Muslim body warns India, ‘bulldozer evictions undermine rule of law’
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind warns demolitions displacing 50,000 Muslims could undermine rule of law teh measure is threat constitutional rights
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, one of India’s largest Muslim organizations, has condemned mass evictions of Muslim families in the northeastern state of Assam, warning that the demolitions threaten constitutional protections and expose the communal agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allies.
At a working committee meeting in New Delhi, the Jamiat said bulldozer-led demolitions have already displaced more than 50,000 Muslim families in Assam, where Muslims constitute more than 40 percent of the population. The group described the campaign as politically motivated, unconstitutional, and rooted in religious bias.
Jamiat chief Maulana Arshad Madani accused Assam’s chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma — a Hindu hardliner and close ally of Modi known for anti-Muslim rhetoric — of openly targeting Muslims. “The chief minister of Assam is openly targeting Muslims.
When he says, ‘We are only evicting Muslim people,’ it clearly shows that the campaign is based on religious bias,” Madani said. He argued that the drive amounted to an assault on the Constitution and rule of law.
Madani also charged the state government with defying Supreme Court stay orders in some cases and questioned proposals to strike displaced families from voter rolls. “Is the decree of a chief minister now considered law? Is there no longer any need for the judiciary?” he asked.
While stressing that Jamiat does not support unlawful occupation of government land, Madani pointed out that many of the demolished neighborhoods had existed for decades and were provided with public services by successive governments. “If these areas were illegal, why were they provided with roads, water, and electricity?” he said.
The organization alleged the eviction campaign was designed to polarize Hindus and Muslims for electoral gain by reviving the issue of immigration. “Power may be attained by dividing Hindus and Muslims, but the country cannot be run this way,” Madani warned.
He added that “hatred is being disguised as patriotism, and oppressors are being protected from the reach of the law. It is not just Muslims who are suffering — the very fabric of the nation is at stake.”
Jamiat leaders said they will soon petition India’s Supreme Court to challenge both the evictions and efforts to disenfranchise displaced Muslims. Representatives from Assam are already in Delhi meeting with legal experts to prepare the case.
The committee also raised alarm over the broader national climate: targeting of mosques and madrasas despite protections under the Places of Worship Act, rising extremism, and an erosion of law and order that leaves minorities vulnerable.
The meeting concluded with an appeal to India’s Chief Justice to take suo motu action and ensure that constitutional rights are upheld against what the group called state-backed persecution of Muslims.
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