Assam govt puts restriction on issuance of NOC for land sales between people of different religions
Guwahati: The Assam government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, has implemented a temporary restriction on the issuance of no-objection certificates (NOCs) for land sales between individuals of different religions, as reported by The Hindu.
According to the report, the state's Revenue and Disaster Management (Registration) Department issued a notification on March 7, endorsed by the state governor. The decision to impose this temporary restriction stems from intelligence inputs alleging fraudulent land transfers involving individuals of different religions. The government perceives this move as necessary to prevent any potential communal tensions, especially with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
However, the notification specifies that if a district commissioner deems it essential to issue an NOC and assesses that it will not pose any risk to law and order, the certificate may be granted with prior approval from the Assam Inspector General of Registration.
The notification, signed by Gyanendra Dev Tripathi, Principal Secretary to the state’s Revenue Department, comes in light of the impending Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in 14 constituencies across Assam in three phases on April 19, April 26, and May 7.
This development follows the initiation of the third phase of the Himanta government’s flagship Mission Basundhara, aimed at providing land titles for government-owned lands exclusively to "indigenous" people of Assam. Notably, Chief Minister Himanta had previously emphasized that Bengali-origin Muslims without land ownership would not be eligible to apply for land under this policy.
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Dalit outfits call state-wide hartal over dental student’s death
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Various Dalit organisations on Monday announced a state-wide hartal seeking justice in the death of Kannur Dental College student Nithin Raj.
The hartal will be observed on Tuesday from 6 am to 6 pm.
As many as 52 Dalit organisations, including Justice for Nithin Raj Action Council, have announced the strike.
Organisations requesting cooperation for the strike said that no vehicles will be forcibly stopped and that all essential services are exempted.
Raj, a first-year BDS student at a private dental college in Anjarakkandy in Kannur district, was found critically injured after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
Police have registered a case against two faculty members on charges of abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, following allegations by the student’s family that he was subjected to caste- and complexion-based harassment.
Kerala Pinnokka Samudaya Munnani (KPSM), one of the organisations supporting the hartal, alleged in a statement that police had shown apathy in the investigation and were attempting to protect the accused in the case.
KPSM state president K V Padmanabhan and general secretary S Anwar alleged that the probe into Raj’s death was being deliberately misdirected and delayed.
While the family has firmly alleged that caste discrimination and mental harassment by faculty members led to the student’s death, police were attempting to divert the investigation towards loan app borrowings, they claimed.
The organisation alleged that this was a planned move to shield the real accused.
KPSM further alleged that by deliberately delaying the arrest of the accused teachers, police enabled them to secure anticipatory bail.
They said there was no confidence in the present police investigation and demanded that the case be handed over to an independent agency at the earliest.
