When bulldozers become the face of governance, democracy and constitutional values take a back seat, Jamaat Vice President Malik Motasim Khan says
NEW DELHI – The country’s premier Muslim organisation, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), has strongly condemned the ongoing demolition and eviction drives across several districts of Assam, calling the actions of the BJP-led state government “inhuman, unconstitutional, and communally motivated.”
In a statement released on Wednesday, JIH Vice President Malik Motasim Khan said the large-scale operations have displaced thousands of Bengali-origin Muslim families and led to the destruction of vital community and religious infrastructure.
“The scale and selectivity of these demolitions expose a deeply troubling communal bias that has no place in a constitutional democracy,” Khan said. “Families who have lived on these lands for 70 to 80 years — possessing voter IDs, Aadhaar cards, and land documents — are being evicted without due notice or legal process”, he added.
Citing field surveys, Khan said approximately 4,000 homes were demolished in Goalpara district alone during June and July 2025. Additional demolitions have been reported in Pancharatna, Kurshapakhri, Bandarmatha, and Angthihara-Gournagar, with more than 8,000 families getting affected across Goalpara, Dhubri, and Nalbari districts.
Religious institutions have also come under attack. At least 20 mosques, over 40 maktabs and madrasas, and several Eidgahs have been damaged or razed, deepening the distress of already vulnerable communities — many of whom have been repeatedly displaced due to river erosion and years of administrative neglect.
“These are not just demolitions of structures; they are demolitions of dignity, rights, and trust,” Khan said, alleging that Muslim-majority settlements were being singled out while similarly placed localities belonging to other communities remain untouched. “This selective enforcement suggests a clear pattern of communal profiling and misuse of state machinery.”
Khan also pointed to serious procedural violations, claiming that many evictions occurred without prior notice. He alleged that even government-allotted pattas (land titles) were disregarded and homes bulldozed in areas earmarked for future private or industrial use, even as landless local agriculturists remain unregularised.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind put forth a set of urgent demands to both state and central authorities to immediately halt all ongoing demolitions and evictions in inhabited areas pending a transparent review. Its demands include:
• Provision of emergency humanitarian aid, including food grains, baby food, medical care, tarpaulins, clean water, and sanitation, to be distributed through district authorities and disaster management agencies.
• Time-bound rehabilitation and fair compensation for all displaced families, with priority land allotments to eligible landless residents on government land.
• Formation of an independent judicial or high-powered commission to investigate the legality, selectivity, and possible communal profiling involved in the demolition drives, with the findings made public.
• Reconstruction and protection of religious sites — mosques, madrasas, maktabs, and Eidgahs — in coordination with local communities, and
• Strict adherence to legal due process, including written notice, an opportunity to be heard, and guaranteed rehabilitation prior to any eviction, in line with constitutional rights and existing court orders.
Khan urged institutions such as the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), and parliamentary committees to conduct immediate fact-finding missions and ensure accountability for any violations.
“When bulldozers become the face of governance, democracy and constitutional values take a back seat,” Khan stated. “The role of the state must be to uphold the rule of law and provide humane governance, not to inflict collective punishment on the most vulnerable sections of society.
