previous Congress government's appeasement of illegal immigrants led to massive encroachment of more than 13,000 bighas (more than 4,300 acres) of 'Satra' (Vaishnavite monastery) land in the State. He affirmed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) ruling dispensation's commitment to reclaim the land for these Vaishnavite monasteries. "The Congress Govt ignored sentiments of the indigenous people while pandering to their illegal immigrant vote bank, which led to 922 Satra lands being encroached upon," Mr. Sarma said in a post on X. He said thousands of bighas of Satra land have been encroached across major centres, including 7,137 bighas (2,355.21 acres) in Barpeta, 2,583.79 bighas (852.66 acres) in Nagaon, 2,757.39 bighas 909.94 acres) in Bajali and 896.76 bighas (295.94 acres) in Lakhimpur. "We are on a mission to reclaim them," the Chief Minister asserted. Mr. Sarma had earlier this month announced that the government will set up a permanent 'Satra Aayog' to look after the welfare of these Vaishnavite monasteries located across the State. At a meeting of the temporary Satra Aayog formed to study the issues of these historic institutions, Mr. Sarma said the permanent body of the Aayog will work to lend sustainability to the Satras. The Aayog, formed on November 24, 2021, with AGP MLA Pradip Hazarika as its chairman and BJP MLAs Mrinal Saikia and Rupak Sarma as its members, visited 126 satras and examined the existing problems there and gave several recommendations in the report.
India.com
10-06-2025
- Politics
- India.com
Building Mosques, Occupying Indigenous Peoples Land: Assam CM Sarma On Minorities Vs Satra Row
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday warned minorities especially Muslims to not create a conflict with Satras, indigenous monastic institution, by building mosques or consuming beef near the religious place. He also advised minorities to not try to occupy Satra land and respect the traditions and customs of the indigenous people and not try to create a conflict. "In the context of Assam, if we reach a non-negotiable point between the Satra institutions and the newly arriving people, then naturally, the newcomers should step back. But instead, they have started doing the very things near the Satras that the Satras themselves do not accept. One major element of this is the issue of cow meat, and a major example is the construction of a masjid directly near a Satra. When cow meat is consumed near a Satra, and the sound of Azaan from a masjid overlaps with the Namghar of the Satra, it becomes a non-negotiable point," said the CM. Sarma said that if minorities consume cow meat, but will do so 10 kilometres away, there comes conflict but consensus is possible. He said Assamese people retreat if conflict is created by minorities as they do not know how to fight as they don't want conflict. Minorities should respect the traditions and customs of the indigenous people and not try to create a conflict by building Masjids near Satras and occupying Satra land. Dhubri, Barpeta, etc. are an example of such templates and we should not let this be repeated. — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 10, 2025 Satras are unique monastic institutions in Assam, India, deeply associated with the Ekasarana Dharma (also known as Neo-Vaishnavism), a monotheistic devotional movement started by the 15th-16th century saint-reformer Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva. The Satra Aayog formed for reviewing and assessing the problems of the Satra lands in Assam, submitted its final report to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa at a programme held at Lok Sewa Bhawan in Guwahati on Monday. It may be noted that the Aayog formed on November 24, 2021, with MLA Pradip Hazarika as its Chairman and MLAs Mrinal Saikia and Rupak Sarma as its members, visited around 126 satras, examined the existing problems there and submitted the report, giving several recommendations. Chief Minister Sarma also said that satras play an important role in the socio-cultural and spiritual life of the state. Moreover, he said that Srimanta Sankardeva, by introducing neo-Vaishnavism, took a crucial role in setting up the satras to discuss and preach cultural and spiritual values across the state. He said that it would be very difficult for the government to empower all the 922 satras, therefore, appealed to the people of Assam to work collectively to protect the satra lands and help them work for the mission they were established.
