Fact-finding report alleges targeted evictions of Bengali Muslims in Assam
New Delhi: A fact-finding report released at an urgent public tribunal on Tuesday has accused the Assam government of targeting Bengali Muslim communities through arbitrary evictions and illegal detentions, branding them as “foreigners” and leaving thousands homeless. The event, organized by the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and Karwan-e-Mohabbat, was disrupted by members of the Hindu Sena, reflecting growing tensions over the issue.
Prominent civil society members, including Justice Iqbal Ansari, former bureaucrats Gopal K. Pillai and Wajahat Habibullah, activists Harsh Mander and Syeda Hameed, lawyers like Prashant Bhushan, and academics such as Professor Apoorvanand, came together to raise alarm over what they described as a human rights crisis unfolding in Assam.
According to the report, Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam are being systematically evicted without due process and detained in conditions described as inhumane. Testimonies from activists who visited eviction sites highlighted violations of legal safeguards, including demolitions carried out while court cases were still pending, and evictions based on flawed or incomplete documentation.
“All the families displaced in recent eviction drives in Assam’s Goalpara district are Muslims,” said APCR’s Fawaz Shaheen. He added that residents, despite possessing land records dating back decades, were being declared foreigners and rendered stateless.
In one recent case, eviction operations in Goalpara led to the demolition of over 1,700 homes across multiple villages between June and August. The report further noted that a 19-year-old man protesting against the evictions was shot dead by police.
Harsh Mander called the situation “fascism in extreme form,” accusing the state of overturning the burden of proof by forcing individuals to prove their citizenship under impossible conditions. “Spelling errors in documents are enough to send people to detention centres,” he said.
At the Delhi press conference held to unveil the report, members of the Hindu Sena stormed the venue, heckling speakers and chanting slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Goli maro salon ko,” demanding the expulsion of “Bangladeshis.” Some individuals in the mob wore skull caps in what observers say may have been an attempt to falsely frame Muslims as the disruptors.
Social activist Syeda Hameed was among those harassed during the chaos. “This heckling shows the state of hate and fear in the country,” she said. “We must be vigilant before this hate spreads everywhere.”
Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan linked the evictions to corporate land interests, alleging that lands cleared of Muslim inhabitants are being handed over to companies like Adani and Patanjali. “This is not just about discrimination; it’s about profiteering under the guise of national security,” he said.
Former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, in a recorded message, warned of a constitutional crisis. “If equal rights are denied in Assam, it’s a threat to democracy across India,” he said.
The event concluded with strong calls for urgent government and judicial intervention. “If we stay silent, this will spread,” said Justice Iqbal Ansari. “The Constitution is being torn apart in plain sight.”
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2nd phase of Bengal poll: Over 61 pc voting till 1 pm amid sporadic violence
Kolkata (PTI): Over 61 per cent of the 3.21 crore electors exercised their franchise till 1 pm of the second and final phase of polling in West Bengal amid attacks on a few candidates, while tension gripped the Bhabanipur seat briefly as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP's Suvendu Adhikari took swipes at one another in the same booth area.
Voters queued up from 7 am outside booths in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman districts, which form Bengal's electoral and political core.
Of the total electorate eligible to vote in this phase, 1.57 crore are women, and 792 are third-gender.
Till 1 pm, West Bengal recorded 61.11 per cent polling with Purba Bardhaman registering the highest turnout at 66.8 per cent, followed by Hooghly at 64.57 per cent and Nadia at 61.41 per cent.
Howrah registered 60.68 per cent polling, while North 24 Parganas recorded 60.18 per cent.
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Kolkata North and Kolkata South recorded 60.18 per cent and 57.73 per cent turnout, respectively.
South 24 Parganas, a politically crucial district witnessing several high-profile contests, registered 58.58 per cent voting.
The first phase of polls in 152 assembly seats of West Bengal on April 23 also recorded more than 62.18 per cent polling till 1 pm.
"Polling is underway peacefully, barring some minor incidents in certain areas. We have sought reports from the officials concerned," a poll panel official said.
The early-morning convergence of Banerjee and Adhikari in the same booth area in Chakraberia turned Bhabanipur -- the chief minister's electoral bastion -- into the centrepiece of the day, reinforcing the symbolic weight of their prestige battle seen as a rematch of Nandigram, where the BJP leader had defeated her in 2021.
Banerjee was seated outside the booth after receiving complaints of alleged intimidation of local TMC leaders when Adhikari arrived there, amid heavy deployment of central forces.
Stepping out of his car, Adhikari said, "I will not allow any hooliganism", while Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to "rig" the election using central forces, police observers and election officials.
"The BJP wants to rig this election. Polls in Bengal are usually peaceful. Is there 'goonda raj' (hooliganism) here?" Banerjee told reporters, alleging CRPF personnel had visited the homes of TMC leaders late Tuesday night and unleashed terror in the area.
She alleged that election observers were acting at the BJP's behest and claimed TMC workers were being selectively targeted across districts.
Adhikari dismissed the charges as signs of "frustration", claiming Banerjee had realised that "not a single vote" was coming her way.
Banerjee, who usually steps out of her Kalighat residence late in the day to cast her vote at Mitra Institution School, broke convention and hit the ground before 8 am, moving through Chetla, Padmapukur and Chakraberia, underlining the stakes attached to Bhabanipur and the wider battle for south Bengal.
Later in the day, tension flared up in the Kalighat area when Adhikari visited a polling booth and was greeted with slogans by TMC workers, prompting police intervention and a complaint by the opposition leader to the EC seeking deployment of additional central forces.
Security forces had to resort to a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd. Adhikari chased the sloganeering crowds, whom he alleged were "outsiders trying to influence the polls".
As soon as he reached the area, TMC workers and supporters raised slogans of 'Jai Bangla' and 'chor, chor' against him, while BJP activists responded with chants of 'Jai Shri Ram'.
Reports of violence, vandalism and tension surfaced from several districts.
In Nadia district's Chapra, a BJP polling agent was allegedly assaulted inside a booth during a mock poll. The BJP accused TMC supporters of attacking its agent, while the ruling party denied the charge. In Shantipur, a BJP camp office was found vandalised.
The ISF alleged that its polling agents were prevented from entering booths in South 24 Pargana's Bhangar.
Howrah's Bally constituency saw tension at a booth in Liluah after an EVM malfunction delayed voting, prompting central forces to lathi-charge agitated voters. Two people were arrested in the matter.
Police and RAF personnel were also seen chasing away crowds near a booth in Amdanga following complaints of unlawful gathering by bike-borne supporters.
In Panihati, BJP candidate Ratna Debnath, the mother of the RG Kar victim, faced protests and her car was allegedly stopped by TMC workers, while in Jagaddal, the recovery of a firearm near a polling booth triggered tension before police and central forces restored order.
BJP candidate from Basanti assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas, Bikash Sardar, on Wednesday, alleged that "200-250 TMC goons" attacked his car and assaulted his driver when he was visiting polling booths in the constituency.
The TMC did not immediately respond to the allegations.
Unlike the first phase, where the BJP sought to defend its north Bengal gains, the final round has shifted the battle squarely to the TMC's strongest belt.
In 2021, the ruling party had won 123 of these 142 seats, leaving just 18 for the BJP and one for the ISF. For the BJP, breaching this southern fortress remains critical if it hopes to mount a serious challenge for power in the state.
