BJP government demolishes homes of 550 Muslim families in India

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Authorities in India’s northeastern Assam state demolished homes belonging to approximately 550 Bengali Muslim families on Sunday, Nov. 1, deploying more than 50 bulldozers in a massive eviction operation that affected nearly 4,000 residents amid an intensifying campaign of demolitions under the state’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.

The operation began around 6 a.m. under heavy police deployment in Alomganj’s Ninth Block in Dhubri district, where authorities cleared approximately 214 acres of land occupied by predominantly Bengali-speaking Muslim families.

Residents were seen crying as bulldozers demolished their homes, while others gathered at a local mosque to offer prayers. Some residents also prayed at the shrine of Muslim religious figure Kamel Peer Sahabuddin Aulia and protested against its possible demolition.

Dhubri District Commissioner Dibakar Nath said the clearance operation was nearly complete, describing the demolition as peaceful because of extensive security arrangements.

According to Nath, the entire area identified for eviction covers approximately 264 acres and involves around 800 families. However, approximately 49 acres occupied by 160 families remain subject to legal proceedings.

The administration said it would submit a formal statement to the court and proceed according to directions from the Gauhati High Court.

Authorities claimed that approximately 80% of residents had already vacated their homes before the demolition began, taking their belongings with them.

Residents had been given 15 days to leave unless they could produce documents establishing their legal right to occupy the land.

However, electricity supplies to the affected houses were disconnected days before the eviction, increasing pressure on families to abandon their homes.

Several residents challenged the eviction in court, seeking legal protection against displacement. Their cases remain pending, with the next hearing scheduled for November 13.

Officials said a school building, a Muslim shrine and other religious structures were spared during Sunday’s demolition operation.

The latest eviction follows a series of similar operations targeting predominantly Bengali Muslim settlements across Assam.

Approximately two weeks earlier, authorities evicted more than 1,100 Muslim families from land classified as forest property across Nagaon, Hojai and Golaghat districts during a two-day demolition campaign.

Assam’s BJP government has repeatedly defended such operations as necessary to remove unauthorized settlements from government and protected land.

However, rights organizations have raised concerns about the disproportionate impact of these campaigns on Bengali-speaking Muslims, a historically marginalized community that has faced decades of discrimination and recurring challenges to its citizenship status.

Human rights advocates have warned that the government’s treatment of Bengali Muslims, including repeated citizenship verification exercises and large-scale evictions, risks institutionalizing systematic discrimination against the minority population.