At least 3,400 Muslim families have been forcibly driven out of their homes in the northeastern Indian state of Assam over the past month and deported to Bangladesh, according to a report by Reuters on Monday. The large-scale crackdown, widely viewed as politically motivated, comes ahead of upcoming state elections and has raised serious human rights concerns both domestically and internationally.
Authorities in Assam claim the evicted families were "illegal settlers" occupying government land. In reality, many of those targeted are Bangla-speaking Muslims who have lived in the region for decades, some for generations, but now find themselves labelled as intruders. Witnesses report homes being demolished without notice, while displaced families — including children, the elderly, and women — have been left to survive in makeshift shelters of blue tarpaulin near the India-Bangladesh border.
Critics argue that the crackdown, launched after the controversial administrative shift on 5 August 2024, is part of a larger campaign to marginalize Muslim communities in Assam under the guise of land reclamation and national security. Civil rights groups have condemned the actions as a form of ethnic cleansing, warning that they mirror past communal policies tied to the controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
"This is a systematic attempt to alter the demographic landscape of Assam," said one rights advocate who requested anonymity. "What we are seeing is not just displacement — it's disenfranchisement and dehumanization."
While the Indian government has yet to issue an official statement, Bangladesh’s foreign ministry has reportedly begun inquiries into the sudden influx of stateless individuals across the border, further straining bilateral relations.
Humanitarian organizations are calling for an immediate halt to the evictions and for international monitoring of the region to ensure the protection of displaced families who currently remain in legal and physical limbo.
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