Screenshot from the documentary “The Char-Chapori: Documentary of Miya Community in Assam” on YouTube by Inspire Northeast. Fair use.

In July 2024, around 1,500 families were evicted from the Morigaon district of Northeast India's Assam state for settling illegally on forest and railway land. Most of these homes belonged to Bengali-speaking Muslims, commonly referred to as Miya. While such evictions are not isolated to Assam, the incident sparked allegations of government bias, with accusations that the government is specifically targeting Bengali Muslims and leveraging tensions in the region to drive them away.

Who are the Miya people?

Map of Brahmaputra river basin and its tributaries in Assam. Image by user Planemad via Wikipedia. CC BY-SA-3.0

The term “Miya” has its etymological root in the term “Mian” — a word derived from the Parsi community, which refers to an honourable person in the Indian subcontinent. The Miya people migrated to Assam from different parts of India and present-day Bangladesh in the early 20th century during British colonial rule, settling primarily in the riverbeds of the Brahmaputra River in Assam. The area is also known as Char Chapori. 

However, many Indigenous organisations and political groups claim that there has been an influx of Bangladeshi citizens illegally immigrating to Assam, and they often associate the Miya community with this group. Because of this, the term “Miya” is now used in a derogatory way, referring to undocumented Bangladeshis.

Eviction, hate speech and social media threats

Anti-Muslim rhetoric has a long history in Assam, but this sentiment has been further fueled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led right-wing government and its chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. After being sworn in as a chief minister in 2021, Sarma has frequently made headlines for his anti-Muslim remarks.

“First, Miya #Muslims buy land in Hindu villages, then invite others to settle. They start eating beef, causing Hindus to leave & relocate. This is “#LandJihad.” Many #Hindus from #Dhubri, #Barpeta, and #Nalbari in #Assam have left similarly. No other CM has spoken about this… pic.twitter.com/SY0KpAeoio

— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) August 25, 2024

The Quint, an independent digital news platform in India, recorded Sarma spreading hate speech targeting Bengali-speaking Muslims 18 times in a single year. This hate speech often invoked the Muslim term “Jihad” in connection with various issues involving the community.

In August 2024, Sarma accused the University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya, a Muslim-run institution, of engaging in “flood jihad,” blaming it for the outbreak of floods in Guwahati. He has also claimed the university has a Mecca-like structure, claiming it is a symbol of “Jihad”. Similarly, Sarma also alleged Bengali Muslim farmers were practicing “land and fertilizer jihad” by using high amounts of fertilizers on their crops.

Aboyob Bhuyan, a podcaster from Assam, turned to X (formerly Twitter) to mock the bigoted claims:

‘FLOOD Jihad’ just because the owner of USTM is a Muslim?

In 2021, Assam CM just after assuming his charge, inaugurated a block at the USTM.

In 2022, President of India visited USTM.

In 2024, Assam CM blames USTM for triggering floods in Jorabat.

Just because of the religion? pic.twitter.com/jXgNxLzD6L

— aboyob bhuyan (@aboyobbhuyan) August 10, 2024

The Miya debate reignited in August this year after a 14-year minor Hindu girl was gang-raped by a group of Bengali Muslim boys in Dhing, Nagaon district. The news spread like wildfire on social media, fueling anti-muslim propaganda and hate speech. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, along with other ministers, framed this incident as an attack on Indigenous Assamese people. On August 23, police arrested a Muslim man, Tofazzal Islam (24), for the crime. However, before he could undergo due process, his dead body was found in a pond in the early hours of August 24. The police claimed the accused tried to escape while being taken to the crime scene and accidentally drowned in the pond. However, locals alleged it was a case of extrajudicial killing, as the pond was reportedly not deep enough for someone to drown.

The incident triggered widespread unrest across Assam, leading to communal tensions and threats against Bengali-speaking Muslims. In Upper Assam, where the population is primarily composed of Indigenous Assamese people, there has been a mass exodus of Bengali-speaking Muslims. The many Indigenous groups and right-wing political parties, including the BJP, have used the rape case to target Bengali-speaking Muslims in upper Assam.

In Assam, a large number of Bengali-Muslim labourers work as daily wage earners in various sectors. In the Sivsagar district, around 30 Indigenous organisations (Assamese nationalists) have issued a seven-day ultimatum for Bengali Muslims to leave Upper Assam. According to social media posts, these organizations and groups are seeking out Bengali Muslim laborers and warning them to leave the area.

The Assam Chief Minister has also issued a warning to Bengali Muslims instead of offering them protection. Sarma went so far as to state that the Bengali Muslim labourers shouldn’t go to Upper Assam without the consent of the local Assamese population, further revealing his bias by siding openly with the Indigenous groups.

Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X:

My request to the Miya-Muslim community is not to forcefully try to settle in indigenous Assamese areas against their will; this will aggravate societal fault lines and be a possible security issue.#AssamLegislativeAssembly pic.twitter.com/LIMeh6V1Pg

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 27, 2024

The outrage has escalated into physical attacks, with a group of Miya labourers being assaulted. In the Charaideo district of Upper Assam, a local BJP leader has forced several Miya labourers working under him to leave. Despite owing them INR 1.5 million rupees (USD 17,873), the leader, who is also a contractor, did not pay them a single penny.

Similarly, in Nagaon, the Veer Lachit Sena, a controversial ultra-nationalist Assamese organisation, has prevented Bengali-Muslim fishermen from selling fish in the market. The group was engaged in spreading hate speech and issuing threats against Bengali Muslims in upper Assam.

On September 9, an eviction drive turned violent, leading to clashes between police and local residents, in Kosutoli village, Kamrup district, where the population is predominantly Bengali-origin Muslims. The government accused the residents of illegally occupying land in a tribal block and belt reserved exclusively for tribal communities. Around 151 families were evicted, and many structures were demolished. The violence resulted in two deaths during the confrontation between police and protesters.

Similar eviction drives were conducted in the reserve forest of Goalpara district, displacing around 450 families.

As Assam prepares for its next state general election in 2026, the right-wing government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma has intensified its targeting of Bengali Muslims. Given that religious polarization has been a common tactic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in previous elections, it is expected to escalate further in the coming days.