FAssam, who turned India’s independence, has constantly experienced religious, linguistic, ethnic and sub -regional differences that sometimes led to violence. The debates that occupied the social space include Ujoni (Upper Assam) Temperament versus Namoni (Lower Assam) Disposition and Khilonjia (Native) versus Bohiragata (Outsider). But none of them was as polarizing as the one between the natives and Miya, the pejorative term for Muslims with the roots in Bangladesh.
This gap is rooted in the fear that Bangladesh nationals will take over Assam. This fear gained a currency during Assam Agitation (1979-85), which led to the Assam Accord signature of 1985. Accord prescribed detection, erase (from election roles) and deportation of foreigners who entered Assam on March 25, 1971; Constitutional, legislative and administrative warranties for Assamese; And the limitation of real estate property to a foreigner, which has always meant Bangladeshi people. The movement was supported by Bharatiya Janata and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The Bangladeshi problem became the election basis of the 1983 controversial elections, where, despite the boycott of the proogitative groups, the Bengal-Talking Muslims, who are dominant voters in at least 35 Assam’s 126 seats. This problem was dominated by the 1985 elections, won by Asom Gana Parisad (AGP), who mostly formed the leader of agitation. She was also born a queue of united minorities, the rise of which caused a perceived demographic threat before its space was launched by All India United by a Democratic Front.
Bangladeshi or “illegal immigrants” were promised to protect “Jaati (Rasa), Maati (Land), Bheti (Hearth)” to help BJP create his first government in Assam in 2016. Milder allies and migration to the dominant tribe Michi and tribe and tribe migrate to tribal tribal. The government led by the BJP showed that this meant doing business by carrying out the first evidence of the three peripheral villages of the Kazirang National Park in September 2016, almost a year after the High Court of Gauhati ordered the reclamation of the intervened land. Two people were killed during the eviction of mostly migrating Muslims.
A similar exercise to the eviction of families from forest land, grazing land and government income land was carried out at at least 12 locations throughout the state before BJP retained power in 2021 and Himanta Bisw Sarma became the main minister. Despite strong feelings against the Citizenship Act (amendment) of 2019, the party relied on Vikas (development) to change the influx to its advantage.
Former Congress leader, Mr. Sarma, claims that BJP does not need the voices of Muslims to win the elections, and at the same time take care of distinguishing Bengal Muslims from Muslims Khilonjia. The evolutionary drive became more aggressive under it. In September 2021, the broadcast unit in Gorukhuti in the Darrang district claimed two lives. After several other operations it was suspended. The journey was restarted in June this year in several districts of western and northeast Assam.
Mr. Sarma, who quoted official documents, said that 1,29 lakh bighas has so far been cleaned from squatters and about 29 lakh Bighs from the soil are still intervened in the state. He made more than obvious who his government is against calling the intervention in the country for “jihad to complete the state”. He joined it with the approaching demographic shift, which he said that by 2041 he would make Assamese a minority.
The Chief Minister’s detective stories claim that eviction is carried out to clean the land for corporate houses, including the Adani group, which looks at the thermal energy project in Western Assam. As they say, there is why people were moved from at least 49,000 bighas where the native communities lived.
While the eviction of other communities was a low key, they had a greater traction against Muslims, because, as Mla Akhil Gogoi said, minority eviction is preparing a way for polarization, so the Hindu voters are back BJP, especially in Ujoni, where they face challenges. State elections are less than a year away.
rahul.karmakar@thehind.co.in
Published – 29 July 2025 01:40
