Guwahati: The BJP-led Assam government has made evictions, cross-border pushbacks, and the rhetoric of “land jihad” central to its campaign for the 2026 Assembly elections.
With just ten months remaining, opposition leaders and civil society groups accuse the ruling party of using state machinery to polarise voters, displace minorities, and reshape Assam’s demographic and political map.
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The Border Wing of the Assam Police, along with the Border Security Force (BSF), has intensified deportation operations. In recent weeks, officials have pushed back more than 301 suspected Bangladeshi nationals. Authorities have carried out these round-the-clock operations with little public transparency, prompting criticism from human rights organisations.
At the same time, eviction drives have swept through districts such as Goalpara, Sonitpur, Darrang, Lakhimpur, and Hojai. The government claims these drives aim to reclaim forest and government land from illegal occupants. Since 2021, it has reported clearing 1.19 lakh bighas of land, including forest areas, grazing land, and spaces near religious sites.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has framed the campaign as a cultural defence. “This is not just about trees. This is about jati, mati, and bheti—our people, land, and foundation,” he said. He regularly invokes the term “land jihad” to portray the evictions as protection against a so-called demographic threat.
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On July 12, the administration conducted a major eviction in Ashudubi, Biddyapara, and Betbari villages under the Krishnai Forest Range in Goalpara, displacing over 1,080 families. Officials claimed that the land fell within the Paikan Reserve Forest and was cleared over 1,038 bighas.
However, land records and an RTI reply dated November 20, 2024, from the Circle Officer of Matia Revenue Circle contradict those claims. The RTI confirms that Ashudubi is classified as a revenue village—not forest land.
Key land details:
- Dag No. 274: 282 bighas, 3 katha, 17 lecha – Government khas land
- Dag No. 261: 6 bighas, 3 katha, 5 lecha – Government khas land
- Dag No. 253: 379 bighas, 2 katha, 19 lecha – Government khas land
Despite this evidence, CM Sarma stated on July 18 that Ashudubi is forest land, which triggered allegations of misinformation. On July 17, police opened fire on evicted families sheltering in makeshift camps, killing two people.
The evicted residents of Ashudubi trace their roots to Muslim labourers the British brought to Assam between 1904 and 1905 to grow jute. Many hold land tax receipts from 1937, predating India’s independence and the citizenship cut-off date of March 25, 1971.
“These people belonged to Assam long before independence,” said Akash Gogoi, organisational secretary of the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti (SMSS). “Politicians are branding them as foreigners for political gain.”
Opposition parties argue that the evictions serve corporate interests more than forest conservation. Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi accused the government of using nationalism to conceal land handovers to private companies.
Gogoi highlighted several land deals: 4,000 bighas to Reliance, 9,000 bighas to Adani, and 3,600 bighas in Parbatjhora for a thermal power plant.
“Officials are signing deals for luxury hotels in Kaziranga, plastic parks in Golaghat, and private projects in Rampur and Pholongoni,” Gogoi said. “They’re evicting the poor in the name of nationalism while selling Assam’s land behind closed doors.”
He questioned the state’s narrative about illegal occupation, pointing to compensation payments of ?7–12 lakh to families evicted from Garukhuti and Batadrava. “If these were ‘illegal immigrants,’ why is the government paying them? The hypocrisy is clear,” he said.
Gogoi also criticised the closure of schools, the removal of Assamese from recruitment exams, illegal coal mining, and alleged nepotism. He claimed that CM Sarma’s wife received state subsidies for tea estates and that his son owns multiple companies.
While Muslim minorities have suffered the most from the evictions, tribal communities—including the Karbi, Adivasi, and Bodo—have also lost their homes. Gogoi stated that of the land cleared, only about 6,000 bighas housed religious minorities; the rest was home to economically marginalised tribal populations.
The Assam campaign echoes the BJP’s strategy in Bihar, where the party raised alarms about illegal voters and demanded a special revision of the electoral rolls. Analysts believe the BJP is applying the same playbook in Assam—portraying minorities as foreigners, stoking fear of demographic change, and consolidating Hindu votes.
Ikramul Huda, a former Congress leader and president of the Sachetan Nagarik Mancha, noted that encroachments happened under every government over the last 70 years. “But evicting families without a resettlement plan reflects a humanitarian failure,” he said. “The BJP is using a legal issue as an electoral weapon—punishing some, rewarding others.”
Jalal Uddin, president of the Muslim Students Union of Assam (MSUA), warned that the BJP’s goals extend beyond the 2026 elections. “They want to influence the upcoming census to make Assam a Hindu-majority state,” he said. “That will permanently alter our language, culture, and society.”
He also criticised Muslim leaders who back the eviction policy. “Some of them want to score points before the election. But in doing so, they’re enabling a strategy that harms their own people.”
While the BJP frames its campaign as a mission to protect indigenous land and culture, critics argue that it’s a calculated effort to divide, displace, and profit. With the Assembly elections nearing and the census on the horizon, Assam faces a transformation that could redefine not only its politics, but its social identity.