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Economic Times
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Economic Times
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma & WB counterpart Mamata Banerjee engage in a bitter verbal volley over infiltration, identity & language
ANI Himanta Biswa Sarma (left), Mamata Banerjee Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee are engaged in a bitter verbal volley over the Bengali speaking, identity and demographic stated in X, '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. This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back. I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights.'Sarma replied, 'In Assam, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land. 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 politicize it. 'He continued, '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. While we are acting decisively to preserve Assam's identity, you, Didi, have compromised Bengal's future—encouraging illegal encroachment by a particular community, appeasing one religious community for vote banks, and remaining silent as border infiltration eats away at national integrity—all just to stay in power. Assam will continue to fight to preserve its heritage, its dignity, and its people—with courage and constitutional clarity'.Controversy started earlier this month when Sarma said that Assamese is the state language and there cannot be blackmail to it. He said that threats by some minority organizations that they will not write Assamese as their mother tongue in the census will only quantify the number of foreigners. All Bodoland Territorial Council Minority Students Union (ABMSU) threatened to replace language in the census. He threatened to replace Assamese with Bengali following the state government's eviction drive in had said, "Language cannot be used as a tool for blackmail. In Assam, Assamese is permanent — both as the state and official language. However, if they write Bengali in electoral rolls or census, it will only quantify the number of foreigners in the state.'ABMSU leader Mainuddin Ali said that Bengali-speaking Muslims would now choose to write Bengali — not Assamese — in public declarations, claiming that Assamese would no longer remain a majority language. All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) affiliated workers' union, the Indian National Trinamool Trade Union Congress (INTTUC), staged a protest march against the National Register of Citizens(NRC) in Siliguri, condemning the alleged harassment and pushback of migrant Bengali-speaking individuals from several BJP-ruled states. Muslims comprise 34% of the 3.12 crore population of Assam, of which 4% are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the remaining are mostly Bengali- speaking Muslims.
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Assamese will remain official language: Sarma after census row
1 2 3 Guwahati: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said Assamese will remain the official language in Assam, despite threats from a section of the minority community to list Bengali as their mother tongue during the census. He added that the Assamese language would continue to thrive and is not reliant on migrant Muslims. Sarma was responding to an announcement made on Wednesday by All BTC Minority Students' Union (ABMSU) leader Mainuddin Ali, who declared that Bengal-origin Muslims in Assam would record Bengali as their mother tongue in the upcoming census. This declaration has sparked a controversy in the state. The chief minister reacted firmly, asserting that Assamese will legally remain the official language of Assam, even though leaders like Ali have pledged to diminish the status of the Assamese language to that of a minority language. However, Sarma said such actions, as stated by the ABMSU leader, would assist in identifying illegal Bangladeshis residing in Assam. "A wrong notion is spread during the census making the language, which is spoken, important. Then a section of minority people starts blackmailing that they won't speak in Assamese. If you speak in Bengali at home, why would you give wrong information of speaking in Assamese? Giving wrong information during the census is a crime," said Sarma. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giá vàng đang tăng mạnh trong năm 2025 — Các nhà giao dịch thông minh đã tham gia IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo He said 70% of the people of char (riverine) areas, which are home to a large number of Bengal-origin Muslims, mentioned Bengali as their mother tongue in the previous census too. He said only 30 percent write Assamese as their mother tongue and among them, the number of Assamese-speaking indigenous Muslims (Desi, Goria, Moria, and Jolha) is the highest. "Immigrant Muslims have always written Bengali as their mother tongue. This is nothing new to give threats," Sarma said, affirming that eviction drives will continue in Assam. Speaking at a protest programme in Kokrajhar on Wednesday against eviction in minority areas in Dhubri district, Ali, working president of ABMSU, said Assamese will become a "language of minority" in the state if Bengal-origin Muslims mention Bengali as their mother tongue in the census. "During the census this time, we will clearly say we won't write Assamese (as mother tongue). We will erase the Assamese language and if we do so, Assamese will be reduced to a language of minority," Ali said. "We, the Bengal-origin Muslims, clearly say that we won't write Assamese. The Assamese language and Assamese community will be reduced to a minority. The way in which the BJP govt has unleashed atrocities on Muslims, we are surprised," Ali added. He also criticised CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for the eviction where hundreds of houses have been razed down in Dhubri while clearing govt lands from encroachment.
