Political Forces Reshape Assam Through Mass Evictions

• The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam is conducting large-scale eviction drives, primarily targeting Bengali-speaking Muslim communities known as "Miyas."
• Critics argue these actions, framed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma as anti-encroachment efforts, are actually a tool for religious polarization ahead of upcoming elections.
• Thousands of families have been left homeless, with the government facing accusations of systematic human rights violations and discriminatory targeting.

Political Context and Rhetoric

• The BJP's political narrative invokes the "Battle of Saraighat" (1671) to frame the protection of indigenous culture against Bengali Muslims, who are often labeled as illegal immigrants.
• Since the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in 2016, which excluded 1.9 million people, tensions regarding residency and citizenship have escalated.
• Chief Minister Sarma has popularized inflammatory terms such as "land jihad," "fertilizer jihad," and "online jihad" to cast the Miya community as an existential threat to Assamese identity.

Significant Eviction Drives

• The "Garukhuti Agriculture Project" (2021) resulted in the eviction of approximately 2,050 families, with police firing on protesters and killing two individuals, including a 12-year-old boy.
• In June 2024, nearly 8,000 people were evicted from railway land in Morigaon, with displaced residents noting that nearby Hindu families remained untouched.
• Massive operations in June and July 2025 across Nalbari, Dhubri, and Goalpara districts have displaced thousands more families, leading to the demolition of homes and religious structures.

Opposition and Implications

• The government claims these actions are court-mandated land reclamation; however, opposition figures like Akhil Gogoi and Congress leaders denounce the process as "communal bulldozer politics."
• Allegations have surfaced suggesting that land cleared of impoverished residents is being repurposed for industrial projects, such as those linked to the Adani Group.
• The ongoing evictions have created a severe humanitarian crisis, undermining the constitutional rights of the affected families and deepening social fractures in the state.