Assam’s Bulldozer Doctrine: Himanta Biswa Sarma’s War on Illegal Encroachment

Paromita Das

New Delhi, 9th December: There are moments in governance when the state draws a line—not on paper, but on land itself. In Assam, that line is being drawn with bulldozers, demolition notices, and a Chief Minister who has made land reclamation a defining mission of his political identity. Himanta Biswa Sarma’s campaign is not a routine administrative exercise; it is a tectonic shift in how Assam confronts illegal encroachment, demographic anxiety, and the fraught legacy of infiltration from across its porous borders.

What emerges today is not merely a catalogue of eviction drives but a bold—and controversial—exercise in restoring what the government calls “the integrity of Assam’s land and identity.”

A Campaign Born From a Crisis of Land and Demography

Assam’s struggle with illegal immigration is not a new storyline. For decades, the state has witnessed unchecked settlement by Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators, often on government land, forest reserves, grazing zones, and even Vaishnavite monastery estates (Satras). But under Himanta Biswa Sarma, the state has shifted from documentation to action—rapid, forceful, and uncompromising action.

The Chief Minister frames these drives not as communal targeting but as a defence against what he calls “demographic invasion.” According to his government, illegal encroachment is not an innocent act of settlement but part of a well-organised expansion that alters religious demographics, strains resources, endangers forest ecology and erodes indigenous land rights.

And the numbers tell their own story.

A Year of Bulldozers: Assam’s 2025 Landscape of Evictions

If the year 2025 in Assam could be summarised in one image, it would be a bulldozer cutting across contested land.

In December, as the year wound down, the administration cleared 38 bighas in Nagaon after issuing notices to nearly 100 illegal settlers.

In November, one of the largest operations unfolded when 5,962 bighas—around 2,000 acres—were reclaimed from Lutumari Forest Reserve. What was once dense forest had been turned into settled clusters, brick houses, betel nut plantations, and schools. Officials estimated 1,700 families, largely illegal infiltrators, had taken over the land.

That same month, another 1,140 bighas were cleared in the Dahikata Reserve Forest in Goalpara, affecting around 600 families. Notices were served, many vacated peacefully, but the state remained firm that forest land would not be compromised.

October saw 21 illegal structures removed in Sribhumi—residences, shops, and commercial establishments built without any legal claim.

By August, the government freed 26 hectares of land in the Rengma Reserve Forest. Sarma’s words captured the tone of his administration:
“The Hot Pursuit continues.”

July was a watershed. Sarma announced that 167 sq km of land—an area larger than Chandigarh—had been recovered in three years.
That included:

• 9,646 hectares of forest land
• 7,130 hectares of revenue land

https://twitter.com/himantabiswa/status/1957671576071205127

In the last 3 years, with consistent Govt efforts & cooperation from a large section of society, we have been able to free up 167 Sq. Km of land from encroachers, an area larger than the size of Chandigarh city.

We are committed to make every inch of land free from encroachers. pic.twitter.com/ZERsBB7wOf

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 24, 2024

In Darrang, he disclosed that over 1.29 lakh bighas were occupied by Bangladeshi infiltrators and doubtful citizens.

Assam has faced an existential threat due to rampant illegal infiltration and a planned encroachment to alter demography of districts. THIS FACES A MAJOR ROADBLOCK DUE TO OUR POLICIES.

Over 1.19 lakh bighas of land have been freed from encroachers in the State as we stand firm… pic.twitter.com/DPtrVF8f45

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 15, 2025

In Goalpara, a particularly volatile eviction saw 36 bulldozers, over 1,000 police personnel, and violent resistance from mobs. Multiple structures were demolished, and clashes led to casualties—an illustration of how combustible the issue remains.

By June, the controversial “Dhaka Patti”—illegally constructed and even named after Bangladesh’s capital—was demolished amid intense protests.

The campaign extended to sacred land as well: Satras across Assam remain heavily encroached, with 15,288 bighas occupied across 29 districts. The government has begun reclaiming them too.

Each drive has added to the same narrative—Assam is drawing back land, acre by acre, that it says was slipping away.

Beyond Bulldozers: The Politics Behind the Policy

The Assam government’s actions have been met with predictable criticism—mainly from Left-leaning circles and Islamist political groups who allege “targeting” of Muslims. They question the humanitarian impact and the scale of displacement.

However, Sarma’s administration has consistently countered this with legal and demographic arguments:

• The evictions follow Supreme Court and High Court orders.
• Notices are served well in advance.
• Many settlers cannot prove Bharatiya citizenship.
• Land encroachment is widespread, systematic and ecologically destructive.

More importantly, the government argues that the issue is not religion but illegality—and one that threatens to reshape the state’s demographic structure irreversibly.

At its core, this is a battle between competing narratives:
victimhood politics versus territorial integrity.

A Chief Minister Reshaping Assam’s Political Terrain

Himanta Biswa Sarma has crafted an image unlike any Chief Minister in modern Assam: decisive, confrontational and unafraid of backlash. His bulldozer policy mirrors a wider national trend but is far more deeply rooted in Assam’s unique history of immigration anxiety.

Sarma’s approach reinforces a message that resonates across the state’s indigenous communities: the government will no longer tolerate demographic alteration through illegal occupation.

And that message has political currency.

The Boldness and the Burden

There is no denying the scale and audacity of the anti-encroachment campaign. It tackles a real and long-standing crisis that previous governments either ignored or tiptoed around. But bold governance carries burdens.

Evictions, even justified ones, come with humanitarian costs. The challenge ahead for Assam is to ensure that clearing land does not create new fault lines of instability. Enforcement must be accompanied by long-term planning—border control, citizenship verification, and settlement frameworks that prevent re-encroachment.

Yet one thing is clear: the Sarma government has broken the inertia that defined Assam’s decades-long struggle with land and identity.

Assam Is Being Redrawn—Literally and Politically

Assam’s bulldozers have done more than demolish illegal homes; they have reshaped the political and demographic debate in the state. They have signalled a shift toward assertive governance where land protection is treated as a matter of cultural survival and state security.

Whether one agrees with the methods or not, the outcome is undeniable:
Assam is being reclaimed—and rewritten.
Under Himanta Biswa Sarma, the message is unmistakable:
Illegal encroachment will not be negotiated. It will be removed.

And in Assam’s fraught history, that marks a turning point.