Daijiworld Media Network – Sivasagar

Sivasagar, Aug 5: A growing vigilante movement in Assam’s Sivasagar district is stoking political tensions, as several civil society organisations have launched an aggressive campaign to identify and drive out suspected illegal immigrants — a task constitutionally reserved for the government and law enforcement agencies.

Groups such as Jatiyo Sangrami Sena Asom, Ahom Jatiyo Ganamancha, AATASU, Sangrami Yuva Chatra Parishad, Tai Ahom Yuva Parishad, Anusuchit Jati Chatra Santha, and Jatiyo Sangrami Mahila Parishad have joined hands in what they describe as a “mass verification drive” across the district.

According to locals, members of these organisations are going door to door, questioning tenants and labourers, and pressuring those they suspect to be illegal Bangladeshi nationals to leave immediately. They have pledged full support to the government’s eviction campaigns and warned of intensified drives across Upper Assam this week.

The vigilante activities have sparked a fresh political confrontation between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, ahead of the state elections due by April next year.

“India is a country for Indian citizens. Those who have entered illegally, without documentation, cannot be allowed to stay. Congress's vote bank politics will no longer work,” said BJP National Secretary Rituraj Sinha, reaffirming the party’s tough stand on illegal immigration.

Responding sharply, Leader of the Opposition and Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia accused the BJP of fanning communal tensions under the guise of national security. “The eviction drives are not just targeting illegal immigrants but also harassing poor, indigenous and minority citizens. This is a political stunt to hide the government’s administrative failures,” Saikia alleged.

He also challenged the BJP to disclose actual figures of deportations over the past nine years. “Instead of action, what we see is a toxic environment of fear and division,” he added.

As vigilante groups continue their unverified identification drives, concerns are mounting over possible human rights violations and the deterioration of communal harmony in the sensitive Upper Assam belt.