MT Desk: Authorities in India’s northeastern state of Assam demolished hundreds of homes in a settlement largely inhabited by Bengali-origin Muslim families over the weekend, in an eviction operation that has drawn renewed scrutiny of the BJP-led state government’s policies toward minority communities. Bulldozers accompanied by police cleared about 500 houses in Azara, an area on the outskirts of Guwahati, the largest city in Assam. State officials claim the settlement stood on roughly 245 acres of land that they say falls within territory reserved for Indigenous tribal communities under Assam’s land protection laws.

Many of the displaced residents dispute the characterization that they were recent encroachers. Several families said they had lived in the area for nearly two decades after being repeatedly displaced by floods and riverbank erosion along the Brahmaputra River, one of South Asia’s largest waterways. Residents also said their presence in the settlement had long been known to local authorities and that some families had previously received government assistance while living there, raising questions about why the eviction took place only now.

Videos circulating online showed bulldozers tearing down bamboo-and-tin houses while police officers supervised the operation. Women and children stood nearby as homes were reduced to debris. However, civil rights advocates and researchers monitoring the region say the drives have disproportionately affected Bengali-origin Muslim communities, many of whom were forced to migrate internally after losing farmland and homes to flooding and erosion in the Brahmaputra valley.

Assam has long been at the center of political tensions surrounding migration and citizenship, particularly involving Bengali-speaking Muslims whom some political leaders portray as migrants from neighboring Bangladesh. Chief Minister Sarma has repeatedly used rhetoric referring to such residents as “illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators,” language analysts say has helped shape a series of policies widely viewed by rights groups as targeting Muslim communities. These measures have included eviction campaigns, citizenship verification exercises and proposals to restrict land ownership by Muslim residents in parts of the state.

Speaking at a political rally near Guwahati on Sunday, Sarma praised the eviction drives and pledged to reclaim what he described as “every piece of land occupied by illegal Bangladeshis” if his party is re-elected in upcoming state elections. Rights advocates warn that such rhetoric risks legitimizing discrimination and forced displacement of vulnerable communities in one of India’s most politically sensitive border regions.