Land for greenfield airport: Face-off between security personnel and protesting tea garden workers in Dolu

A faceoff between security personnel and tea garden workers at Dolu again proves that the government has failed to take the labourers into confidence. Yesterday, the security personnel including DIG Southern Range and SP Cachar carried out a flag march to claim dominance at the site earmarked for the construction of Greenfield Airport.

It is worth mentioning here that a section of the tea garden workers have been protesting against the construction of proposed Greenfield Airport at Lalbag Tea Estate as they feel it will harm their livelihood. According to them, they lost the jobs when REC was constructed and same happened after the construction of Silchar Medical College and Hospital or Assam University. The protesting tea-garden workers say that these constructions do not help them instead, take their daily wage away.

After a successful flag march yesterday, the security personnel carried out another flag march today. Suddenly, the tea garden workers deployed at the garden from plucking leaves, started marching towards the road. Soon hundreds of them gathered and started raising slogans.

One on side of the road stood the protesting labourers and on the other side, the security personnel. As “Inqlaab Zindabad” slogans started roaring, the security personnel including SP Cachar and DIG Southern Range started to retreat. The tea garden workers continued to raise slogans till the last man in uniform left the spot. Some of them went on to say that they will continue this protest as they are not convinced at all when it comes to constructing an Airport at the garden area.

Astonishingly, Borkhola BJP that very much dominates the Tea Garden Vote Bank, is yet to make its stance clear. When the protesting labourers said they are not convinced, Barak Bulletin correspondent asked if the former MLA of the constituency, Kishore Nath or the contestant in 2021, Amalendu Das spoke with them. All of them said that there was so such interaction between the former MLA or the Candidate with the tea garden workers. In fact, when the Police continued the flag march, no one from the Borkhola BJP joined them to send across a common message.

Why is Borkhola BJP so silent in this entire episode of construction of a Greenfield Airport? Is there a lack of consensus within the BJP when it comes to the construction of Airport? It remains unknown, for the time being, Cachar SP has called for an urgent press conference… The deputy commissioner has also called for a Press Conference tomorrow to brief the press on the same matter.