'They Razed Our Homes, Then Removed Us From Voter List': Assam's Evicted Muslims

Many displaced Muslims complain they have been disenfranchised ahead of Assam polls, despite filling form 6.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint)

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Around 170 kms away from where his home once stood, Asif* finds himself in quite a fix in Nagaon ahead of elections in Assam. Most Muslims in Assam who bore the brunt of evictions last year will not be able to cast their votes on 9 April. “In Assam, this is happening with many Muslims. Their right to vote is being snatched from them. If any party wins and lakhs are excluded from voting, does it mean their votes don't count? Do they not have the right to be heard?” he said.

The pattern that has emerged is this: Most Muslims who were evicted have been disenfranchised and left out. Only a minority of them have succeeded in getting a new EPIC number/Voter ID via form 6, but each of them faced various impediments along the way only to practice their fundamental right to vote. 

The house Asif was born in was demolished in August 2025. Half a year later, rubble still remains on that land in Rana Nagar. With this eviction, Asif and his 11 family members became homeless. Shortly after, with much difficulty, they shifted to Nagaon to their relatives. 

This is where Asif lived with his family for years in Rana Nagar, Golaghat. 

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

A month and a half later, Asif started figuring out how to transfer their voter ID/change their address lest they face any issue ahead of Assam elections.

Asif said, “In the January draft SR list, only two family members found their name. All our names were deleted. In the February final list, their names were removed too. We had filled form 8 to get all our change of residence from Golaghat to Nagaon, that was rejected too.”

On 16 February, they received an official notice. The notice read that those "whose names have been deleted due to permanent transfer during the last revision period (27th December 2025 to 4th February 2026) can apply through Form-6."

Form-6 is filed for the inclusion of a new name in the electoral roll.

Official notice that Asif's family got in Feb'26.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

But the notice came in February 2026.

Prior to this, Asif stated that around October 2025 when he was trying to file form 8 for his family, he found out that form 7 had been filed against their EPIC numbers.

“The portal kept showing me ‘processing’ and then ‘error’ and I got to know that it was because form 7 had been filed to delete our names from the voter list. Even before the BLOs could do a ground verification as per SOP, our names were not showing on the portal.”

However, Asif alleged that it’s because of local workers associated with the ruling BJP who had filed form 7 in this case. He soon realised he was one among many, as he claimed, who filled form 8 but did not receive any update. 

Haider* from Modhupur 2 also faced eviction in June last year. Both Haider and Asif's village are part of the Sarupathar constituency in Golaghat district.

Haider and Asif both told The Quint that their houses and villages in Rengma forest area were targeted selectively and since they were displaced, they have been running from pillar to post to ensure the names of their family members were enrolled in the voter list.

Both of them approached the Co-District Commissioner (CDC) but to no avail. Then, Haider, Asif and few others wrote an application to the District Commissioner where they stated:

• "Following the eviction, the applicant's name was deleted from the electoral roll...no notice, order or opportunity of hearing was ever afforded to the applicant prior to such deletion, thereby causing grave prejudice to him."

• "The applicant has subsequently learnt that a Form-7 proceeding was initiated suo motu by the electoral authorities in respect of his electoral entry..."

Application sent to District Commissioner in Golaghat.

Application sent to District Commissioner in Golaghat.

This months-long process has also exhausted families like that of Asif and Haider, especially after having been rendered homeless, displaced and deprived of many basic necessities. 

“I was born here, I grew up here. Never did I foresee that a community would be targeted in such a communal, systemic and electoral manner, all to please their vote bank. They have tried to inject poison among our neighbours who we had lived with before. CM Himanta's speeches also shape their opinions.

Asif* to The Quint

Then Came Form 6

The CDC reportedly informed them, as they told The Quint, to “vote from where they are located currently and to get new EPIC numbers.”

Hence, after facing an uncertainty, Asif and Haider decided to file form 6 for their families. BLOs also did the on-ground verification.

“Six members of my family have got new EPIC numbers, including me. But form 6 of five of them, two of my younger brothers, two sisters and one sister-in-law was rejected. They cannot vote this time for no fault of theirs," he said.

Asif stated that he got some of their Aadhar cards updated due to the change in their address, but a few had remained. “But even then I know people who had updated their Aadhar cards and still their form 6 was rejected,” he said.

The Quint also checked their form 6 reference numbers of his family members, the application showed ‘rejected.’ We have hidden the reference number and their names to protect their identity.

Asif's sister's form 6 has been rejected.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Asif's sister's form 6 has been rejected.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Asif's brother's form 6 has been rejected.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Fears of Asif and Haider and many others like them are not unfounded.
Earlier in January this year, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “This [SR] is preliminary. When the SIR comes to Assam, four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam.”

