Guwahati: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Ramakanta Deori made grave accusations in the Assam assembly on August 29 regarding the safety and security of female TET teachers in Morigaon district. MLA Deori alleged that Assamese Hindu TET teachers in the predominantly Muslim Laharighat area are being pressured to wed Muslims. He said that some teachers are approving the weddings out of fear. He further said that a few years ago, in that region, a Hindu female TET instructor was made to consume beef against her will.
The MLA’s remarks sparked a furious response from the opposition parties. The AIUDF and Congress denounced the claims and demanded a magisterial investigation into the matter. The opposition attempted to cut off the tribal MLA’s speech in the house while he was speaking. MLA Deori went on to say that Muslims of Bangladeshi descent continue to pose a threat to female TET teachers who are assigned to sensitive regions in the Morigaon district. He asked the minister of education to quickly transfer all TET teachers who are Hindu women from minority areas of the district.
Later, several tribal MLA belonging to the ruling NDA denounced the opposition MLAs’ hostile demeanour. A number of BJP legislators denounced the opposition’s Muslim legislators’ treatment of a ruling party tribal member. However, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also attacked the opposition, claiming that they had a habit of preventing Indigenous Hindu MLAs from speaking in the Assembly. Assam Land and Revenue Regulation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2024 was being discussed, and Chief Minister Sarma also chastised opposition members for interjecting during a speech by party MLA Bhuban Pegu. CM Sarma said that a new and dangerous trend is occurring in the House: preventing native Hindu MLAs from speaking. He cautioned the opposition against acting belligerently and from attempting to seize the Assembly after seizing their territory. Pegu was making a statement about the supposed migration and violence of individuals from what was then East Bengal into Assam, using records from the Assembly.
CM Sarma went on to say that because Hindu-Muslim relations are a fact of life, conversations about them cannot be avoided, using the census as an illustration. CM Sarma stated that the Bill, which was approved by the Assembly, is about the struggle to preserve the Assamese community, which he asserted is in danger of going extinct. He added that the community is currently fighting for survival due to the loss of land in areas like Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Darrang, Nagaon, and Morigaon.
