Assam CM’s ‘Miya Muslims’ remark sparks row, Oppn writes to President

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks in the state Assembly on Tuesday, August 27, have caused uproar in state politics.

Following Biswa’s remarks, the opposition parties urged the President to remove the former from his position as CM on the grounds of his frequent dog whistling and partisan statements.

The chief minister said that he won’t let “Miya” Muslims “take over Assam”, and would take sides (of Hindus).

He was responding to the questions raised by the opposition MLAs regarding the law and order situations in the state, over the incident of rape of a minor girl in Nagaon, a part of Upper Assam. Himanta Biswa Sarma handles the home ministry portfolio in the state.

The minister, provided a communal response to the law and order question raised in the house, asking “Why will people from Lower Assam go to Upper Assam? So that Miya Muslims can take over Assam?”

Lower Assam is a region in the state with a large immigrant population, predominantly Muslims and Bengali speakers, while Upper Assam is comparably populated with Assamese-speaking Hindus.

‘Miya’ was used as a pejorative term for Bengali-speaking Muslims initially, and the non-Bengali-speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term as a gesture of defiance.

Opposition parties in the state have condemned this statement from the chief minister, accusing him of fanning religious tensions among the communities and causing further divide among the people in the state.

A forum of opposition parties including Congress, CPIM, and AIUDF, in the letter to President Draupadi Murmu, through Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria regarding the chief minister’s statements expressed their disapproval of Biswa Sarma’s remarks.

The Opposition parties had earlier registered an FIR against the Assam CM, citing that his remarks would potentially lead to a riot-like situation in the state.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Wednesday slammed Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his “will not let ‘Miya’ Muslims take over the state” remark, saying his comment was “pure communal venom” and silence was not the answer to such a statement.