GUWAHATI
The Assam government has restricted the grant of no objection certificates (NOCs) for the sale of land between people belonging to different religions for three months.
Citing inputs from intelligence agencies on cases of attempts to transfer land involving people of different religious communities “by fraudulent means”, a March 7 notification issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management (Registration) Department through the State Governor said the grant of NOCs has been “kept in abeyance” to prevent vested interests from creating communal conflicts during the Lok Sabha elections.
Elections to the 14 parliamentary constituencies in Assam will be held in three phases. Polling for five seats in eastern Assam seats, five seats in central and southern Assam, and four seats in central and western Assam will be held on April 19, April 26, and May 7 respectively.
“...the Governor of Assam is pleased to direct that all cases for grant of NOC for sale of land under section 21A of Registration Act 1908 where buyer and seller belong to different religion shall be kept in abeyance for a period of 3 months from the date of issue of this notification,” the notification signed by Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, the Principal Secretary to the Revenue Department said.
Mission Basundhara
“However, if District Commissioner is of the view that grant of such NOC is absolutely necessary for attending circumstances and will not lead to any breach of law and order, the same may be issued with prior concurrence of Inspector General of Registration, Assam,” the notification added.
The notification was issued less than a month after the Assam government launched the third phase of Mission Basundhra, a service for the conversion of government-owned land to ‘myadi patta’ over which an applicant belonging to an indigenous community can have ownership rights.
The service entails proving that an applicant has been a resident of Assam for at least three generations on a piece of land to be owned and has been in continuous occupation of the land for a minimum of three years from the date of application.
On February 8, All India United Democratic Front MLA Ashraful Hussain told the 126-member Assam Assembly that applications from Muslims under Mission Basundhara were being rejected. In response, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said landless Bengali-origin Muslims – often referred to as ‘Miya’, a derogatory term – cannot apply under the mission as they are not indigenous.
“Khilonjia (indigenous) means aboriginal. In Assam, the tribal people such as the Moran, Matak, and Chutia are aboriginal. This is a worldwide recognised definition,” he said.
The 2011 Census says Assam has 1.06 crore Muslims in Assam, accounting for 34.22% of the State’s population. Most of them are Muslims of Bengali origin inhabiting the riverine areas and are often branded as illegal immigrants.
Mission Basundhara was launched on May 8, 2022. EOM
