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Dipu Das condition in Bangladesh today will be what Assamese face 20 years later: Himanta frames 2026 Assam polls as ‘civilisational fight’
Assam CM stresses on need to ‘preserve identity’: ‘In 2027 Census, Bangladeshi-origin Miya Muslims will be near 40% in state’
Speaking about his government’s achievements over the past year and its plans for the future, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that in the last three months, around 2,000 individuals have been “pushed back” into Bangladesh. (File Photo)
At the BJP Assam’s State Executive Meeting, which ended on Saturday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma framed the upcoming Assam legislative election as a “civilisational fight”.
“The BJP government’s goal is development, but existence is as important. Our politics is development, and along with that it is preserving the identity… Today, if you look at our state, two civilisations will be seen in front of us. One civilisation is a 5,000-year-old civilisation. A Sanatan civilisation which gives acceptance to all kinds of prayers… Our is an inclusive civilisation… But in our state, because of the Congress’s weakness and its appeasement politics, gradually another civilisation was created… In the 2011 census, in Assam, the Hindu and Muslim breakup shows 34% Muslims. If we don’t consider 3% Assamese Muslims, Muslims from Bangladesh who have settled here at different times were 31%. In every census, there is a 4% increase… In the 2027 Census, in Assam, Bangladeshi-origin Miya Muslims will be near 40%,” he said.
The two-day State Executive Meeting, being held ahead of the state legislative assembly election, expected to take place in March-April next year, was attended by the party’s new National Executive President Nitin Nabin, National Vice President Baijayant Jay Panda, National General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh, and senior leaders from the Assam BJP.
Framing the party’s pitch for the upcoming campaign while addressing party workers, Sarma spoke about developmental activities undertaken in the state during his tenure and the reach of the state government’s beneficiary schemes.
He also invoked the unrest in Bangladesh and the lynching of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das. “Someone can say that we can co-exist. But our religion embraces everyone. The recent incidents in Bangladesh tell us all clearly that they believe in exclusiveness… To them, is the country bigger or is religion? Religion is bigger to them… Today, when we see Dipu Das’s condition in Bangladesh, then everyone is clearly able to see what situation the Assamese will have to face 20 years later,” he said.
He went on to question the loyalties of Bengali-origin Muslims in the light of tensions between India and Bangladesh. “There is a lot of discussion on the ‘Chicken Neck’ (corridor connecting Assam to the ‘mainland’). Who is on two sides of the Chicken Neck? Not Hindu people. They are the people who have come from Bangladesh and have settled. When they came is irrelevant. Tomorrow, if there is a war between India and Bangladesh, who will these people stand with? Where is the loyalty of these people? Their uncles and grandfathers are still in Bangladesh,” he said.
He also made a call to unite against “divisions among us”, hinting at the recent tensions in Karbi Anglong between local Karbi tribals and Bihari Hindus who have settled there. “Till as long as we are alive, for us, every election is a civilizational fight, a fight with the resolve to keep the jati alive,” he said.
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