Himanta now invokes Mahatma Gandhi: Need ‘non-cooperation’ against ‘Miyas’

#WATCH | Golaghat: On Opposition criticising his ‘Miya Muslims’ statement, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says, “…Those who have come from Bangladesh call themselves ‘Miya’. I did not give them that name; it is they who call themselves that…” pic.twitter.com/rI580Hc0QS

— ANI (@ANI) January 29, 2026

“My idea is create an atmosphere in which they cannot stay in Assam. Don’t give them land, don’t give them vehicles, don’t give them rickshaws, don’t give them thelas (carts). Then, the Bangladeshis will leave themselves… Every day, 20-25 people are being sent to Bangladesh; no one has the courage to go to court,” he said.

He said the policy is for “pushing back” people to Bangladesh. “And [for] those who are still inside, create such a system that they are unable to stay inside. This is called civil disobedience of Mahatma Gandhi, non-cooperation. Mahatma Gandhi taught us two things: non-cooperation and civil disobedience. When the Assamese people do non-cooperation and civil disobedience, then they will go away by themselves. Before getting on a rickshaw, think about whose rickshaw you are getting on.”

He then called on making a distinction between “Miyas”, who he said are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and Muslims.

“My system is civil disobedience and non-cooperation. Do not give shelter to Miyas if they are Bangladeshi. Learn the distinction between Miya and Muslim. In the name of Miya, don’t harass muslims; in the name of Muslims, don’t give protection to Miyas. And we should not keep any association with Miyas who come from Bangladesh,” he said.

#WATCH | Adilabad, Telangana: AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi says, "The Chief Minister of Assam is of the BJP. Can any Chief Minister say something like this: "If there's a 'Miya' driver in the auto-rickshaw, and the bill is five rupees, then you give him four rupees"? In Assam,… pic.twitter.com/9xXI9lJjTw

— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2026

Congress takes on CM Himanta

The statements came on the same day in which the Congress party took on the Chief Minister by launching a campaign alleging “land grabbing” across the state by him and his family.

Within hours of the allegations, Sarma said he would initiate civil and criminal defamation proceedings against Congress leaders Gaurav Gogoi, Jitendra Singh Alwar, Bhupesh Baghel and Debabrata Saikia.

The Congress took on Sarma ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections with the campaign titled, “Who is HBS?”

The campaign was launched at a press conference on Wednesday, led by Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, former Chhattisgarh CM and election observer Bhupesh Baghel, and AICC General Secretary in charge of Assam Jitendra Singh. It was also attended by the Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, and MPs Pradyut Bordoloi and Rakibul Hussain.

Releasing a video and pamphlet on this campaign, Gogoi said, “This shows how ill-manners and arrogance have entered Assam’s politics in his time; how family business and land grabbing have been taking place; how he is known as the most corrupt Chief Minister in the country, his politics of lies… misgovernance while he is trying to portray himself as a false Hindu leader.”

In the press conference, Gogoi said the party is “investigating land-grabbing” by the Chief Minister and alleged that it has found “12,000 bighas of land have been grabbed in the name of his family members in different parts of the state in violation of rules”.

Launching a website called ‘Who is HBS’, he said, “Today we are investigating through our internal team, speaking to the public, to find out how many bighas of land are in the name of various members of their family. But we still do not know the full extent of it. So, we have started a website… If you have any information, video, or complaint about property bought by Himanta Biswa Sarma in your area, go to the website and submit it there. We will take that, and we will go ourselves and look into it. We will investigate this as part of the people.”

However, within an hour of this, the website was not operational, which the Assam Congress attributed to an “attempt to hack” the website and said a technical team was working on restoring it. The party also released a phone number for people to make such “complaints”.

Within hours of this press conference, Sarma reacted, calling the allegations “false, malicious and defamatory”.

“I am initiating civil and criminal defamation proceedings on February 9 against Jitendra Alwar, Bhupesh Baghel, Gaurav Gogoi and Debabrata Saikia for making false, malicious and defamatory statements against me in today’s press conference. The era of hit-and-run politics is over. If they have even an ounce of courage or evidence, let them prove every allegation before a court of law. I will not be intimidated by propaganda, coordinated slander, or political theatrics of so-called slaves of the Gandhi family,” he said.