Himanta Biswa Sarma in a fiery address to the Assam Assembly on Tuesday said that he will not allow the state to become a land of Miya Muslims. The Chief Minister said that his government is committed to ensuring that no mass migration from Lower Assam to Upper Assam happens.
Replying to opposition MLAs Rafiqul Zaman and Debabrata Saikia's assertions of an impending mass migration, Sarma vehemently asked Lower Assam residents not to forcefully settle in Upper Assam districts.
"Today, Rafiqul Zaman Sahab and Debabrata Saikia made a massive statement in the Assembly that people from Lower Assam will definitely move towards Upper Assam. My question is why will they go? This means that you [Miya Muslims] will take control over the entire state. Then, we are also committed that we will not let that happen," he said.
When Zaman, Jania MLA, countered his argument asking, "This means that being an Indian citizen, we do not have the basic right of traveling from one district to another within our own state?"
"Yes don't go. I cannot ensure my own security while travelling to Karbi Anglong or BTR. If you insist on going to Karbi Anglong, BTR or Upper Assam, I beg you not to persist," Sarma retorted.
The explosive argument on the assembly floor comes in the backdrop of simmering communal disharmony over the last few days in Assam. The differences, which stemmed from the assault of a minor indigenous girl in Sivasagar, have crept into instances like the gang-rape of a minor girl in Dhing and fish traders from Lower Assam threatening to halt supply to Upper Assam.
Speaking further about the changing demography of Assam, an idea that he has recently floated, Sarma mentioned an economic blockade and external aggression resulting in population imbalance in the state.
"There is a political, economic and social encroachment going on to change the demography of Assam and reduce the local people to a minority," he said. Citing the late Gopinath Bordoloi, Vishnu Ram Medhi, and the Supreme Court of India, the Assam Chief Minister stressed that social order will be maintained if the rights of indigenous people are upheld.