Tezpur: The Assam government on Sunday launched a major eviction drive in Biswanath district, clearing nearly 175 bighas (around 23 hectares) of encroached land in the Japariguri Village Grazing Reserve (VGR).
According to district officials, 309 families had settled on the land and were issued notices on August 1 to vacate within 15 days.
“The eviction drive is going on peacefully. Most families left on their own and dismantled their homes. We have demolished the remaining structures,” District Commissioner Simanta Kumar Das said.
The drive began early in the morning with heavy deployment of security forces—around 600 personnel—and the use of 20 excavators and several tractors.
Authorities also removed a large tea garden from the encroached area, which will now be used for a forestation project.
While officials stated the evicted settlers were primarily from the Bengali-speaking Muslim community, the operation has sparked criticism.
All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) General Secretary Kuddus Ali Sarkar, who visited the site, called the eviction “inhuman” and demanded a halt until proper rehabilitation is provided.
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Meanwhile, several ethnic groups have extended support to the government’s move, intensifying the ‘Miya Kheda Andolan’—a campaign to remove encroachments by the community often referred to as ‘Miya’, a term historically used pejoratively for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.
The eviction comes days after Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in his Independence Day address, warned against demographic changes in upper and north Assam, blaming what he termed as “aggression” in reference to the community.
