“The Muslim community constitutes the majority and is the largest in Assam. This is not just my opinion; I am saying this based on the statistics,” said Assam CM.
Digital Desk: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday that the state’s Muslim community is no longer eligible as a minority because Hindus are the minority in many districts in the state’s northeastern region.
“When Hindus do not constitute a majority in a state, they can be classified as a minority. However, I would like to request that when the Hindu community is not a majority in a district, Hindus be proclaimed a minority in that district as well. Assam has many districts where Hindus are pitifully outnumbered. Some of them have fewer than 5,000 Hindus,” CM Sarma told the reporters.
“The Muslim community constitutes the majority and is the largest in Assam. This is not just my opinion; I am saying this based on the statistics. According to statistics, Muslims constitute the state’s largest community,” Sarma elaborated.
Earlier this month, CM Sarma stated that with power comes responsibility, and as Muslims constitute 35 percent of Assam’s population, it is their responsibility to protect minorities here.
Nearly 4 percent of the Muslim population in Assam is native Assamese Muslims, with the majority speaking Bengali as per government reports.
Assam’s Chief Minister had previously ordered a review of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and urged a new exercise.
“We had previously stated that the old NRC should be reviewed and redone. Our talks with the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) are going on. We want the NRC to be completed in the state again,” CM Sarma stated.
Reportedly, over 19.06 lakh people were not included on the NRC list published in August 2019 out of 3.3 crore applicants.
According to CM Sarma, the state government is holding several meetings with the All Assam Students Union (AASU) leaders to discuss about the NRC issue being re-evaluated.
The state Agriculture Minister also informed about the latest NRC update, stating that the government will petition the Supreme Court to have the last published NRC list re-verified.
Meanwhile, AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya stated that it is essential that the NRC list be verified once more so that Assam is free of illegal Bangladeshis.
Leave A Comment