Muslims shot dead during Assam Govt eviction drive that spared non-Muslims

Two Muslims have become the latest victims of persecution by the Assam government led by BJP’s Himanta Biswa Sarma, as they succumbed to police firing while resisting a government-led forced eviction drive targeting Muslim families living in tarpaulins and makeshift houses on government land in the Sonapur revenue circle.

The forced eviction drive in Kachutali village on the outskirts of Guwahati on Thursday, where the district administration targeted Muslim families, urging them to leave the land while reportedly sparing the non-Muslims who also live there, enraged the villagers, who met the police with sticks and stones.

According to police officials, the violence erupted when residents, many of whom had been living in makeshift shelters, resisted the eviction. The police were reportedly attacked with sharp weapons, sticks, and stones, leading to injuries among the officers and a local magistrate.

In response, police opened fire to disperse the crowd, resulting in the deaths of two residents. Both victims were identified as residents of Kachutali village.

The eviction drive, which had started earlier in the week, saw the demolition of over 140 homes that had been erected on government land. Many of the displaced residents had reportedly been affected by soil erosion along riverbanks and claimed they had no other place to live.

On the day of the incident, officials had returned to the village to continue the eviction, leading to tensions as the residents, refusing to vacate their temporary shelters, confronted the authorities.

Local sources have highlighted that the evicted community consisted predominantly of Muslim families, who alleged that the drive targeted them disproportionately. They claimed that while Muslim families were evicted, non-Muslim settlers living in the same area were spared. The area where the evictions took place falls within a tribal belt, where most of the land is reserved for protected groups.

One of the evicted locals alleged that at least 60 Muslim families were evicted from the government land, which is located in a tribal-dominated area, while no action was taken against non-Muslims who also live there.

Out of 145 villages within the Sonapur revenue circle, 122 are part of this tribal belt. Kachutali and two other villages were identified as having been encroached upon by settlers from non-protected groups, according to local administration officials. Earlier protests had demanded the eviction of allegedly illegal settlers to protect the rights of indigenous tribal groups. In response, the district administration had assured that an eviction drive would be conducted, and Thursday’s action was part of this ongoing effort.

This is not the first instance of violence related to evictions in Assam. In September 2021, two people were killed by police in the Sipajhar area during a similar operation. That incident prompted the Assam government to order an inquiry, reflecting the tensions that persist over land rights and the protection of indigenous groups in the state.