Eviction drive in Assam's Dhubri leaves more than 4,000 Bengali Muslims homeless

Around 750 Bengali Muslim families have been evicted from the Alamganj area of Dhubri district in India's Assam state. On Sunday they were removed from about 650 bighas of government land in Block 9, leaving more than 4,000 residents homeless.

About 60 bulldozers were used on Sunday to clear the settlements, where people had lived for many years. To prevent any untoward incident, Assam's IGP in charge of law and order, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, and Dhubri's district commissioner, Dibakar Nath, supervised the operation.

District commissioner Dibakar Nath said eviction notices had been issued for a total of 800 bighas of land. The remaining 150 bighas were not cleared for now because a court-related matter is pending.

Nath said the land would be handed over to the industries department so that work on an industrial park, planned for two years, could move forward. He claimed the residents had encroached on the land in phases and that many of them have alternative land elsewhere.

Local residents, however, have rejected the district commissioner's claim.

Ali Chand Fakir, an 80-year-old resident, said he came here from Goalpara in 1962 after losing his homestead to Brahmaputra erosion and flooding. He said he and many others regularly paid land revenue under the 'touzi' system between 1972 and 2016.

Many of the evicted families, having received no alternative land, have taken shelter in relatives' homes, makeshift huts by the roadside, or low-lying char areas. They are reported to be living in inhuman conditions.

During the eviction drive, intense tension and anger erupted around a mosque, places of worship and areas adjoining a graveyard. Many people broke down in tears, while some prayed at a shrine and the graveyard.

At one point, as a shrine was about to be demolished, a bulldozer suddenly broke down. Its driver fell ill and was quickly taken to hospital.

Eviction drives have been continuing in Assam for several months. Local residents allege that the drives are being carried out mainly in areas inhabited by Bengali Muslims.