Lakhs of acres of land have been reclaimed from “infiltrators” in Assam, claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.

Speaking at a gathering in the state’s Darrang district, Modi added that the objective of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is to “protect” the country from alleged infiltration and restore its integrity.

He also claimed that encroachments on farmers’ land and on places of worship were carried out under the previous Congress governments.

“Since the formation of the BJP-led NDA [National Democratic Alliance] government [at the Centre], we have begun to correct those wrongs and remove illegal claims,” Modi said. “Those who shelter infiltrators will have to pay the price; the nation will not forgive them.”

He added: “I challenge those politicians who defend infiltrators to come forward and face this issue, let them show what efforts they have made to remove infiltrators, compared with the efforts we have made.”

The prime minister’s remarks came days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on August 27 said that the state Cabinet had approved a special operating procedure to scrutinise the transfer of land between persons of different religions.

“In a sensitive state like Assam, the transfer of land between two religious groups needs to be handled very carefully,” Sarma had told reporters. “All such land transfer proposals will now come to the government.”

BJP leaders, including Sarma, have repeatedly vowed to fight “land jihad”, which they allege is threatening the state’s demography. “Land jihad” is a Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslims plot to usurp public land by illegally building structures on it.

On August 15, the chief minister had pledged to continue evictions on government land and free the state from alleged “infiltrators”. Sarma warned of a demographic threat to the Assamese population and pledged to protect their land, identity and political power.

The BJP leader alleged that “unknown” people had changed the demography of lower and central Assam and were now targeting upper and north Assam.

Between 2016, when the BJP government came to power, and August, 15,270 families – the majority of them Muslim – have been evicted from government land, according to data provided by the state revenue and disaster management department.

At least eight Muslims have been shot dead during evictions carried out since 2016.

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