The Assam government on Sunday launched a large-scale eviction drive to reclaim 1,140 bighas (over 376 acres) of forest land in Goalpara district, affecting nearly 600 families. The exercise, aimed at clearing encroachments in the Dahikata Reserve Forest, was reported to be proceeding peacefully.
Goalpara District Commissioner Prodip Timung said, “There were 580 families who had encroached on 1,140 bighas of land. The notices were issued to them more than 15 days ago to vacate the areas.”
He added that around 70 per cent of the families had already vacated, while the remainder were in the process of leaving. “Though we had set two days for the eviction drive, the administration hopes to complete the exercise today. So far, we have not received any resistance. We are demolishing the remaining houses on the encroached land,” Timung said.
Security was tightened across the area, with numerous personnel deployed, and dozens of excavators and tractors used to facilitate the operation. The district was divided into five blocks for efficiency, with only one block still partially occupied. “In the other blocks, 80 per cent of the people have left,” Timung added.
Also read: Assam starts eviction drive to clear 375 acres of encroached land
The eviction follows directives from the Gauhati High Court, which heard three petitions on the operation. A senior official stated that most of those being evicted belong to the Bengali-speaking Muslim community.
Abdul Karim, one of the affected, criticised the action, saying, “If we were encroachers, why did the government give us electricity lines, toilets and other facilities? We have Aadhaar cards and all land documents, but still we are being treated as outsiders.”
Special Chief Secretary (Forest) M K Yadava justified the operation, noting that the cleared land falls under an elephant corridor and that removal of encroachments would help reduce man-animal conflict.
Since 2021, the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government has undertaken several evictions targeting alleged encroachments, predominantly affecting the Bengali-speaking Muslim population. On November 3, the chief minister stated that eviction drives would continue and “illegal Miyas” cannot have peace under his government.
The term ‘Miya’, historically pejorative for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, has in recent years been adopted by some in the community as a form of defiance. Sarma has previously claimed that 1.29 lakh bighas (over 42,500 acres) were cleared in four years, with roughly 29 lakh bighas (more than 9.5 lakh acres) still under encroachment, describing the land as illegally occupied by “Bangladeshis and doubtful citizens”.
Follow us
