Guwahati: After the Lok Sabha election, Muslims of Bangladeshi descent began to target the native Hindu community in Assam. However, the Congress and AIUDF now want these immigrants to disperse throughout the upper Assam districts. On August 27, Debabrat Saikia, Congress MLA and Leader of the Opposition (LoP), said in the Assam assembly, “Why won’t these people go and work in upper Assam?” MLAs from the AIUDF accompanied the Congressman. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma responded to the opposition leaders by stating that he would take “sides” but that he would not allow the “Miya” Muslims to seize power in Assam.
It is a given that people from lower Assam will inevitably migrate to upper Assam, according to AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam and Congress MLA and leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia. “But why ought they to leave? Do you mean that Bangladesh origin Muslims or Miya Muslims, will conquer all of Assam? CM Sarma shot back, “I will not allow this to happen.” Speaking in the Assembly on adjournment motions submitted by the opposition parties, he addressed the state of peace and order following the recent gang rape of a fourteen-year-old girl in the Dhing neighborhood of Nagaon. CM Sarma answered sharply when the opposition parties accused him of being partisan: “I will take sides.” What will you do?
You advised me to shield (Miya) traders travelling to the upper regions of Assam. In (Muslim-majority) Barpeta and Dhubri (of lower Assam), where Hindus are constantly persecuted and tortured, should you therefore not provide security to them?” he questioned. There are substantial Miya Muslim populations in southern, northern, central, and lower Assam. CM Sarma declared two days ago that “we are now a minority in 12-14 districts.”
Following the Dhing incident, in which three Muslim men sexually assaulted a fourteen-year-old Hindu girl, thirty indigenous organisations in upper Assam demanded that Miya Muslims of Bangladeshi descent leave the region, which is home to numerous indigenous communities, or face repercussions. They asserted that there was a threat to indigenous identity. With the exception of one isolated incident, CM Sarma stated they had made a statement but refrained from intervening legally. He claimed that these kinds of incidents occur daily in lower Assam among the state’s indigenous tribes.
You are able to take any action as long as indigenous people’s rights are upheld. However, the environment won’t be nice if you try to dominate them, the Assam chief minister stated. “Fish will not be provided to upper Assam, someone claimed. This is an economic embargo, right? You’ve been thinking about an economic embargo, Sarma added, addressing the Miya Muslims. He claimed that the rights of indigenous people are protected by the United Nations charter, but a Supreme Court ruling claimed that Assam is experiencing economic and foreign aggression as a result of its population imbalance.
