The Indian state of Assam has launched a large-scale eviction operation targeting over 2,000 Bengali Muslim families, in what critics describe as the latest chapter in a campaign of forced displacement against the state’s Muslim population.
The drive began on Tuesday, and focuses on clearing around 4,900 acres of land in the Rengma Reserve Forest in the Uriamghat area, where approximately 2,700 families have been living. Officials said the eviction will occur in two phases, with the first phase already displacing around 2,000 families.
More than 1,500 personnel — including police officers, paramilitary commandos and forest department staff — have been deployed. Seven-day eviction notices were reportedly issued before the operation began.
This is the latest in a series of eviction drives in Assam that have disproportionately impacted Bengali-origin Muslims. Since June, over 3,500 families have been evicted across four districts.
Assam’s Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma of the ruling BJP, claims the campaign aims to stop a so-called “demographic invasion” by “people of one religion.”
Speaking about Uriamghat, Sarma alleged that Bengali Muslims from other parts of Assam had illegally cleared forest land for betel nut cultivation and settled there. He framed the eviction as a move to “protect” eastern Assam from demographic change.
Cleansing Assam of Muslims
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Biswajit Phukan, the local Sarupathar MLA, told The Indian Express that over 90% of families had already vacated their homes. He confirmed that alongside Bengali Muslims, 42 Manipuri Muslim families and 92 Nepali families were also asked to leave. However, about 150 Bodo families in the same area were spared, as they hold forest rights certificates under India’s Forest Rights Act of 2006.
Phukan added that the government is open to offering compensation to families who can prove they were residing there before 1971 — a reference to India’s controversial cut-off date for determining citizenship in Assam.
Meanwhile, the Nagaland government, whose border lies adjacent to Uriamghat, has deployed security forces to prevent displaced families from crossing into its territory.
Local groups, such as the Dimapur Naga Students’ Union, have voiced concerns that an influx of evicted people could destabilise the area’s social and political balance.
Separatist group NSCN (Khaplang) accused the Assam government of using the eviction as a pretext to occupy disputed land along the inter-state border.
Similar eviction operations were also carried out this month in Assam’s Goalpara and Dhubri districts, where more than 2,400 mostly Bengali Muslim families were rendered homeless. In Goalpara’s Paikan Reserve Forest, residents said they had been living on the land long before it was designated a protected area.
On July 17, a 19-year-old Muslim youth was shot dead by police during protests in the Krishnai area of Goalpara district as evictions turned violent. Several others, including police personnel, were injured.
Since coming to power in 2021, the Sarma-led administration claims to have cleared 160 square kilometres of land, affecting an estimated 50,000 people — the vast majority of whom are Muslims of Bengali origin.
Rights groups and student organisations have repeatedly raised concerns over the communal nature of the evictions and the lack of rehabilitation plans.
The All Assam Minority Students’ Union met with the Chief Minister last week, but it remains unclear if any concessions will be made.
