CM blames Congress for Satra land grab, cites appeasement of illegal migrants

Guwahati, June 27: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday accused the previous Congress government of enabling large-scale encroachment on Vaishnavite monastery (Satra) lands by prioritising the appeasement of illegal immigrants over the rights of indigenous communities.

Taking to the social media, Sarma stated that over 13,000 bighas—more than 4,300 acres—of Satra land across the state had been encroached upon under Congress rule.

"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," Sarma said in a post on the popular microblogging website.

The Chief Minister shared detailed figures, stating that 7,137 bighas (2,355.21 acres) of land were encroached 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, reaffirming his government's commitment to restoring the land to the Satras, which are revered cultural and religious institutions of Assam's Vaishnavite heritage.

Earlier this month, Sarma had announced the formation of a permanent Satra Aayog to oversee the welfare and protection of Satras across the state. The body aims to provide long-term solutions and institutional support to these historic centres.

The announcement came following a review of the findings submitted by the temporary Satra Aayog, formed in November 2021 with AGP MLA Pradip Hazarika as chairman and BJP MLAs Mrinal Saikia and Rupak Sarma as members.

The temporary Aayog visited 126 Satras, examined their issues, and submitted a set of recommendations for their sustainable development and protection.

With inputs from PTI