Sarma launches tirade against fact-finding team as Assam demolitions target Muslims

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has launched a series of vitriolic attacks on a fact-finding team visiting the state to study the recent spate of demolitions and evictions, while most of the displaced families were from the Bengali Muslim community, along with sections of tribal groups.

The Chief Minister accused the delegation of intellectuals, lawyers and activists of attempting to weaken Assam’s stand against what his government describes as illegal encroachers, and he claimed the exercise was part of a larger conspiracy.

Over the weekend and into Monday, Sarma escalated his rhetoric by targeting civil society figures and organisations, alleging that their efforts amounted to propaganda aimed at destabilising Assam, and he insisted that the government would not bow to outside pressure.

His remarks, delivered both on social media and to the press, linked the team to political rivals, religious organisations and even foreign actors, and he suggested that they were working together to undermine the state’s land protection measures.

The fact-finding team comprised a range of well-known public figures, including former bureaucrats, legal experts, political representatives and rights activists, and they visited locations across Assam where homes had been demolished and residents displaced.

Their focus was on documenting how thousands of families, particularly Bengali Muslims and tribal communities, had lost shelter and land in the government-led eviction drives. The delegation plans to release its findings in Delhi in the form of a report titled “People’s Tribunal on Assam: Evictions, Detentions and The Right to Belong”, which is being organised by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights and Karwan-e-Mohabbat.

While the Chief Minister portrayed the visit as an attempt to stir unrest, members of the team described the state government’s actions as designed to intimidate and silence scrutiny, and they emphasised that respected figures in public life should not be treated as threats.

They highlighted instances where tribal land near Guwahati had been cleared, with local communities alleging that the property was earmarked for corporate groups, thereby raising questions about the government’s justification for the operations.

In recent weeks, Assam has witnessed large-scale demolitions in which thousands of homes have been destroyed, with the majority of affected households belonging to Bengali Muslims who were labelled as illegal infiltrators by the state. Critics argue that the government’s approach bypasses lawful processes for addressing irregular migration and instead creates a humanitarian crisis under the guise of land protection.