India Hate Lab recently released a report under its Early Warning, Early Response (EWER) initiative, highlighting a worrying rise in hate speech, harassment, violence and forced evictions targeting Bengali-origin Muslims who are being branded as “illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” in Assam.  

Its chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, is known to have openly led a hate campaign fuelled with provocative Islamophobic statements.

On May 28, he announced a scheme to provide arms licences to “indigenous” people in border areas. He named five Muslim-dominated districts as the focus of the plan, saying it was to protect residents from “hostile elements.”

In a speech on June 9, Sarma accused “newly arrived” Muslims of using beef-eating and the Muslim call to prayer as tools to drive Hindus out. On July 21, he called Bengali-origin Muslims “suspected Bangladeshis” and said he wanted the situation in Assam to be “explosive” so Assamese people would remain armed and alert. Local ethno-nationalist groups such as Bir Lachit Sena echoed these threats.

Between July 9 and July 30, India Hate Lab recorded 18 rallies across 14 districts where BJP leaders and supporters made hate-filled speeches, celebrated evictions, and demanded more demolitions of Muslim homes and businesses. Protesters carried symbolic bulldozers and chanted slogans like “Bangladeshis go back” and “Evict Miyas,” a slur for Bengali-origin Muslims.

In Mariani town, right-wing aligned groups conducted door-to-door ID checks of Bengali-speaking Muslims and ordered them to submit the documents to the police within two days. In Dergaon town of Golaghat district, a Hindutva organisation, Sachetan Yuva Mancha, put pressure on a Hindu landlord to evict their Muslim tenants.

Senior BJP MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi has said on multiple occasions that Bengali Muslims were changing Assam’s demographics by marrying multiple women. This claim has been backed by the chief minister himself on public platforms.

But what immense national eye was the large-scale demolitions and evictions in July alone, displacing thousands of families. These included

On July 8, in Dhubri district, the Assam government ordered the eviction of over 1,600 families to make way for Adani Group’s 3000 MW thermal power project.

Between July 12 and 17, the government alleged that more than 140 hectares of land were encroached upon in the Paikan Reserve Forest under the Krishnai forest range. What followed was wiping out thousands of homes, clashes between locals and police, two young deaths and several others injured.

This incident came just days after another controversial eviction drive in Assam’s Lakhimpur district, where over 500 families were removed from forest land.

On July 15, Biswa announced over 160 square kilometres of land had been cleared of “illegal settlers,” compared to the size of Chandigarh, the capital city of Punjab. He targeted the Muslim community of being alleged encroachers and “changing the demography of Assam.”

Many of these rallies, attacks, and demolitions were livestreamed on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, helping spread hate messages rapidly.

The report concludes with the following recommendations urging the National Human Rights Commission for a fact-finding mission into human rights violations, removal of hate-filled content from social media platforms like Facebook, X, YouTube and Telegram and an immediate investigation by the Election Commission of India as Assam gears up for the 2026 Assembly polls.