Senior Assam Advocate Flags ‘Original Inhabitant’ Provision in Amended Land Law

Assam: Senior advocate Upamanyu Hazarika submitted a representation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Union Home Minister Amit Shah , the National Commission on Demographic Change and the BJP’s General Secretary (Organisation), raising concerns over the Assam Land Revenue Regulation Amendment, 2026. In his representation, Hazarika questioned the definition of “original inhabitant” under the amended legislation, arguing that it could have implications for indigenous communities, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the protection of Satra land in Assam. Hazarika claimed that the provision requiring three generations to have lived continuously in an area could potentially allow families who migrated from Bangladesh in 1979 to qualify as “original inhabitants” by January 2006. He argued that this could effectively alter the existing cut-off applicable to migrants from Bangladesh. He also raised concerns over the NRC process, pointing out that “original inhabitant” is also a category used in the rules governing NRC verification. Hazarika claimed that investigations by the Nagaon and Kamrup district administrations in 2021 had found cases where persons allegedly of Bangladeshi origin were identified as “original inhabitants” and included in the NRC despite inadequate documentation. The representation further cited government data on Satra land, claiming that 15,288 bighas, equivalent to around 5,000 acres, remain under encroachment. Hazarika argued that the Assam Land Grabbing Act, 2010, could be invoked to address such encroachment. He questioned the need for provisions that, according to him, could extend protection to encroachers. Calling for a revision of the definition, Hazarika proposed 1901 as the cut-off year for identifying “original inhabitants”, arguing that this would strengthen safeguards for Satra land and indigenous interests in Assam.