Demolition drive in Assam’s Golaghat targeting Bengali Muslims stayed by SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday directed a halt to eviction and demolition drives in Uriamghat and nearby villages in Assam’s Golaghat district, where the state government had recently carried out one of its largest operations against over 2,000 Bengali Muslim families claiming decades-long residence.

A bench comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and Atul S. Chandurkar issued the interim order while seeking responses on a petition that challenged the Gauhati High Court’s refusal to grant protection to the affected residents, according to a report by LiveLaw.

The petitioners moved the Supreme Court after the High Court dismissed their writ appeals and upheld the state authorities’ eviction measures. They contended that they are “long-settled residents,” maintaining uninterrupted possession of the land for more than 70 years.

Authorities, however, served eviction notices in July 2025 under the Assam Forest Regulation, 1891 (as amended), claiming that the villages fall within the Doyang and South Nambar Reserved Forests. Residents were given only seven days to vacate their homes, Maktoob Media reported.

The petitioners initially challenged the eviction before the Gauhati High Court, but a Single Bench sided with the authorities, declaring them “trespassers.”

The residents, however, insist they are long-settled inhabitants of the villages, pointing to official recognition through electricity connections, ration cards, and their inclusion in electoral rolls.

They argue that the eviction drive violates provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, along with the Assam Rules of 2015.

Additionally, they claim that the authorities’ actions infringe upon their fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19, 21, 25, and 300-A of the Constitution.

In support of their case, the petitioners cite the Supreme Court’s ruling in In Re: Directions in the matter of demolition of structures, which mandates that authorities must provide prior notice, an opportunity to be heard, and adequate rehabilitation before displacing residents.

In July, the Assam government carried out one of its largest and most high-profile eviction operations in the Golaghat district of eastern Assam, targeting over 2,000 Bengali Muslim families.

The drive aimed to clear about 15,000 bighas, or roughly 4,900 acres, of land within the Rengma Reserve Forest in the Uriamghat area, where around 2,700 families of Bengali-origin Muslims have been living for years.

Since Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took office, the government has conducted five major eviction drives across four districts during June and July 2025, displacing over 3,500 families and affecting nearly 50,000 people.

In July alone, 1,080 families, mostly Bengali-origin Muslims, were evicted from 140 hectares in Goalpara’s Paikan Reserve Forest, followed by the removal of 1,400 families from 450 hectares in Dhubri. While officials justified the actions on the grounds of forest encroachment, residents insisted they had been settled there for a long time.

The eviction in Goalpara turned violent on July 17, when police firing led to the death of a 19-year-old Muslim youth and caused injuries to several others, including police personnel.