Assam evictions: Himanta Biswa Sarma government must not trade empathy for political expediency

By Admin

21 Jul, 2025

A Rising Tide of Evictions
Assam’s recent eviction drives have once again thrust the state into the spotlight, raising critical questions about governance, justice, and the balance between administrative necessity and human dignity. According to official data, over 1.19 lakh bighas of land have been reclaimed since 2021 and more than 50,000 people have been evicted. These numbers aren’t just data points  they represent people’s homes, schools, livelihoods, and lifetimes.

An Aggressive Push Without a Human Touch
In the past month alone, the Assam government has carried out five major eviction drives across four districts   Dhubri, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, and the Paikan reserve forest in Goalpara   displacing at least 3,300 families from forest land, grazing land, and revenue land. These actions have been presented as compliance with the Gauhati High Court’s directive to reduce man-animal conflict. However, the execution of these drives, particularly their targeting of specific communities and the harsh political language surrounding them, suggests that something more insidious is at play.

The Politics Behind the Bulldozers
While the state cites legitimate concerns   from environmental degradation to land management and demographic shifts since Partition and 1971   the manner in which these concerns are addressed often veers into the realm of exclusion. Alarmingly, most of the eviction efforts have targeted Bengali-origin Muslim communities. Statements from Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma referring to “land jihad,” “demographic invasion,” and the need to “protect Assamese constituencies” from demographic change suggest a narrative of division, one that dehumanises vulnerable citizens and stokes communal tensions.

Eviction as Institutional Violence
When eviction becomes a spectacle of exclusion rather than a policy instrument of inclusion, it crosses into institutional violence. The individuals displaced are often already marginalised   victims of river erosion, poverty, and historical neglect. Without proper rehabilitation, compensation, or a humane policy framework, the bulldozers do more than remove structures they erase lives, histories, and hopes.

Trading Empathy for Expediency
With assembly elections looming, the aggressive push to reclaim land appears to serve not only administrative ends but political ones. The rhetoric and execution hint at a desire to consolidate votes by portraying certain communities as outsiders or threats. But in doing so, the government risks bulldozing constitutional values  the right to shelter, the right to dignity, and the promise of equal citizenship.

What Must Be Done
If the government is serious about resolving issues of encroachment and environmental management, it must do so transparently and fairly   without communal overtones, with genuine rehabilitation, and with sensitivity to the human cost involved. Upholding the rule of law does not require abandoning compassion. True governance lies in striking a balance   where justice is not sacrificed at the altar of expedience.

In Assam, the path forward must be paved with empathy, not hostility. When the state trades empathy for political gains, it’s not just communities that suffer   it’s democracy itself.