Assam authorities have cleared over 1,100 Muslim families from state-owned forest territories following a massive two-day clearance operation across multiple districts in the north-eastern state bordering Bangladesh. The extensive drive, conducted under heavy security escort on 17 and 18 October, saw the demolition of homes, agricultural structures, and community establishments across the regions of Nagaon, Golaghat, and Hojai.
Official figures provided by senior Assam Forest Department personnel reveal that the first day of the operation witnessed the clearance of 547 families. This phase affected 336 families in Nagaon, 152 in Hojai, and 59 in Golaghat. The momentum escalated on the second day when heavy machinery moved into the Lutumari Longjap Reserve Forest within Nagaon district, leveling settlements belonging to more than 600 additional families. The vast majority of those targeted in these actions are Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Local administration officials maintain that the settlements constituted unlawful encroachments on protected woodland spanning upwards of 300 hectares. Displaced residents, however, strongly dispute these assertions, arguing that their presence was historically sanctioned by previous state administrations to assist with forestry management.
Abdun Noor, a 44-year-old resident of Lutumari whose family home was destroyed during Sunday’s action, explained the historical context behind their settlement. His family originally hailed from the nearby town of Juria before being relocated by government officials in 1974. At that time, approximately 300 landless families received four bighas of land each to establish homesteads. Many of the inhabitants worked directly as labourers for the state forest authorities, providing the crucial manpower required to maintain local timber plantations.
Along with residential structures, the demolition drive leveled over ten mosques across the reserve territory, including several religious centers that had stood for more than half a century. Affected communities sought judicial intervention through a petition filed before the Gauhati High Court, but the court declined to issue a stay order against the state’s eviction proceedings.
The displaced communities maintain strong historical ties to the British colonial-era ‘Taungya’ forestry management system. Introduced in the mid-nineteenth century and subsequently expanded across various forest tracts in Assam, the framework allowed landless agricultural labourers to cultivate food crops alongside commercially valuable timber trees in exchange for providing labour to the forestry department. Representatives from the All India Union of Forest Working Peoples had urged the state government earlier in June to halt the planned clearances across the four primary villages—Kondorpo Longjap, Podumoni, Hatijur, and No. 9 Kheroni—arguing that residents settled under heritage forestry arrangements should not be categorized as ordinary squatters.
The recent evictions reflect a broader trend in land administration across the state. Data compiled from Assam’s Revenue and Disaster Management Department alongside district administrative reports indicates that roughly 19,000 families have been evicted from government-controlled lands over the past decade under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration, with Bengali-speaking Muslim households forming the overwhelming majority of those impacted.
