A massive eviction drive was conducted in lower Assam’s Goalpara district on Saturday to clear about 1,038 bighas of reserve forest land, displacing 1,080 families.

The eviction took place amid protests by the All Assam Minorities Students’ Union (AAMSU), which demonstrated in several district headquarters against ongoing eviction operations. Nearly 30 AAMSU units submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an immediate halt to the “inhumane” drives.

This is the second major eviction this month. On July 8, the Dhubri administration evicted 1,400 families from 3,500 bighas of land under the Chapor circle.

Like in Dhubri, those affected in Goalpara’s Paikan Reserve Forest were largely Bengali-speaking Muslims.

Over 70 per cent of the families left voluntarily after eviction notices were served last month. The administration deployed 50 excavators and more than 1,000 police and forest personnel on Saturday.

“There was no protest. The operation started at 6am and concluded by sunset. One person attempted suicide by hanging, but police intervened and he is stable,” an officer said.

Videos showed women crying as bulldozers demolished homes, with many saying they had nowhere to go.

A resident of Krishnai claimed the encroachment began in the early 1990s and most settlers were erosion-hit Bengali-speaking Muslims from Goalpara, Barpeta, Mancachar, and Dhubri districts. “They are Indians. The area had schools, anganwadi centres, water, and electricity,” he said.

The evicted area, 2.5km from Krishnai town, may be used for bamboo plantations. It was earlier under Dudhnoi Assembly seat, now Goalpara East after delimitation. A total of 2,700 structures were cleared in the drive.

AIUDF and Raijor Dal staged protests against the drive, terming it “inhumane”.

In its memorandum, AAMSU accused the Assam government of forcibly evicting minorities in Goalpara, Dhubri, Lakhimpur, and Nalbari without notice or legal due process.

It stated many evictees were erosion victims whose patta lands were submerged by the Brahmaputra, forcing them to settle temporarily on vacant land, hoping for rehabilitation. “Instead, bulldozers were used to demolish their shelters, displacing women, children, and the elderly without basic provisions.”

Calling the evictions a “gross violation” of human rights and children’s safety and dignity, AAMSU urged Modi to halt unlawful evictions and provide immediate humanitarian relief and legal safeguards for all citizens, regardless of religious or linguistic identity.