In Assam village, BJP MLAs target Muslims in NRC; label them “illegal settlers,” government demolishes homes – By Mahibul Hoque
On 20 October, the administration of Assam’s Sonitpur district demolished the houses of 64 Muslim families in Bharasingri village, rendering more than 500 people homeless amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Residents of Bharasingri said that Assam police, as well as various paramilitaries and the administration entered the village, evicted them from their homes and used JCBs to level their houses. The demolition was preceded by a campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the villagers of being “illegal Bangladeshis,” despite all of them featuring in the National Register of Citizens.
Many locals said that the district administration was working at the behest of BJP leaders in demonising Muslims and carrying out demolitions on their behalf. Government representatives told us this was a legal eviction of those who were squatting on government land, but The Caravan is in possession of multiple land deeds that show that the land legally belonged to Muslim locals….