Apart from this, there is also the allegation of gerrymandering.

The electoral math in many constituencies in Assam has also been reportedly affected due to delimitation (the process of redrawing constituency borers). Reports suggest that the 2023 delimitation would alter demography of certain constituencies and could further politically marginalise Assam's Muslims at a time when they already face eviction and hateful rhetoric.

Coming to voter deletions, Haider’s family also went through a similar process like that of Asif.

“I was born in Modhupur 2. I have voted before in Panchayat and general elections 2024 too. First, they took my home. My name and my family members' names were on the January list. But our names were deleted in the February 2026 voter list. We filed form 6 but were only able to get 4 new EPIC numbers (me, my wife, my two brothers). But form 6 of my mother and three sisters was rejected so they cannot vote this time.”

Haider* to The Quint

Form 6 of Haider's mother has been rejected.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Haider continued, “My mother cried when she found out that her name had been struck off the voter list and she has also not got a new EPIC number, so she is scared now. All this, despite us having our documents."

The Quint also accessed their other documents, including Haider's passport. One of these old documents from 2011 is also evidence that the family's name was mentioned in earlier electoral rolls.

2011 certificate of his family's name being included in electoral rolls.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Haider said that when they lost their homes to eviction, the world had fallen apart for their family. Accompanied by the loss of voting rights, the family has been left questioned about their future.

Haider also showed The Quint that several other relatives who were evicted last year have received a message that their form 6 has been rejected.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Advocate Imtiaz Hussain, President of All Assam Minority Students' Union (AAMSU) told The Quint that, “Around 80-90% of those who faced eviction last year will not be able to cast their votes this time. Most of these had resided in Golaghat, Goalpara and some in Dhubri, areas in Hojai and Lakhimpur.”

But there’s another worrying concert that Hussain has pointed out.

“Now they have given some Muslims new EPIC numbers but there is a drawback to this. After some time, they will be questioned as to why their name is on the voter list at 35 and not 18? What about their votes before? Insinuating that these people came from Bangladesh later and got themselves enrolled in the voter list. This is how they might be suspected.”

Imtiaz Hussain to The Quint

He has questioned as to why the priority was not to shift their residence via form 8 but to get them entirely new voter IDs. “Questions will arise in the future. So this seems to be strategically done.”

The Eviction

Haider was born in Modhupur 2 village, situated in Uriamghat area of Golaghat.

Prior to the eviction, Haider had his own farm and had co-existed peacefully with his non-Muslim neighbours.

“Now I have no active or regular work. Right now, I am working in other houses to earn. Our farms were also lost to the eviction. They called our homes illegal, selectively. If it was illegal, how was only ours illegal? We have lived here for generations for 60-70 years. My grandfather and father were buried in Assam too.”

This is where Haider's home once stood in Modhupur 2 village.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Haider has alleged that over 1400 Muslim names were removed from the February 2026 voter list from his village. The Quint has a copy of that list.

Meanwhile, Asif’s old house was also situated in the Rengma forest area alongside houses of Adivasi Hindus and Nepalis, he said. But he claimed that out of around 100 villages in the area, only 16-17 were targeted selectively during the eviction drive last year.

"I was working as a driver in Oman and nearby areas, the money I earned, I invested into our home in Rana Nagar that the state authorities destroyed. We have been left homeless and helpless. And now as if that wasn't enough, they have come to take the right to vote of our family."

Asif* to The Quint

Asif's house was demolished last year and the rubble still remains.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Moreover, The Quint accessed documents which showed that the house that was evicted was provided to him by the government through the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) programme.

PMAY-G notice for their house.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

“Suddenly, we were told and served notice that our house is an illegal encroachment. My father was born in Assam and lived in Nagaon since before 1972, grandfather and father both were born in Assam. I was born in that village. The house was from PMAY-G, and got water and electricity from the government. How is it that only of Muslims were encroached but not Hindus?” asked Asif.

On the other hand, Hussain had filed a writ petition in the Guwahati High Court last year on evicted and displaced Muslims losing their voting rights and how it could impact their voting rights. The Court has issued a notice to the government but a response is awaited.

Interestingly, he observed the geography and history behind these Muslims who lived in Golaghat and Nagaon.

"Most Muslims moved to Nagaon after eviction as many of their grandparents had previously lived in Nagaon. Around 1970-80's many moved to Golaghat's border areas to prevent the Naga aggression, their militants wanted to take up space in that forest area. So many Assamese Muslims started living in border areas, with years of livelihood and services established. So why is the law only enforceable against Muslim minority and not other communities?”

(*Names have been changed to protect their identity. The Quint has also reached out the State election commission in Assam and respective BLOs in Modhupur 2, Rananagar and Nagaon but we have not recieved a response yet)