Over 1,200 Bengali Muslim homes demolished in Assam during eviction drive

Dispur: Himanta Biswa Sarma administration in Assam has demolished around 1,200 homes of Muslims in the state’s Sonitpur district earlier this week as part of an eviction drive, Scroll reported citing news agency PTI.

Biswa Sarma claimed that the eviction was for clearing alleged encroachments from ‘around 650 hectares of land inside the Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary’.

It is reported that the evictions, on January 5 and 6, were carried out in areas under the Tezpur Sadar and Dhekiajuli revenue circles.

The areas where evictions carried out include Jamuktol, Arimari, Siyalichar, Baghetapu, Galatidubi, Lathimari, Kundulichar, Purba Dubramari and Batulichar.

An unidentified official reportedly said that the alleged encroachers set up houses alongside cultivating crops in the wildlife sanctuary.

Most residents had left the area demolishing their homes ahead of the eviction.

Following severe cold, many however stayed back requesting the authority to grant time to harvest their crops.

Sonitpur District Commissioner Ananda Kumar Das reportedly said:

‘Despite the encroachers’ request not to evict them in the ongoing winter season, they will not be excused by administration from the ongoing eviction drive as they were illegally staying in the forest areas.’

In one of the state’s largest eviction drive in February, the authorities had cleared 2,099 hectares of land in the wildlife sanctuary and villagers nearby.

Since coming to power, the BJP government carried out multiple demolition drives mostly targeting the areas where Bengali-speaking Muslims lived.

Sarma claimed that his government reclaimed close to 1.5 lakh bighas of land during eviction.

However, many of those displaced from eviction claimed to have been living in those areas for decades.

It is reported that their ancestors had settled there after their lands had been washed way from erosion by the Brahmaputra River.