Report shows Assam evictions against law, targeted at a community

The Association for Protection of Civil Rights organised an event at the Constitution Club of India to present the findings of a seven-member team that had visited eviction-hit districts in Assam.

According to the report, over 3,300 families, mostly Muslims of Bengali origin, were evicted from forest, grazing, and government revenue lands in Assam during June and July.

The team, which included activist Harsh Mander, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, former Rajya Sabha member Jawhar Sircar, former Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed, former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, and researchers Ritumbra Manuvie and Fawaz Shaheen, had visited the affected Goalpara and Kamrup districts on August 23 and 24, the Indian Express reported.

The members alleged that the eviction drive specifically targeted Muslims and violated constitutional principles.

Prashant Bhushan claimed that the Assam government, led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, did not care about the law. He stated that tribals in the area had informed him that the evicted land was being sold to large corporations for solar projects, cement factories, and palm oil cultivation.

Syeda Hameed remarked that the term "Bangladeshi" had effectively become a derogatory label. She recalled her long association with Assam and expressed disappointment over the current situation, adding that she stood in solidarity with both Muslims and non-Muslims affected by the evictions.