Minor point

Choudhury, in fact, points out that minorities have always played a major role in forming governments in Assam.

8216;8216;There has been only one instance when a government was formed without the support of the minorities. That was in 1985 when the Asom Gana Parishad rode on popular sentiment. But even then, there was one impact; a major chunk of the religious minorities had then gone against the Congress,8217;8217; Choudhury points out.

The 2001 Census shows that Muslims 8216;8216;minorities8217;8217; according to the minister constitute 30.92 per cent of Assam8217;s population8212;second only to Jammu and Kashmir.

As far as numbers go, Assam has the highest Muslim population in India8212;82.40 lakh. In five of the state8217;s 25 districts8212;Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Karimganj and Hailakandi8212;the minority community is in the majority. They are also dominant in 37 of 126 assembly constituencies.

THE Congress in Assam has long been accused of playing the minority card. Kanaksen Deka, veteran journalist and president of Asom Sahitya Sabha8212;the apex literary body of the state says: 8216;8216;In a healthy democracy there is nothing like minority or majority. Every citizen has to have equal rights, while it is the duty of all to ensure that nobody is harassed or discriminated in the name of religion or language. But what is happening in Assam is that the Muslims and Bengali-speaking Hindus are often dubbed as minorities and political parties use them as vote banks.8217;8217;

Deka also recalls the role played by former president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and Devkant Barooah in playing minority politics.

8216;8216;Ali Ahmed was an Assamese-speaking Muslim but when it came to contesting for the Lok Sabha, he always rushed to Barpeta, where there were many Muslims of migrant origin,8217;8217; Deka points out. Politicians in Assam in fact have coined another term: 8216;8216;genuine Indian minorities.8217;8217;

8216;8216;This is a ploy to hoodwink the population of migrant origin and create a fear psychosis,8217;8217; says Adip Kumar Phukan, editor of Dainik Batori. Phukan, who was till recently involved in student and youth politics in the state, says the Congress was trying to terrify the Muslims of migrant origin by telling them that they would be deported if they could not prove themselves as 8216;8216;genuine Indian minorities.8217;8217;

8216;8216;Technically speaking, there are three categories of Muslims in Assam,8217;8217; says R P Sharma, a senior BJP leader.

8216;8216;The original Assamese speaking Muslims and the pre-Independence migrants from erstwhile East Bengal; those who entered after India got independence and continued to come till Bangladesh was born; and the post-Bangladesh migrants,8217;8217; says Sharma.

8216;8216;But the actual minorities in Assam today are the Assamese Hindus, who are dominant only in 16 of the state8217;s 126 assembly constituencies,8217;8217; he adds.

There are others who disagree with his view. In Assam, the numbers add up differently for different people.