Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma blaming Muslims for price rise shows the utter failure of the BJP-led government to control unemployment and inflation.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister added that while the judiciary took action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for raising questions on corruption, it should also take suo-motu notice of Sarma’s remarks.
“Assam CM blaming Muslims for crippling price rise shows BJP’s utter failure on unemployment, inflation and lack of development. Himanta Biswa is openly urging Hindus to forcibly take away even their meagre forms of livelihood — vegetable vendors and kirhana shops.
“While the judiciary took quick action against Rahul Gandhi for raising legitimate questions on corruption, what stops them from taking suo moto notice of the Assam CM’s fire stoking statements…,” Mufti wrote on Twitter.
Responding to reporters’ questions on the high price of vegetables in Guwahati, Sarma recently said, “Vegetables are not priced so high in villages. Here, the Miya vendors charge us more. Had it been Assamese vendors selling vegetables, they would not have fleeced their own people.”
“I will clear all the footpaths of Guwahati and I urge our Assamese people to come forward and start their businesses,” he had added.
Miya is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term in a gesture of defiance.
Opposition parties in Assam have slammed Sarma for his comments, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader of playing communal politics.