Economic Times
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Satra Aayog submits its final report to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Guwahati: The Satra Aayog formed for reviewing and assessing the problems of the Satra lands in Assam, submitted its final report to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma It may be noted that the Aayog formed on 24th November, 2021 with MLA Pradip Hazarika as its Chairman and MLAs Mrinal Saikia and Rupak Sarma as its members, visited around 126 satras, examined the existing problems there and submitted the report, giving several the Satra Aayog for its final report, Sarma said, 'In the socio-cultural life of Assam, submission of the final report marks an important day for the state. I consider myself happy to receive the final report of the Aayog which reviewed and assessed the problems of Satra lands necessitated because of encroachment. The government will study the report very minutely and exhaustively to meet its recommendations'.The Chief Minister on the occasion also announced that his government would constitute a permanent Satra Aayog which would be empowered financially, administratively to work for the benefits and welfare of the satras. He also said that the Aayog will work on forming a 25 year long vision plan to revamp the institutional framework of the Satras. The Aayog would also work to lend sustainability of the Satras across the also said that in socio-cultural and spiritual life of the state, Satras play an important moreover said that Srimanta Sankardeva by introducing neo-vaishnavism , took crucial role in setting up the Satras for discussing and preaching culture and spiritual values across the state. He also said that Srimanta Sankardeva, Madhavdeva, Sri Damodeva, Sri Harideva established the said that today the Satras are confronted with various problems. However, no other government took the initiative to address the problems of the Satras. However, once the BJP led dispensation assumed power in the state, the government took steps to save the satras and lend vitality in them. Therefore, the present State government formed this Satra Aayog to find out the problems especially land encroachment that grapple the Satras across the state. He thanked the Satra Aayog for its exhaustive study, which would help the government to take remedial steps and protect the Chief Minister moreover, said that more youth should come to the fold of the Satra culture and lend more vitality to said that bigger Satras should take upon themselves to help the small Satras. They should also indulge in transformative works to empower all the satras to spread the tenets of said that it would be very difficult for the government to empower all the 922 satras, ee, therefore, appealed to the people of Assam to work collectively to protect the Satra lands and help them work for the mission they were established.
Time of India
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Satra Aayog submits its final report to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati: The Satra Aayog formed for reviewing and assessing the problems of the Satra lands in Assam, submitted its final report to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma . It may be noted that the Aayog formed on 24th November, 2021 with MLA Pradip Hazarika as its Chairman and MLAs Mrinal Saikia and Rupak Sarma as its members, visited around 126 satras, examined the existing problems there and submitted the report, giving several recommendations. Thanking the Satra Aayog for its final report, Sarma said, 'In the socio-cultural life of Assam, submission of the final report marks an important day for the state. I consider myself happy to receive the final report of the Aayog which reviewed and assessed the problems of Satra lands necessitated because of encroachment. The government will study the report very minutely and exhaustively to meet its recommendations'. The Chief Minister on the occasion also announced that his government would constitute a permanent Satra Aayog which would be empowered financially, administratively to work for the benefits and welfare of the satras. He also said that the Aayog will work on forming a 25 year long vision plan to revamp the institutional framework of the Satras. The Aayog would also work to lend sustainability of the Satras across the state. Sarma also said that in socio-cultural and spiritual life of the state, Satras play an important role. Live Events He moreover said that Srimanta Sankardeva by introducing neo-vaishnavism , took crucial role in setting up the Satras for discussing and preaching culture and spiritual values across the state. He also said that Srimanta Sankardeva, Madhavdeva, Sri Damodeva, Sri Harideva established the satras. He said that today the Satras are confronted with various problems. However, no other government took the initiative to address the problems of the Satras. However, once the BJP led dispensation assumed power in the state, the government took steps to save the satras and lend vitality in them. Therefore, the present State government formed this Satra Aayog to find out the problems especially land encroachment that grapple the Satras across the state. He thanked the Satra Aayog for its exhaustive study, which would help the government to take remedial steps and protect the Satras. The Chief Minister moreover, said that more youth should come to the fold of the Satra culture and lend more vitality to them. Sarma said that bigger Satras should take upon themselves to help the small Satras. They should also indulge in transformative works to empower all the satras to spread the tenets of vaishnavism. He said that it would be very difficult for the government to empower all the 922 satras, ee, therefore, appealed to the people of Assam to work collectively to protect the Satra lands and help them work for the mission they were established.
