Defending land, not pushing divisive agenda: Assam CM counters Mamata

The Hindu

6 days ago

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Saturday (July 19, 2025), countered his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee's charge that the 'divisive agenda' of his Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has crossed all limits.
He said that the indigenous Hindus in several districts of Assam were on the verge of becoming a minority and that his government was not targeting its own people but resisting the unchecked infiltration of Muslims from across the (Bangladesh) border, causing a demographic shift.
Mamata Banerjee only concerned about Bengali-speaking Muslims: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
'This is not a political narrative—it's a reality. Even the Supreme Court of India has termed such infiltration as external aggression. And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicise it,' the Chief Minister posted on X in response to Ms. Banerjee's accusation.
'We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation,' he wrote.
The West Bengal Chief Minister has been critical of Mr. Sarma since the Assam government launched an eviction drive across the State in June. Most of those evicted from various categories of government lands, including reserve forests, were Muslims with roots in present-day Bangladesh.
Ms. Banerjee also slammed Mr. Sarma for stating during the eviction drive that people mentioning Bengali as their mother tongue would help the government quantify 'foreigners' living in Assam. He said this after Mainuddin Ali, a minority student leader, stated that Bengal-origin Muslims would write Bengali, and not Assamese, as their mother tongue in Census papers to reduce the Assamese speakers to a minority.
Hitting back at Ms. Banerjee, the Assam Chief Minister said she compromised West Bengal's future by encouraging encroachment by a particular religious community as 'appeasement' for votes and ignoring infiltration 'just to stay in power'.
He asserted that Assam, unlike West Bengal, was acting decisively to preserve the identity of its people.
'Assam will continue to fight to preserve its heritage, dignity, and people, with courage and constitutional clarity,' he said.
In her post on X, Ms. Banerjee stated that the people of Assam would resist the BJP's divisive agenda.
'The second-most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second-most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully, respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional,' she said.
'I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights,' she further wrote.