Status Of Adivasis/indigenous Peoples Land Series-5: Assam

Assam's Tribal Indigenous Communities have been subjected to massive violations of their rights to land and other resources. These communities practice jhum (shifting) cultivation in the hilly areas and in the plains, wet cultivation. Highlanders who exclusively practice shifting cultivation have a system of communal ownership of their land, with the clan chief distributing plots of land for jhuming.

The author discusses in detail the main threats to indigenous communities. The migrants from Bangladesh and parts of India have occupied very large areas of indigenous lands. Takeover of lands for infrastructure, industry, military and other projects has also adversely affected the indigenous communities. Communal lands have been diverted to these projects without any form of consultation or legal process. The forest laws have been used to expand reserved forests across Assam, further depriving indigenous communities of their forest rights. Jhum cultivation has been declining, primarily as a result of restrictions placed on it by forest laws.