BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia said Hindus have become minority in 10 lower Assam districts and should be given minority status in these districts. He also said Bangladeshi origin Muslims are victimising Hindus in these places.
Guwahati: The aggression against the Sanatan heritage is on the rise in Assam, mostly in the lower districts of the state. A Vaishnavite monastery named Pirala monastery in Barpeta district was once a hub of Sanatan culture and religious practices. It was founded by Vaishnavite Pandit, Narayan Dev and was spread over 30 acres. But the Pirala monastery vanished decades ago because of the migrant Muslims encroachment.
The newly formed committee to study monastery land encroachment was shocked to see the on-ground situation in Pirala monastery when it visited the place on Monday (December 27). There is no sign of the monastery, and instead, hundreds of migrant Muslims have built their houses in the monastery area. Committee member and BJP MLA Mrinal Saikia said that Hindus have become minority in 10 lower Assam districts, including Barpeta and should be given minority status in these districts. Bangladeshi origin Muslims are victimising Hindus in these places.
The committee members also visited the Sundaridia monastery, established by Sri Madhabdev and witnessed Large-scale encroachment of the Sundaridia monastery. The committee recorded that at least 101 bighas of Pirala monastery have been encroached. Migrant Muslims also encroached 121 bighas of land belonging to the Sundaridia monastery in the Barpeta district.
The committee, in its inspection, found that large-scale encroachment happened in Chenga and Bohori revenue circles of the Barpeta district and will visit all the monasteries to prepare their report on land encroachment. It has been reported earlier that thousands of acres of land belonging to nearly 1200 monasteries were encroached by illegal settlers, mostly migrant Muslims.
Last year, the state government evicted almost 60 acres of land encroached by migrant Muslims in Batadrava monastery, the birthplace of Guru Srimanta Shankardev in Nagaon district. A world-class cultural centre is being constructed on the evicted land by the state government at the cost of Rupees 188 crores. Union home minister Amit Shah inaugurated the project in February this year.
