Assam Evictions and Border Disputes

• Assam government’s aggressive eviction drive from forestlands has sparked alarm in neighboring states.

• The BJP-led government has accused the 15-year rule of Congress of paving the ground for encroachment by ‘Bangladeshi’, ‘Miya’, or ‘illegal infiltrators’ for votes.

• The eviction drives have impacted non-Muslims as well, including 130 families whose houses were bulldozed to clear the Silsako Beel, a major wetland in Guwahati, of encroachment in 2022.

• The eviction drives have led to the death of at least five people between 2016 and July 2025, when 1,080 families were evicted from 135 hectares of the Paikan Reserve Forest in Assam’s Goalpara district.

• The Chief Minister vowed to continue the eviction drive until Assam is encroachment-free in “at least 10 years”, while clarifying that tribal people living in forest areas from before 2005 and covered by the Forest Rights Act would not be touched.

• The eviction drive against Bengali-speaking Muslims is seen as part of the BJP’s agenda of polarisation ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls.

• Encroachment is at the core of the State’s boundary disputes with Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland.

• The Gauhati High Court directed these five States to constitute a high-level committee to facilitate a coordinated action to clear illegal settlements from forestlands.