Authorities in Assam’s Lakhimpur district demolished the homes of 132 Bengali Muslim families on Friday, November 13, who had been living on government land in Boginadi after being displaced during the 1983 riots, Scroll reported.
The affected families alleged that the eviction drive selectively targeted Muslim households, while homes belonging to their Hindu neighbours were left untouched.
Families Allege Selective Demolition
The demolished homes stood on nearly 9.9 acres of professional grazing land under the Kadam revenue circle. The larger government-owned plot covers 622.4 acres.
Azizur Rahman, a leader of the Raijor Dal, told Scroll that the Assam government had settled Bengali Muslim families on the land after they were displaced in 1983. He said residents had since built roads and schools in the area and received electricity connections for their homes.
According to Rahman, these facilities had given residents confidence that they had a claim to the land.
He alleged that the demolition was selective, as homes belonging to Hindu residents living on around 595 acres of the grazing land were not touched.
“This is a clear-cut violation of Article 14 of the Constitution,” Rahman said. Article 14 guarantees equality before the law.
Mohammad Tushan Ali, 50, said two houses belonging to his family were demolished, while the homes of his Hindu neighbours were left standing. His family had been living on the land since 1985 after being displaced from Barpeta.
“Muslim houses were targeted…We are now on the bank of the river. The police are chasing us away from this area,” Ali told Scroll.
Families Were Displaced During 1983 Assam Riots
The families had settled in Boginadi after being displaced during the violence of 1983, which took place amid the Assam Movement.
The movement began in 1979 and continued until 1985. Led by the All Assam Students’ Union and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad, it demanded the identification and deportation of undocumented immigrants. Bengali-speaking Hindus and Muslims were often accused of being migrants from Bangladesh.
Tensions increased in February 1983 after the Union government announced Assembly elections in Assam despite opposition from the movement’s leaders. Thousands of people were displaced across the Brahmaputra Valley in the violence that followed.
Scroll said it had contacted the Lakhimpur district commissioner for a response to the demolitions. A response was awaited.
More Than 1,900 Muslim Families Evicted in a Month
The Lakhimpur demolition is part of a wider series of eviction drives across Assam. According to Scroll, the state government has evicted more than 1,900 Muslim families over the past month.
On November 1, authorities demolished the homes of more than 640 Bengali Muslim families in Dhubri district’s Alamganj Part-IX village. The operation was carried out on 650 bighas of government-owned land.
Earlier, on October 18, more than 1,100 Muslim families were evicted from areas in Nagaon, Hojai and Golaghat districts during a two-day operation.
Data compiled by Scroll from the state revenue and disaster management department and district authorities shows that around 19,000 families, most of them Muslim, have been evicted from government land during the BJP’s decade in power in Assam.
