The Assam government has evicted more than 1,100 Muslim families over two days, predominantly from the Bengali-speaking Muslims, in a demolition drive across the Nagaon, Golagahat, and Hojai districts.
The Assam government razed down the homes of as many as 600 Muslim families in Nagon district’s Lutumari Longjap Reserve Forest on Sunday on the second day of the demolition drive. On Saturday, a day before the latest eviction drive, authorities evicted 547 families across three districts under tight security.
“These families had obtained a stay order from a court when eviction was carried out in this area last year. After meeting all legal requirements and obtaining clearances, we resumed the eviction drive here today,” the official said.
“Several families had already left with their belongings. There has been no untoward incident,” the official added.
The officer claimed that no untoward incident was reported during the drive and heavy security was deployed in all the areas where anti-encroachment drives were carried out. The paramilitary personnel assisted the local police and the Forest Department.
Of the evcition drive of Saturday, 336 were in Nagaon, 152 in Hojai and 59 in Golaghat. In Hojai, demolition was carried out in the Jamuna-Maudanga Reserve Forest, and approximately 525 bighas were cleared. In the first phase of the drive, which occurred on January 2, around 700 hectares were covered, affecting the families of around 1,100. Authorities carried out the demolition of houses belonging to the last 59 families in No. 2 Negheribil, in Golaghat district’s Merapani area. In the first phase of the drive, conducted in July 2025, 146 of the 205 families identified for eviction had been removed. In Nagoan’s Borpani Reserve Forest, it was alleged the residents were not given enough time to remove their belongings. Notice was given to the 336 families there who occupied 216 hectares.
Of the eviction drive on Sunday, families in Lutumari had lived on more than 300 hectares of land within the reserve forest for decades. The affected residents maintained that they were not encroachers and had settled on the land with the government’s approval.
A resident of Lutumari, who has faced the brunt of eviction, told FoEJ Media that “people are facing immense trouble because of the eviction.” They don’t know where to go now. They haven’t eaten anything in days.”
“The masjid has also been razed down,” he added.
The first phase of the eviction drive in Lutumari Reserved Forest took place in November 2025. Around 1,700 families were affected then, across nearly 800 hectares. Around 500 to 600 families had moved the court, asserting their legal rights over the land. Officials said the eviction process was being carried out after the court rejected their claims.
In June, the All India Union of Forest Working People urged the state government to halt the eviction drive. The organization said residents of four villages within the reserve had been settled under the taungya system, the Scroll reported.
On June 10, the High Court directed settlers living in Lutumari Reserved Forest to vacate the land within 30 days. The court also directed the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) to disconnect their electricity supply after the expiry of the deadline.
The court held that the public’s right to protect forests and wildlife outweighed the petitioners’ private right to live inside reserve forests, citing Article 48A of the Constitution, as reported by Siasat.com.
In 2025, a major eviction drive was carried out. It aimed at clearing alleged encroachments on Paikan Reserve Forest land, FoEJ Media had earlier reported on this eviction drive, where residents said that the demolition drive has been nothing short of a series of devastating blows. The home they had built over the years was reduced to rubble in a matter of hours, leaving her and her family with nothing but fragments of a life once lived.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sarma, speaking about the eviction in Dhubri said, “Merely 10% of families resisted, which was natural and expected. It is not a big deal. Minor resistance happens. In my view, the eviction was completed peacefully,”
As per the data of the Assam government, 10,620 families were evicted from government land between 2016 and October 2024. Of these, 5,854 families were evicted after May 2022. As per the data of Scroll. In the 10 years of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule in the state, about 19,000 families, most of them Muslim, have been evicted from government.
