Madrassa Operating Without Approval Razed By Mosque Committee In Assam

A madrassa operating without government approval was demolished in Assam's Tinsukia district. According to reports, the local mosque committee, under pressure from the residents of the area, carried out the demolition in Lohari Kachari village.

It has been alleged that the madrassa had been functioning for nearly a year without any government sanction. The institution was reportedly run by Noor Islam, a Muslim cleric.

Sources said that in response to sustained local pressure, the mosque committee arranged for a bulldozer and demolished the structure. 

Additionally, the committee also brought down the boundary wall of a nearby mosque, which was allegedly built on a drain and considered an encroachment.

The entire exercise was undertaken by the mosque committee and the officer-in-charge of Tinsukia Sadar Police Station was present during the operation.

The Assam government has been firm in its stance against illegal encroachments on government land. Large-scale eviction drives have been carried out across the state, clearing vast tracts of land from unauthorised occupation.

On Monday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that people should not give shelter to evicted persons, else the "position of our people," which has improved through evictions and other measures, will become "bad again."

He asserted that the government will continue with its anti-encroachment drives to protect the 'jati' (community) if people continue to cooperate with it.

"Our people are conscious now. I don't think they will cooperate a lot," Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of programmes in Bodoland territorial Region (BTR) when asked if the evicted people will settle down in other parts of the state.

He had also said the encroachers should return from where they came from and the government has no objection to it.

(With inputs from PTI)