Not Just Land Jihad, It Is Jihad To Finish Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma On Encroachments
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma: We are not just freeing up land, but also preventing further encroachment by utilising it for productive purposes
Assam Chief Minister (CM) Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday called encroachment of land a 'jihad to finish the state".
'It is not only a land jihad, it is a jihad to finish Assam. It is an invasion of culture, civilisation and tradition. We are not just freeing up land taken away by encroachers, but also preventing further encroachment by utilising it for productive purposes," he said.
During the press conference, Sarma presented a visual documentation of the freed up land. In some cases, the CM showed how wild animals had entered the cleared area. As per information, 3,600 bighas of VGR-PGR land have been cleared so far. Moreover, 2,449 bighas encroached from STARAs and NAAMGHARs (Vaishnava worship place) have been cleared.
'In Lakhimpur, we have planted some saplings on evicted land which will support Muga silkworm rearing and economic growth of indigenous people. 1 lakh 19,548 Bighas and stopped demographic change to some extent." Sarma stated in an X post.
'The Assam government has so far cleared almost 4,000 acres of land of encroachment. This is equivalent to 160 sq km. It is equivalent to the land area of more than Chandigarh," he said.
Encroachment strategy
Assam CM revealed the encroachments were done strategically. In most cases, the encroachers have their home at different places, but they move to encroach government land. 'It is not that everyone we have evicted is landless. They have land in a specific area, and they go to a new area to capture the forest land and to change the demography of the constituency."
According to CM Sarma, the silent process started years ago. Presently, the demographic scenario of Lower Assam and Middle Assam has completely changed, and Assamese people have become a minority.
We are not just freeing up lands from encroachers but also preventing further encroachment through utilising them for productive purposes.In Lakhimpur, we have planted Som saplings in evicted land which will support Muga silkworm rearing & economic growth of indigenous people. pic.twitter.com/96Ug2YDgO8
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) July 15, 2025
'Next target is North and Upper Assam'
'After demographic invasion in lower Assam and middle Assam, today we are seeing the beginning of demographic invasion in Upper Assam. If we could see at the beginning, the demographic change in Lower and Middle Assam, probably we could have stopped it. But we didn't see in the beginning, and later it became irreversible. Today, the new move has started in Upper Assam; it was started with Kaziranga, we stopped there; today they've gone to another constituency; then they'll go to another constituency, and after 20 years, they will have a voting power of 45,000 in every constituency. Once they become a political force, the local leadership does not allow any eviction. Consequently, Assamese people will lose their identity. So we are doing it to save whatever we can save, and you can see how we have saved the habitat of the wildlife, how we've planted lakhs of trees, and how forests have been restored now." the CM said, adding, 'Now, the invasion has commenced in North Assam and Upper Assam."
'20 years to be encroachment-free'
'It will take 20 more years to make Assam encroachment-free. For that, every citizen should be aware. Otherwise, after 20-25 years, Assamese people will become a minority in their homeland," he said.
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