'Won't let Assam become land of Miyas', says Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (Watch)

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said he will keep taking sides and won't let 'Miya' Muslims take over the state. When accused by opposition parties of being partisan, Sarma said: "I will take sides. What can you do about it?"

The term 'Miya' refers to Muslims of Bengali origin who are often alleged to be ‘illegal immigrants.’

The BJP leader was speaking in the assembly, in Dispur, on adjournment motions brought by the opposition parties to discuss the law and order situation in the state in the backdrop of the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Nagaon.

"Why will people from Lower Assam go to Upper Assam? So that Miya Muslims can take over Assam? We won't let it happen," Himanta Sarma asserted replying to the motion.

The Chief Minister had earlier said that in Lower and central Assam and Barak Valley districts indigenous people had become a numeric minority and were living in constant fear.

Sarma's remarks come two days after Opposition MLA Akhil Gogoi claimed that the BJP is trying to recreate the 2002 Gujarat episodes in Assam.

Gogoi claimed on Sunday amid reports that some organisations have allegedly been threatening Miya Muslims from Upper Assam to leave the administrative division.

Not the first time

Himanta Biswa has been issuing statements against Miya Muslims earlier, too. Last year, he said the BJP does not need the votes of 'Miya people of 'char' (riverine sandbar) areas for the next 10 years.

"BJP will do public welfare, and they will support us, but they don't need to vote for us. There is no harm in supporting us. Let them shout 'zindabad' for Himanta Biswa Sarma, Narendra Modi and BJP," Sarma was quoted saying by news agency PTI in October 2023.