Assam’s hill districts are on a knife-edge.1 On December 24, 2025, West Karbi Anglong is waking up to a heavy military presence and a complete digital blackout.2 Mobile internet is down across both Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong after a protest over land rights spiraled into a deadly riot.3 Or nothing. Let’s be real, when the DGP of the state is getting hit with arrows and stones, “normalcy” is a long way off. Those too.
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The thing is, the casualty count is now at two dead.4 Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called the situation “deeply painful” last night, but the ground reality is a lot messier than just a standard “law and order” issue.5
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The “Why” Behind the Fire
This isn’t just a sudden burst of anger. It’s a slow-burn crisis that finally exploded:
The Demand: For two weeks, Karbi organizations were on a hunger strike at Phelangpi.6 They want thousands of “illegal settlers” (mostly from Bihar and UP) evicted from the Village Grazing Reserves (VGR) and Professional Grazing Reserves (PGR).7
The Trigger: Rumors spread that the hunger strikers were arrested on Sunday night.8 The government says they were just being moved to a hospital in Guwahati because their health was failing.9
The Explosion: The “misunderstanding” led a mob to torch the ancestral home of Tuliram Ronghang, the Chief of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC).10 By Tuesday afternoon, the Kheroni market was a war zone of burning shops and flying arrows.11
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Casualties of the Unrest
| Victim Profile | Cause of Death |
| Karbi Youth | Succumbed to injuries during a police lathi-charge/clash. |
| Differently-Abled Man | Charred to death after being trapped in a burning shop in Kheroni. |
| Police Force | 58 injured, including DGP Harmeet Singh and several IPS officers. |
The Status Today: Dec 24, 2025
The region is under Section 163 of the BNSS (the new version of Section 144).12
Internet: Suspended indefinitely to stop the spread of rumors.13
Curfew: Total restriction on movement from 5:00 PM to 6:00 AM.14
The Talks: Education Minister Ranoj Pegu has supposedly convinced some groups to join a tripartite talk chaired by the CM on December 26.15
And here’s the kicker: the government claims their hands are tied because the Gauhati High Court has a stay order on the evictions.16 So while the protesters want the settlers out now, the legal system is basically saying “wait.”
It’s an ongoing cycle of ethnic tension and land hunger.17 The settlers have been there for generations, but the indigenous Karbi groups see the protected lands as their last stand. With the internet off and more commandos arriving by the hour, Kheroni is holding its breath.
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End….
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