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More than 1,100 Muslim families, most of them Bengali Muslims, have been evicted in India’s Assam state over two days, with demolition drives carried out in Nagaon, Golaghat and Hojai districts on October 17 and 18, according to government officials and media reports cited by Siasat Daily.
The report said 547 families were evicted across the three districts on October 17. Of them, 336 families were in Nagaon, 152 in Hojai and 59 in Golaghat.
On October 18, authorities demolished the homes of another 500 to 600 families in the Lutumari-Longjap Reserved Forest in Nagaon district.
Some residents reportedly left the area with their belongings before excavators arrived. Officials indicated that the drive to clear encroached forestland could continue.
Residents of Lutumari have disputed the government’s classification of their settlements as illegal encroachments. They said their ancestors worked for the Forest Department and were allowed to settle in the area under the taungya system introduced during British colonial rule.
Abdul Nur, whose family lost its home in the eviction, said they had been given the land in 1974. He also alleged that more than 10 mosques, some several decades old, were demolished during the operation.
The affected families had approached the Gauhati High Court to challenge the eviction decision but failed to obtain relief.
In June, the court directed them to leave the area within 30 days, observing that the public interest in protecting reserved forests outweighed individual claims to remain there. Authorities were also directed to disconnect electricity after the deadline expired.
A separate eviction drive was conducted in the Lutumari area in November last year, reportedly affecting around 1,700 families.
Operations have also taken place in the Jamuna-Moudanga Reserved Forest in Hojai district and in the No. 2 Negheribil area of Golaghat.
The Assam government has said the operations are aimed at removing illegal encroachments from forestland and government property.
Some evicted residents, however, maintain that their families have lived in the areas for generations and had historical ties to the Forest Department.
According to figures compiled from government sources and cited in the report, around 19,000 families have been evicted from government land in Assam during the BJP’s decade in power, most of them reportedly Muslims.
The latest operations have renewed debate over forest conservation, land rights, long-established settlements and the rehabilitation of displaced families.
