The Assam government’s eviction drive in Darrang district on September 23 has left many families in distress, including pregnant women. A TCN Ground report looks at how these women are surviving amidst lack of proper food and necessary medicine.
Mahibul Hoque | TwoCircles.net
SIPAJHIR (ASSAM) – For 18-year-old Minura Khatun from No 1 Dholpur village in Darrang district, the last four months have been distressing. An expecting mother, her anxiety started when the chief minister of Assam announced in June that an agriculture project would be taken up at her village. She was perplexed about where her first child would be born. Amid the uncertainty, her family did not sow seeds in their fields. For her, it meant her first child will be born amid destitution. The tragedy came sooner than she feared as government bulldozers razed her house on September 20 and demolished their land along with displacing 800 families from the area.
On the fateful day when the district administration and police department marched ahead with their plan to demolish and uproot the Muslim dwellers, despite the locals seeking time to remove their homes, the security personnel also burnt down many belongings of the people without maintaining any documentation to assess the damage.
For people who had already vacated their homes in the first round of evictions, and especially for Minura – the scenes of demolition and fear for her unborn baby left her in panic.
Although she has been living under a tin structure which used to be the roof of her home, and surviving on pulses and potatoes provided by the relief workers, Minura has not eaten any green vegetables nor has she been provided with medical assistance necessary for pregnant women.
The non-availability of drinking water facilities or hygiene facilities is a matter of “shame and struggle” for the women evicted during the demolition drive, especially the pregnant ones. “I have to carry water from another person’s house which is around 100 meters away. I feel tired and I cannot walk properly. Going far from my place to fetch water is very difficult for me,” Minura told TwoCircles.net. She complained about experiencing mental distress which she said increased since the eviction as she has never “seen the burning of houses before.”
Other pregnant women who have been evicted complained about the ‘trauma’ and lack of medical assistance “which the government should have provided” to them as they are “citizens of the country”.
“I cannot lift my leg. Someone has to help me get up from bed at night. I need medicines as I am pregnant. I went to the medical camp (organized by volunteer groups) seeking help but there was not much medicine for me. These medicines are generally provided by the government to its people. Instead of taking care, they have taken our land and everything else,” 30-year-old Samina Khatun from No 3 Dholpur village said remorsefully. She is six months pregnant.
30-year-old Sharufa Khatun has similar complaints. Sharufa, who lost a child some months ago, told TwoCircles.net, “I asked the doctor to give me medicine for illnesses women get. But they did not have any of those medicines. The government should provide some assistance to us.”
Mohela Khatun, who is seven months pregnant, has not been able to get her ultrasound done as her family has “no money to go to the doctor”.
“We were confused and unsure about the government’s decision to evict us. We did not even start the seed sowing process. We did not cultivate our land in the confusion and hence left with no money. This time we will not be growing cabbage, cauliflower, or anything else,” rued the 28-year-old woman from No 1 Dholpur village.
The sowing session was disturbed in the area as the government had announced to take over 77,000 bighas of land to start an agriculture and allied activities project to ostensibly to provide employment to some 200 people from “indigenous community,” which as per people would dislocate around 55,000 Bengali-speaking Muslim farmers.
While hundreds of families, left homeless from No 1 and No 3 Dholpur villages, are relying on relief material provided by various non-profit groups, the government on September 27 announced that the affected families will continue to get the benefits of government schemes. The announcement has come as a relief although it will be without addition to necessary medicines for women, children and traumatized people.
“On the first day of the eviction, the government gave some plastic toilet sheets, tube well, and pipes to set up basic facilities for the evicted families. But after the firing incident and death of two persons, the district officials neither visited the place nor provided other basic help. They have been left with nothing but NGO relief. Rice and dal (pulses) is there and as citizens, they are entitled to get benefits from government schemes. But as displaced families, they should get basic water, hygiene and medical facilities which are missing,” a local from the area said on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The state government on September 23 announced that the evicted families would continue to get the entitled government scheme facilities and the next day the supply of rice was resumed in the area. However, the toilets and drinking water facilities have not been announced yet which indicates that the families will not be provided with a settlement at the place as of now.
“The initial aid of plastic toilet sheets and tube well facilities were given on humanitarian ground for the evicted families,” said Darrang district Commissioner Prabhati Thaosen. She said negotiations and consultation were going for further help to the evicted people.
As for 57-year-old farmer Anuwar Hussain, a settlement is a better option as they can cultivate the land and start afresh. “We are citizens and I have my father’s 1951 NRC. The government has taken the land we were cultivating for more than four decades. They should provide a permanent settlement to us,” he said.
The state government has assured that six bighas of land would be given to evicted landless people, but it has not been formally announced yet. “According to the Assam Land and Revenue Act 1886 and 1989 land policy, the government has to provide an alternative place for rehabilitation prior to any eviction. Without giving any alternative, the government’s move to evict the people is a violation of law,” said All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Mazibur Rahman from the same district. His party is demanding six bigha land for agricultural purposes and one bigha of land for housing while terming the eviction as an “inhuman, barbaric attack on helpless Muslim farmers.”
“It is unfortunate that till now the government has not sent any delegation and additional relief to the victim families who are genuine Indian citizens,” he added.
Meanwhile, the All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) sought drinking water, sanitation, and housing facilities (under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana) for the evicted families. According to the office-bearers of the influential student body, Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has agreed upon their demands.
“Whatever verbal assurances have been given to us, we will ask the government to announce officially when we meet the CM after the cabinet meeting,” AAMSU general secretary Imtiaz Ali said.
Caught in between verbal assurances and homelessness, 6-month pregnant Minura said, “The government does not consider us as citizens. That is why no representative from the government has come to see our condition. We need our lives back. We need shelter even if they provide us with these on humanitarian grounds,” she said.