Assam has witnessed some of the most horrific humanitarian situations in recent times stemming from eviction drives targeting ‘illegal encroachers’ living on government land. As per reports, more than 50,000 people have been evicted so far, and 1.5 lakh bighas (49,600 acres) of land have been freed from ‘illegal encroachment’ since 2021 in the state. Most of the evictees are marginalized Bengali Muslims who have been evicted without any rehabilitation measures or basic amenities in place. As a result, they are forced to live under open skies in makeshift tarpaulin tents through the monsoon and winter.
Recently, in the case of eviction in Hasila Beel of Goalpara district, the Gauhati High Court had to issue a notice to the district administration to arrange basic necessities such as potable water, sanitation, and healthcare for the evictees, in response to a plea filed by 60 affected families.
Their citizenship is historically contested, and so is their sense of belonging. The rationale of the government behind the evictions has been to free government land from illegal encroachment. For the BJP, illegal encroachers are often portrayed as alleged ‘Bangladeshi illegal immigrant Muslims’. However, in several instances, even land document (patta) holders’ homes were demolished in the process. In many cases, only Bengali Muslim families on government land were targeted, while non-Muslim families were left untouched. This selective, targeted, and politically motivated eviction has become a major contentious issue in the state.
With elections overhead, the BJP’s campaign has begun with the ‘Jana Ashirwad Yatra’—a statewide rally aimed at garnering support. The party has arranged several saffron-coloured customized vehicles for the rally, which allow leaders to stand in an elevated open space at the back and address the public. The rally began on 28 February from the Dhekiajuli constituency in Sonitpur district and entered the Jagiroad constituency in Morigaon district on the second day.
As the Chief Minister’s convoy entered, around 10 bulldozers were already lined up along the road. Atop them stood party supporters—arguably fans of the Chief Minister—holding flower petals, waiting to shower them as he passed beneath. Videos and images of this ‘bulldozer salute’—a striking spectacle—have been widely circulated on social media by party supporters and leaders.
However, this is not merely a campaign gimmick or visual spectacle to sway public opinion. This act of ‘heroic welcoming’ of the Assam Chief Minister carries a deeper and harsher symbolic meaning. It is not just about welcoming him, but also about celebrating the suffering inflicted upon thousands of families during eviction drives carried out using these bulldozers. This, incidentally, resonates with the party’s core support base, especially with elections just weeks away. It resembles a ‘king returning from the battlefield after a victory’.
These bulldozers have not only demolished houses built on ‘government land’ but have also destroyed families struggling to survive. They have further marginalized a large section of people, pushing them deeper into vulnerability.
In the context of Assam, the bulldozer no longer represents merely a multipurpose machine or a vehicle of industrialization. In the current political climate, it has come to symbolize collective moral degradation. It has become a vehicle of ethnonationalism; its arms resemble extensions of majoritarian power. It runs not just on fuel but on the suffering of the marginalized. It emits not only smoke but also trauma, fear, and displacement.
Thus, when evictions are celebrated—with people dancing atop bulldozers and showering flowers on the leader credited for these actions—it reflects an unsettling form of pleasure rooted in bigotry and hostility. This collective expression borders on what can be described as social sadism, driven by dominance and grounded in xenophobic ethnonationalism.
J. Douglas Porteous and Sandra E. Smith, in their 2003 book Domicide: The Global Destruction of Home, coined the term ‘domicide’ to describe the suffering and trauma caused by the deliberate destruction of homes, particularly in the context of development-induced displacement. This concept resonates strongly in Assam, where eviction intersects with ethnonationalism and neoliberal governance.
Furthermore, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, has repeatedly flagged domicide in various global conflict zones as a grave violation of human rights—undermining dignity, identity, and survival. In Assam’s case, while there may not be an overt conflict, the essence of domicide is evident in the targeted eviction of marginalized Bengali Muslim communities.
The Assam Assembly elections are due on April 9, 2026, and campaigns have already been launched by all major political parties. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), currently in power under Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, rose to prominence in the state in 2016 on a broader narrative of protecting indigenous interests and expelling illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. In this political framing, ‘illegal Bangladeshi’ is often equated with Bengali-speaking Muslims, sometimes derogatorily referred to as ‘Miya’.
What remains to be seen is the political trajectory ahead, especially as the Chief Minister has already expressed plans to free 5 lakh bighas (165,300 acres) of land if re-elected.
Ahmed Tohidus Jaman is a research scholar at the Department of Political Science, Dibrugarh University, specializing in identity politics in Assam. He can be reached at: [email protected]