The demolition of homes belonging to Adivasi tea-tribe families in Hatikhuli Bagicha near Kaziranga marks the latest escalation in a dispute over land acquired for a proposed five-star luxury hotel and cultural centre backed by the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC). According to campaigners, the demolitions have displaced families who had long lived and cultivated the area, bringing into effect a project that has faced sustained opposition from local residents, land rights groups and environmental activists.
The dispute centres on land at Ingleng Pathar and Hatikhuli, adjacent to Kaziranga National Park. Local organisations maintain that many families have cultivated the land for generations, continued to pay land revenue, and possess raiyati records or periodic pattas despite the land being classified as government land. In June, the Assam Chah Mazdoor Sangha (ACMS) demanded a high-level inquiry into the land allotment, alleging that the land had been reclassified and transferred to a hospitality company without consulting the communities dependent on it. The union also stated that residents had resisted eviction attempts for four to five years while seeking formal recognition of their land rights.
The controversy deepened after the Assam government signed an agreement with Hyatt Hotels in September 2023 to develop a luxury hotel near Kaziranga’s central range. The proposed project affects land cultivated by more than forty farming families, most of them from tea-tribe communities. Protesters have argued that the project would displace long-settled residents while further expanding hospitality infrastructure in an ecologically sensitive landscape used by wildlife moving between Kaziranga and the Karbi Anglong hills during the annual floods. Environmental groups have similarly raised concerns about the impact of construction on wildlife corridors and habitat connectivity.
Public opposition intensified through demonstrations in June and July, following which indigenous rights activist Pranab Doley and several others were arrested on charges including unlawful assembly, criminal conspiracy and rioting. Police alleged that protesters entered the project site and obstructed construction, while Doley and land rights organisations described the arrests as an attempt to criminalise resistance to displacement. Soon after, a group of UN experts expressed concern over the detention of five indigenous rights activists, warning that the arrests could have a chilling effect on civic space and undermine the ability of indigenous communities to defend their rights. They called for the release of any activists detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their rights and urged the suspension of land acquisition and development until affected communities had been meaningfully consulted and their free, prior and informed consent obtained.
The developments at Kaziranga reflect a pattern that extends well beyond Assam. From the Ken-Betwa river-linking project in central India to the Great Nicobar Island Development Project, large-scale projects justified in the name of development have repeatedly advanced despite concerns over ecological integrity and the destruction of longstanding human habitats. Whether the issue is the displacement of Adivasi cultivators, the future of the Nicobarese community and the survival of the Shompen, or the loss of forest commons, the concerns of affected communities are repeatedly set aside in favour of state-backed commercial and strategic priorities.