A large-scale eviction drive aimed at reclaiming 1,143 bighas of the alleged encroached forest land is being carried out under tight security
GUWAHATI — As bulldozers rolled into Dahikata Reserve Forest in Assam’s Goalpara district early on Sunday, triggering chaos, tears, and outrage, the harangued families scrambled to save their belongings.
A large-scale eviction drive aimed at reclaiming 1,143 bighas of the alleged encroached forest land, is being carried out under tight security, with the administration deploying bulldozers, excavators, and a massive force of over 900 personnel, including police, paramilitary units, forest guards, and commandos.
According to reports, the two-day (November 9-10) eviction drive follows a directive from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In Goalpara’s Dahikata Reserve Forest, distress and despair filled the air. “We are being evicted just because we are Muslims,” said a woman, clutching a child on the rubbles of her demolished home, reports in local media said. Another woman, her voice hoarse interspersed with intermittent sobbing, said, “We were born here. Our parents and grandparents lived here. Now, our houses are gone—where will we go?”
Several families reportedly dismanted their own tin-roofed houses even before the bulldozers rolled in. Many complained that the government had made no provisions for relocation or rehabilitation, leaving hundreds, including children and the elderly, without shelter, according to DY365, an Assamese-language news channel
An elderly resident who claimed to have lived in Dahikata since childhood said, “This land is our only home. If we had other land, we wouldn’t be here. Now we have nowhere to go.”
Chief Minister Biswa Sarma, during a Facebook Live session earlier this week, rejected speculation that the eviction might be delayed. He stated, “Certain groups are conspiring to stop eviction drives. They once plotted to turn Assam into another Nepal. But we will not let Assam become Nepal, and the eviction will not stop.”
Meanwhile, the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) launched a fierce attack on the chief minister, accusing the government of targeting one particular community. AAMSU President Rezaul Karim Sarkar said: “How long will the government continue this oppression—snatching people’s food, clothing, and shelter? The chief minister has violated the Constitution. If the people cannot live in peace, the ruler too will not remain at peace.”
AAMSU further alleged that the eviction was being conducted “in an aggressive and discriminatory manner”, with a clear intent to marginalise a specific group.
