A delegation led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Brinda Karat, Manoranjan Talukdar MLA, central committee member Suprakash Talukdar today met the families of Moinul Haq and SK Farid (a 12-year-old boy), who were both brutally killed in police firing on September 23.
The delegation also met the hundreds of forcibly evicted Assamese people to provide solidarity and assistance. The evictions reportedly left 1000 Indian citizens and families homeless, said the CPM leaders. Women of evicted families informed the CPM members they were in deep distress and wept narrating their suffering.
The Assam residents complained of scarcity of water, latrines, and leaking shelters. Many families are struggling to look after their sick children in these conditions.
Karat, in a video, called the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s eviction move, “horrifying, inhuman and barbaric”. Speaking out against the government’s act, she said, ”They are citizens of India, with every single document to prove (that they are citizens). They are landowners, they have documents to prove they have been on the land for 50 years.”
Two eviction drives took place in Assam’s Darrang district in the last 3 months, leaving people shelterless, a majority of whom were Muslims. The state government gave the people living in the ‘encroached’ areas, a 12-hour notice, sent police forces and bulldozed their houses leaving citizens, including women and children, without shelter. Police forces fired bullets and shot at protesters who raised voices against the eviction, killing two, including a child, and injuring many.
CPI tweeted photos from the delegation’s visit to the distraught families.