GUWAHATI: Assam has reclaimed from illegal Muslim settlers 160sq km of forest and other government-owned land, constituting an area larger than size of Chandigarh and almost 75 per cent of Guwahati, in four years of steadfastly “resisting” what CM Himanta Biswa Sarma described on Tuesday as an “invasion”.Sarma said BJP government evicting illegal settlers from 1.19 lakh bighas since May 2021 was as much about protecting state’s demography as about reclaiming land integral to survival of indigenous tribes and other communities. “All these people who have encroached upon our land are from one religion. Our effort has been to save jati-mati-bheti (identity, land and homesteads),” Sarma said. “There is still a long way to go, as more than 63 lakh bighas are still under encroachment.“The CM’s remarks coincided with CPM organising a protest in lower Assam’s Goalpara, one of the districts where evictions have taken place. CPM accused BJP government of “working in interest of corporates” & “against citizens”.A delegation from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani faction) visited Goalpara to help set up shelters for those evicted. In Hahilabil and Ashudubi of Goalpara’s Paikan, around 4,000 houses belonging to Bengali-speaking Muslim migrant families were demolished. “Whatever happened in Goalpara was painful. People of our country are being evicted. The government first needs to arrange shelter for them, then other decisions may be taken,” Jamiat general secretary Maulana Hakim Uddin Qasimi said.Sarma said state had ordered officials to take steps to remove names of all evicted settlers from electoral rolls.