In recent years, the conservation strategy of the park has become increasingly militarized and reportedly built upon a coordinated network of extra judicial killings - as raised by the National Alliance of People’s Movements, ‘Order’ dt. 14/7/2010 issued by the Govt. of Assam granted legal immunity to all the forest guards of Kaziranga for the use of firearms. This has impacted Indigenous peoples who have been dislocated from their ancestral lands and will occasionally cross over the border to retrieve cattle or collect firewood, such as the extra-judicial killing of Gaonburha Kealing in December 2013 that sparked protests among tribal groups and student unions such as All Assam Tribal Sangha.^[1]

More than 100 extra judicial killings would have been perpetrated by the park authorities in the last 20 years^[2].  The documentary “Our World, Killing for Conservation” reported that 96 people would have been killed by armed parked rangers in Kaziranga over the past nine years, with 42 people killed between 2014 and 2015 alone. In July 2016, a seven year old boy was traveling through one of the villages bordering the park would have been shot by one of the guards, sustaining a calf injury that has severely impacted his ability to walk.  Following the release of this documentary, BBC India was banned from filming in tiger reserves for five years.^[3]

Multiple evictions have taken place against communities that live within and on the borders of the National Park. In 2015, following a court order, with a notice issued 10 days prior to the eviction (in some cases families were not notified at all and compensation was not offered), the Government of Assam evicted 300 families in the park buffer zone and demolished their livelihoods. Some peoples were reportedly hit with sticks by armed police officers and park rangers. 1,800 police officers were reportedly deployed against protesting families. When the peoples protested, the police opened fire on them, allegedly killing two indigenous peoples and injuring 19 others during the clashes.^[4]  Despite promises, the Government would have never resettled villagers or secured new land ownership . Reporting via Land Conflict Watch noted that “a total of 331 houses were reportedly razed to the ground, of which 35 families had land rights.^[5]” Indigenous communities bordering the park are reportedly continuously threatened with evictions. In 2019, a similar Supreme Court order was issued for the further eviction of families living at Kaziranga, many who had previously lost their lands to the park. The eviction process started in 2022 and was halted this year.^[6] In September 2020, following an expansion of the park, a new eviction order was issued to displace hundreds of peoples.