Committed to protect cultural identity of indigenous communities: Assam CM

GUWAHATI — Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday vowed to intensify efforts to protect the state’s indigenous communities and their cultural identity, linking the move to his government’s ongoing eviction drives.

Speaking after hoisting the national flag at the Independence Day celebrations in Guwahati, Sarma said his administration had cleared encroachments from 1.2 lakh bighas — more than 16,000 hectares — of land, describing the action as part of a broader campaign against what he termed “land jihad.”

Without naming any group directly, the Chief Minister suggested that demographic changes in lower and central Assam were driven by “unknown” people, who were now targeting upper and north Assam.

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“We have declared war on their aggression. We will evict them from every piece of grazing land, tribal belt and government land,” he said.

Sarma maintained that the recent delimitation of assembly constituencies was carried out to secure Assam’s political landscape for indigenous residents “for many decades to come.”

He warned that if the trend continued unchecked, indigenous communities risked losing their “jati, mati, bheti” — community, land, and homeland — within a decade.

“If this situation persists, 80 per cent of the state’s ministers could belong to them in 15 years, and within two decades the Independence Day flag could be hoisted by an unknown chief minister,” Sarma claimed.

The Chief Minister alleged that the group in question had already established dominance in the construction sector and was attempting to gain political influence after “almost capturing economic power.”

He called on young people and Assamese citizens to resist compromise, framing the struggle as one for self-determination rather than an armed confrontation.

“We will not be finished. We will fight for survival,” Sarma declared, taking a symbolic pledge under the national tricolour.