Demography And Displacement: Assam's Eviction Drives And The Politics Of Identity | OPINION

Assam's history, demography, and identity have always intersected with national security and civilisational integrity. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's latest eviction drive is far more than an administrative clean-up. It is a course correction, a long overdue response to decades of demographic engineering, vote-bank appeasement, and willful ignorance by earlier regimes. The state's actions today are not just about removing illegal encroachments; they are about preserving a fragile indigenous identity from being drowned in a sea of orchestrated demographic change.

At the heart of this latest controversy lies a fundamental and uncomfortable truth that the liberal establishment continues to downplay: Assam has been facing an unabated and systematic demographic invasion. It is a process that began during the British times and accelerated after Independence. Illegal immigrants, particularly Bengali-speaking Muslims from Bangladesh, have settled across Assam in forest reserves, tribal belts, and even urban fringes, often with active political patronage.

The recent eviction in Lakhimpur is a case in point. The Chief Minister, in a strikingly detailed statement, named the districts from where families had migrated to Barpeta, Nagaon, Goalpara, South Salmara, and others, and made a key observation: many of these individuals already had homes in their native districts. So why were they moving 400 km across Assam? Sarma posed a pointed question: Why not migrate to West Bengal, a state with better employment options, just 50 km away?

The answer, uncomfortable as it may be for the secular commentariat, lies in demographic intent — a long-term plan to infiltrate, occupy, and eventually claim a stake in the land, resources, and political power of newer territories. It is not merely migration; it is expansion.

Encroachment Is Not Random. It Is Strategic

This isn't the first time Sarma has raised the red flag. His leadership has consistently warned of how Muslim-majority areas in lower Assam are pushing into traditionally indigenous districts like Golaghat, Jorhat, and Sibsagar. Uriam Ghat, Titabor, and Mariani. These were once strongholds of Assamese culture and heritage, but are now on the verge of being overrun by settlements that are not only illegal but also culturally alien.

The cut-off date of March 24, 1971, enshrined in the Assam Accord, was meant to stem the tide of illegal immigration. However, the sad irony is that this date has become both shield and sword. Those who came after the cutoff have gradually managed to obtain ration cards, voter IDs, and Aadhaar numbers, effectively laundering their illegality through bureaucratic inertia or political complicity.

Sarma has exposed this duplicity. Once a name enters the voter roll, the legal system ties the government's hands. Eviction becomes controversial. Rehabilitation becomes mandatory. And the very encroacher becomes a "citizen", weaponising the Constitution against the state.

Urban Critics And the Rural Ground Reality

Predictably, left-liberal intellectuals, NGOs, and select media outlets from Guwahati to Delhi have launched into moralistic tirades. "Human rights", "minority targeting", and "communal profiling" are the usual buzzwords that have resurfaced. But these armchair critics ignore one key fact: the ground reality in rural Assam is starkly different.

Umbrella groups of indigenous people, such as the Tai Ahom Students' Union, and tribal councils have demanded action. For them, these evictions are not just acceptable; they are necessary. They see firsthand the cultural erosion, the pressure on land, the changing religious landscape, and the rise in communal friction. They are not fooled by the NGO narrative. They live with the consequences.

Ecological And Administrative Impact

Critics often ignore another layer of complexity — Assam's unique ecological setup. Large-scale settlements inside forest reserves like the Lumding Reserve are not just illegal; they are ecologically disastrous. These forests are the vital lungs of the region, home to endemic species, and part of tribal belts with constitutionally protected land rights. Evicting encroachers here is not only legal but environmentally essential.

The state government has taken a balanced approach. Sarma admitted that rehabilitation plans, especially in sensitive zones, are being considered. Evictions aren't happening overnight. They're being backed by proposals, long-term land-use strategies, and even consultations with autonomous councils like Karbi Anglong. This isn't the bulldozer model caricatured by the media. It is lawful, strategic, and necessary.

The Bigger Picture: Civilisational Identity Under Threat

Let's not be naïve; this isn't just about land. It's about civilisational continuity. Assam is not merely a northeastern state. It is a cultural bastion of Indic civilisation, shaped by the Brahmaputra's rhythm, the Vaishnavite ethos of Srimanta Sankardev, and tribal heritage that predates the Mughal era.

Today, that identity stands threatened not from within, but from an orchestrated influx that seeks not to assimilate but to dominate. Sarma's comment, "If Assamese people don't wake up now, after 20 years, there will be nothing left to protect," is not 'fear-mongering'. It is a wake-up call. A community that ignores demographic shifts, especially those engineered for political gain, signs its cultural death warrant.

This sense of siege is not new. The Assam Agitation of the 1980s, the demand for NRC, and even opposition to the CAA all stem from the same existential concern: will the sons of the soil have any soil left?

Left-Liberal Hypocrisy And Politics of Denial

What's striking is the duplicity of the so-called secular ecosystem. The same commentators who oppose Assam's evictions support tribal land protection in other states. They defend the rights of indigenous people in the Northeast but only when it suits their political narrative. When illegal immigrants, shielded by minority identity, violate those very tribal rights, the same defenders vanish or invert the victim-perpetrator equation.

This ideological dishonesty is not lost on the people. That's why Sarma's popularity continues to surge. He is articulating what many fear but few dare to say. He is not vilifying a community; he is challenging a strategy that uses religion, migration, and documents as tools of demographic conquest.

A Long-Term Vision, Not Short-Term Politics

Critics often allege that this is an election gimmick. But facts suggest otherwise. If it were mere politics, the evictions would have been sporadic and flashy. Instead, the approach has been slow, legally vetted, and sustained. Out of 23 lakh bighas of encroached land, only 1 lakh has been cleared so far. At this pace, as Sarma candidly admitted, it may take 20 years.

This isn't a gimmick; it is a generational mission to restore legal ownership, ecological balance, and demographic stability.

Identity And Integrity Are Not Negotiable

The state has every right and moral duty to protect its resources, its forests, its people, and its cultural soul. The politics of appeasement that once allowed illegal encroachments to flourish must end. What Sarma's Assam is doing today is what every state must do when confronted with a threat to its identity: act decisively, within the framework of law, but guided by the larger truth of civilisational duty.

Those who cry foul now must introspect: Would they remain silent if their homeland were systematically altered under the guise of migration? Or would they, like Assam today, finally say, Enough is enough?

In protecting its land, Assam is not just reclaiming acres; it is reclaiming its future.

(The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author.)

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