After a spell of violent unrest normalcy is slowly returning to the West Karbi Anglong district , albeit with caution on the part of the authorities and security arrangements still intact.
There have been no reports of fresh incidents from the violence-hit areas, according to officials on Thursday (December 25, 2025) at Karbi anglong, although an uneasy calm prevails.
A senior government functionary of the district administration of Karbi Anglong said that though the situation has improved, the prohibitory order imposed under various provisions of law and the stopping of mobile data services will continue for now. “The situation is calm now and there have been no incidents of violence. The security forces have been deployed and are patrolling all the sensitive areas,” said the functionary.
Large numbers of Assam Police forces, Rapid Action Forces (RAF), Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF), and Indian Army forces have been stationed in and around the affected areas of Karbi Anglong. These forces have been stationed in abundance to avoid any kind of outburst of violence and to assure the people who had to stay indoors throughout the duration of the unrest. Columns of the Indian Army have also performed flag marches in various areas affected by violence as a confidence-building measure.A column in the Indian Army includes around 60 to 80 troops.
The violence erupted due to a long pending feud between the Karbi community and Hindi-speaking populations, largely from Bihar, about encroachment of land in the Village Grazing Reserve (VGR) and Professional Grazing Reserve (PGR) in the tribal belts. The escalation of the conflict took place after agitators from the Karbi community began a hunger strike for 15 days, demanding the displacement of illegal settlers in grazing reserves in the Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts.
Matters took a worse turn on Monday when police took away three agitators from amongst the protesters in the early morning hours. The government explained that they removed them for hospitalization purposes. However, this act sparked more anger among protesters. Amongst regions that experienced violence was Kheroni, which turned out to be one of the most hit localities.
Kheroni is a diverse region with settlers from Karbi, Bihari, Bengali, and Nepali tribes. Violence took a major form in this region on Tuesday; two persons were killed and more than 70 others were injured, with in excess of 60 police personnel being part of the latter list. One member of the Karbi tribe, Athik Timung, was killed in police firing, while another person, a specially abled youth named Suresh Dey, was discovered dead in his house-cum-shop, which had been set ablaze by a mob.
According to officials, the funeral rites of the two victims were conducted peacefully at night on Wednesday as custom demands, without incident. According to sources, this was a reassuring sight as the police try to bring back normalcy among the masses.Another top official from the district Karbi Anglong administration said that people are gradually coming out of their homes and trying to go about their business as usual. “We are continuously assessing the ground situation.
At the moment, the restriction will continue, but things are showing improvement. We will hold the public informed about a new decision, should there be one,” an official said.
The CM of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, responded to this question on Wednesday as follows:“It is not possible for us to accept the Karbi organizations’ demand for the immediate eviction of Hindi-speaking encroachers in grazing areas at this moment because of a stay order issued by the Gauhati High Court.”Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma With the security forces keeping a tight vigil and the necessary administrative actions in place, the authorities are hoping that things will soon get back to normal in West Karbi Anglong. Even as efforts are underway to resolve the issues that resulted in the violence.
Also Read : Explainer 2015 : Why are there protests in West Karbi Anglong ? What’s Driving the Unrest !
