Protestors and families of those killed allege high-handedness of the police and their disproportionate action in tackling minor scuffles
NEW DELHI – Police opened fire on residents resisting forced eviction from their decades-old homes and hearths in Paikan Reserve Forest in Assam’s Goalpara district on Thursday. The police action resulted in the death of two Muslims, Shakur Hussain and Qutbuddin Sheikh. Besides, dozens of people, including police personnel, were injured as the eviction drive, which began on Saturday, turned violent.
The eviction exercise was jointly undertaken by the Assam Police and officials of the Forest Department. Violence occurred during their attempt to remove settlers, primarily Bengali-speaking Muslims, allegedly occupying forest land illegally.
Protestors and the families of those killed allege high-handedness of the police and their disproportionate action in tackling minor scuffles that broke out between the settlers and the law enforcement. However, the police maintain that the firing was carried out in self-defence after the alleged attack on the eviction team by the crowd, media reports reaching here said.
The eviction team meant to clear more than 140 hectares of land reportedly encroached upon in the Paikan Reserve Forest, part of the Krishnai Forest range. Areas like Bidyapara and Betbari, where many families have lived for years, were the primary focus of the operation.
Authorities say the residents were given multiple warnings and told to leave the area peacefully. Over the last few days, joint teams of police and forest officials patrolled the area and used loudspeakers to announce the final eviction deadline.
Forest department officials claim the illegal settlements have been harming the region’s already fragile ecosystem.
The state administration has yet to issue an official statement on the overall toll or whether any arrests have been made.
The Paikan Reserve Forest eviction follows the demolition of homes belonging to 690 families in Hasilabeel, a wetland near Goalpara town, on Wednesday.
The violence comes as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday declared that the crackdown on what he called “illegal infiltrators” will continue, reinforcing the government’s hardline stance on the protesters.
On July 8, while addressing the evictions in Kokrajhar, the chief minister stated, “If anyone has a problem with the removal of 350 illegal Bangladeshis, they will have to bear it,” implying that opposition to the evictions would not deter the government’s actions, even if force is used.
The following day, the chief minister reiterated his stance, warning that anti-encroachment drives would continue in full swing and that anyone threatening violence would be dealt with “accordingly.”
Earlier, the Congress party condemned the eviction, alleging it was a targeted attack on Bengali-speaking Muslims. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge criticised the demolition of 2,000 homes in Dhubri and Goalpara, calling it a “state-sponsored pogrom” and a violation of constitutional rights under Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty).
At a rally in Chaygaon, Kharge promised that if Congress comes to power in Assam, it will rebuild the homes of those evicted and rehabilitate affected families.
Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, labelled the evictions as “state-sponsored fire” and accused the BJP-led government of clearing land for industrialists like Adani and Ambani rather than for public welfare.
Police firing on settlers in Goalpara echoed the 2021 killing of two Muslims, Saddam Hussain and Sheikh Farid, who were shot dead while protesting an anti-encroachment drive in Darrang district.
