Assam government razes homes of over 600 Muslim families in forest eviction drive

The Assam government conducted a demolition operation that night, razing the homes of more than 600 Muslim families in the Lutumari Longjap Reserve Forest of Nagaon district, labeling the settlements as encroachments. This marked the second day of a broader campaign that began on Saturday, when security forces evicted a total of 547 families—336 in Nagaon, 59 in Golaghat and 152 in Hojai. Most of those displaced are Bengali Muslims who claim they were allotted four bighas each by the state in 1974 after becoming landless, and they had previously challenged the removals in the Gauhati High Court without obtaining relief.

In addition to homes, more than ten mosques, some over fifty years old, were demolished. The All India Union of Forest Working People warned the state to stop the evictions, arguing that the four villages involved were settled under the British-introduced taungya system, which combined forest labor with crop cultivation. Data from the state revenue and disaster management department show that about 19,000 families, predominantly Muslim, have been evicted from government land during the BJP’s ten-year rule.