New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Sunday (August 24) that the names of all people who have been evicted from allegedly encroached land in the state would be struck off the voter list.Sarma, in a post on X on the same day, claimed that the government would “ensure” that those who have been evicted do not return to “encroach” areas in Upper Assam.“Our strategy now is to ensure that infiltrators, including those already evicted, do not return to encroach upon lands in Upper Assam, the way they did in Lower Assam over the past few decades,” he said in his social media post on X.In recent times, the Assam CM has repeatedly referred to evicted families as “illegal Bangladeshis” in several posts on X, as The Wire had reported on August 14. The displaced people are predominantly Miya Muslims, as the Muslims of Bengali origin who reside in Lower Assam call themselves.Assam is divided into five regional zones – Upper Assam (eight districts, including Sivasagar), North Assam (four districts), Central Assam (six districts), Lower Assam (13 districts) and the Barak Valley (three districts).अतिक्रमण के ख़िलाफ़ हमारा अभियान जारी रहेगा।Our strategy now is to ensure that infiltrators, including those already evicted, do not return to encroach upon lands in Upper Assam, the way they did in Lower Assam over the past few decades. pic.twitter.com/1d8rsxaLxT— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) August 24, 2025“First of all, those who are evicted will not be included in the voter list,” Sarma told reporters on August 24. “Their modus operandi is to target Upper and North Assam. We are making every effort to protect upper Assam so that it does not face the same situation as Middle and Lower Assam. Our generation, along with the one before us, failed to safeguard Middle and Lower Assam. But now we are determined to protect Upper Assam. As soon as they are evicted, their names will be struck off from the voter list…The illegal immigrants settled in Margherita will certainly be evicted.”According to The Assam Tribune, Sarma said that discussions were underway with the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police regarding the proposed eviction in Margherita, in Assam’s Tinsukia district. It quoted him as saying that “those who came from outside and have no connection with this place” would be evicted. Indigenous communities such as the Moran, Matak, Koch Rajbongshi, Ahom, and Gorkha people had been living here for generations and if the government does not grant them land rights, “there will be unrest”, Sarma said, per the report.As The Wire reported on August 24, Sarma, in his speech on the 79th Independence Day, had claimed that ochinaki manuh, or unknown people/unknown community, were a growing concern in Assam’s socio-political and economic sphere. In his speech, he claimed that these people – allegedly referring to Miya Muslims – have been involved in several kinds of “jihad”, including love jihad and land jihad. Sarma also said that his government has recovered 1.2 lakh bighas of land from this “unknown community” and that they would continue to “fight for Assamese people”.There has been a steep rise in eviction drives across Assam after the BJP government came to power in 2016, Scroll.in has earlier reported. These drives – disproportionately affecting Miya Muslims, many of whom have lived in these areas for several decades – have displaced more than 15,000 families and killed at least eight persons.The Wire’s reports had quoted the India Hate Lab’s findings that CM Sarma’s statements have fuelled at least 18 incidents across 14 districts, including celebrations of forced evictions of Muslims, hate speech on social media, and public calls for further demolition in Assam.