INCLUSIVE DIALOGUE MUST TO RESOLVE LAND RIGHTS, IDENTITY ISSUES IN ASSAM

OMNIBUS judicial pronouncements in some cases can have unintended consequences elsewhere.

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Take Assam's Karbi Anglong.In its 2022 order in a case of landgrab in Patiala, the Supreme Court directed all state governments to evolve schemes to evict unauthorised occupants of gram sabha, panchayat, poramboke and shamlat lands, and restore them to the gram sabha or panchayat for the common use of villagers. Citing that ruling, the tribal Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) last year issued eviction notices to around 10,000 people who hail from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, accusing them of illegally settling on reserved grazing lands in Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong. It opened a Pandora's box. The dispute of land alienation of indigenous people is a sensitive issue