Kolkata: Once again, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has spoken about the existence of Hindus and the threats looming over it. He alleged on June 11 that a particular meat has been used “as a weapon” against Hindus in Assam.
He cited the example of the alleged throwing of meat pieces in public places after Eid celebrations last week. He stressed that the Assamese people must take an “uncompromising” stance to deport illegal foreigners and said the state is fighting against forces that have “sympathy” around the world.
He said, “Earlier, if a couple of Muslim families lived in a Hindu neighbourhood, they used to be careful not to cause any problems for the Hindus. If they wanted to eat beef, they went to their relatives living in Muslim-majority areas. But now, they are throwing the remains of the meat and the waste here and there so that the Hindus of the neighborhood are forced to eventually leave the place.”
The CM alleged that beef was dumped in various places after Eid celebrations last week. He said, “Someone can have it on Eid, but they cannot use it as a weapon against other people.” He regretted the lack of protest against this act and said the number of voices opposing such actions is decreasing. “Good Muslims oppose such acts. They don’t post photos on Facebook with beef in their hands,” he added.
The Chief Minister feared that if things continue this way, “in 20 years, beef will be thrown in front of the Kamakhya Temple too”. Sarma added that the police have a role to play in reducing such incidents but the force needs the support of the people to take decisive action.
‘Assamese people must take a stand’
He insisted that the Assamese people must take an “uncompromising stance for their own security” and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is ready to provide all assistance. He said, “Modi ji has said send back (illegal foreigners), but the Assamese people are questioning why they are being sent back. Most of the criticism comes from the Assamese people. Modi ji alone cannot protect us.”
He claimed that Modi sent back all the foreigners from Gujarat and none of them went to court, while in his state, Assamese petitioners and lawyers file daily cases against actions on illegal immigrants. Sarma said the Congress and its legislative party chief Debabrata Saikia opposed the repatriation of foreigners in the Assembly on Monday but no organization has protested against the party for this.
He said former PM Jawaharlal Nehru opposed the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, which empowered the District Commissioners to identify and remove foreigners. Sarma said, “This shows that Nehru’s pro-foreigner stance dates back to the 1950s. Our struggle is against forces that have supporters all over the world.” He said there are 2,895 active Facebook accounts originating from places like Islamabad, Dhaka and Riyadh that write or comment only on Palestine and Assam.
‘Assam is a state surrounded by enemies’
“We are a state surrounded by enemies. We have to research and hand over these details to Modi ji so that he can take it further and seek the help of agencies like Interpol,” said Sarma. He added that Pakistan and Bangladesh have been “greedy” for Assam since independence as it was proposed to be included in the former East Pakistan.
“This is not new. When there was a friendly government in Bangladesh, anti-India sentiment decreased and when Yunus came, it increased. There is always anti-India sentiment in Pakistan,” he said. “If we take the initiative (to work against these forces), the central government will help us,” he added.
Referring to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Sarma said the state government, ASU and others were “not satisfied” with it. He said the state government has approached the Supreme Court for re-verification of 20-10 per cent of names in different categories, and though the Supreme Court is yet to agree to this, “we believe the court will accept it”. He said the NRC and the deportation of foreigners have nothing to do with the Supreme Court judgment.
Sarma said the state government would use the 1950 Act to “remove” foreigners from the state and prepare to deport 35 identified illegal immigrants as the flood situation improves. Acknowledging that sending them back would not completely solve the problem, he said it would ensure that new immigrants would not try to enter.
He said, “Arunachal Pradesh regularly sends back these people and therefore, they are afraid to go there. We have to instill that fear too.” Sarma claimed that there was a section of trained lawyers in the Congress who helped ineligible people to get their names included in the NRC. However, he did not mention any names. He stressed the need for lawyers to represent the “people of the state” in the Supreme Court in foreign affairs cases and said that government lawyers alone are not enough.
He added that the courts are for the people. Sarma said, “If there are lawyers representing the interests of the people, the judiciary will be able to understand the problems of the people better.”
