Protestors torched the ancestral residence of an Assam tribal council chief on Monday (December 22, 2025) for his alleged failure to evict “outsiders” from two categories of government-designated grazing reserves.
At least three protestors were among four people injured in clashes with security personnel at Donkamokam in central Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district, where the Karbi tribe is in the majority. The place is 155 km southeast of Guwahati.
West Karbi Anglong and Karbi Anglong, located further east, are Sixth Schedule areas governed by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power. The protestors marched 26km from West Karbi Anglong’s Kheroni, where they had been on hunger strike for a fortnight, demanding the eviction of “non-locals” allegedly occupying large swathes of village grazing reserves (VGRs) and professional grazing reserves (PGRs).
Tension gripped the Kheroni area after the police picked up nine protestors on Sunday (December 21, 2025) night. This enraged the protestors, who blocked the roads and vandalised shops before proceeding to Donkamokam.
The protestors claimed the security personnel used force and fired blank shots to disperse them. As a section of the mob fought a pitched battle with the security personnel, another attacked the ancestral house of Tuliram Ronghang, Chief Executive Member of the KAAC, and set it on fire.
A spokesperson of the KAAC in Diphu, the council headquarters 100 km east of Donkamokam, said Mr. Ronghang was away at the time of the incident.
While the security personnel brought the situation in Donkamokam under control, violence and arson reportedly targeting “outsiders” spread to other parts of West Karbi Anglong district.
Given the gravity of the situation, the State government rushed additional forces to the violence-hit areas. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma deputed Education Minister Ranoj Pegu to visit these areas and assess the law-and-order position.
Later, Mr. Ronghang told journalists that his government was following up on the eviction demand, but was hamstrung by legal hurdles. He said the KAAC administration served eviction notices on the settlers, but they challenged the notices in the Gauhati High Court.
“The case is in court. Had I done anything, I would have been punished for contempt of court,” he said.
In February 2024, the KAAC issued eviction notices to about 10,000 people accused of occupying 7,184.7 acres of VGR and PGR in Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts. A large number of these people charged with encroachment are Hindi speakers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