NDTV
10-07-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
"Will Reveal...": Himanta Sarma Responds To Leader's Bengali Threat
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said writing Bengali as the mother tongue in census documents will quantify the number of foreigners living in the state. His comments were in reaction to a statement by All BTC Minority Students' Union (ABMSU) leader Mainuddin Ali, who threatened that all Bengali-speaking Muslims would stop writing Assamese as their mother tongue in the census documents, thereby making the people speaking the state language a minority. "Language cannot be used as a tool for blackmail. In Assam, Assamese is permanent - both as the state and official language. However, if they write Bengali in the census, it will only quantify the number of foreigners in the state," Mr Sarma told reporters here. The ABMSU leader made the statement on Wednesday while speaking to the media during a protest in Kokrajhar against eviction drives in Dhubri a day earlier. Mr Sarma asserted that such threats will not stop eviction drives. "People in the char areas (riverine vegetative islands) have always been writing Bengali as their language. But the indigenous Muslims write Assamese as their language", he said, emphasising Assamese will remain the state language of Assam whether someone writes it in the census documents or not. Cutting across party lines, all political outfits have condemned Mr Ali's statement and demanded his arrest. A case has also been filed against him at Dispur police station in Guwahati.
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
No blackmail, Assamese is official language: Sarma
Synopsis Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma affirmed Assamese as the state's official language. He cautioned against exploiting language for coercion. This statement followed claims by ABMSU leader Mainuddin Ali. Ali suggested Bengali-speaking Muslims might favor Bengali in official contexts. Sarma stated that declaring Bengali on documents would only reveal the number of foreigners. He emphasized Assamese's permanent status in Assam.
Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
In Gauhati HC, challenge to Assam's ‘pushback' into Bangladesh: ‘Nothing in law ratifies this action'
The All BTC Minority Students Union has moved the Gauhati High Court with a petition against the Assam government's actions of 'pushing back' alleged foreigners into Bangladesh after the Supreme Court refused to entertain their plea and asked them to approach the high court. In a hearing held Friday at the Gauhati High Court, a Bench of Justices Manish Choudhury and Mitali Thakuria directed the counsels for the petitioners to identify specific individuals affected by the state government's actions. 'Mr. [A.R.] Bhuyan, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner has submitted that he has received the detailed particulars of persons who have been picked up and who have been subjected to the alleged Pushback Policy adopted by the State. It is his submission that they were earlier on Indian soil, but, after being picked up their whereabouts are not known,' states the order, adding that advocate Bhuyan has submitted that he will file an additional affidavit with details of the persons by July 14. Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde, who appeared virtually for the petitioners, argued that pushbacks are being conducted by the state government without legal sanction. 'Nothing in law ratifies this action called pushbacks. Pushback is relevant only [under] certain circumstances, that is if there are some aliens coming on to the territory, and you catch them at the border and do not allow them to enter, where you have no admission policy, that is push back. But people who are already on this side of the border, who have been subject to judicial proceedings and some of whom have failed the judicial proceedings and other who are suspected to be illegal immigrants, there is no procedure under the law in which they can just be taken to the border and pushed across the border,' he argued. Assam Advocate General Devajit Saikia, appearing for the state, argued that the petition is 'vague' and questioned whether the ABMSU had legal standing to file the petition. 'Mr. Saikia, learned Advocate General, has raised an issue of maintainability of the instant PIL,' noted the court in its order. In their petition, the ABMSU have prayed for the court to declare 'the 'push-back' policy adopted by the state respondent' as 'unconstitutional' and 'illegal' and to direct the state to not deport or push back people without following 'the due process of law.'
