Latest news with #Bengali-Muslims
Indian Express
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Oppn says minorities in Upper Assam being given ultimatums to leave by vigilante groups
Opposition parties in the state have alleged a breakdown of the law-and-order machinery in Upper Assam, citing a government policy that encourages 'indigenous' people to possess arms in areas where they are in a 'minority', and vigilante activity by Assamese nationalist groups in Sivasagar and other towns. Both Congress leader Ripun Bora and Sivasagar MLA from regional party Raijor Dol called for President's Rule, alleging that the state government is unable to provide security to its citizens. Various Assamese nationalist groups, including the All Tai Ahom Students Union, Jatiya Sangrami Sena and Bir Lachit Sena, have allegedly been running a campaign in different towns in Upper Assam against Bengali-Muslims living and working there, referring to them as 'suspected Bangladeshis.' This has been particularly prevalent in Sivasagar, from where videos purportedly show vigilantes going to the rented accommodations and ordering occupants to 'leave Upper Assam'. The outfits call this a 'miya kheda andolan' (movement to chase away miyas, a pejorative term used to refer to Bengali-origin Muslims). This follows widespread evictions in different parts of Assam, most recently in Golaghat district, and comes against the backdrop of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma emphasising the need to 'stem demographic invasion' of Upper Assam by 'people of one religion.' On Friday, forest authorities and the Golaghat district administration undertook a demolition drive in which 146 families were evicted. Opposition leaders particularly zeroed in on Sarma's response to a question by a reporter earlier this week, seeking his comment on allegations that the 'campaign' in Sivasagar is happening with his patronage. 'It has to happen with my patronage. I am only saying that people need to stay in whichever area they should stay,' he said. Accusing Sarma of 'instigating mob violence' in Sivasagar, Congress leader Ripun Bora said, 'Our country's Constitution gives citizens fundamental rights of which one is that citizens can go to other parts of the country and work. So, some Muslim people from Lower Assam are in Upper Assam to do different kinds of work, like many youth from Assam are in different parts of the country to work. Those people are being called miya by some organisations and given ultimatums of 48 hours to leave Upper Assam.' He also pointed to the government planning to roll out an online portal where 'indigenous people, who perceive a threat to their lives and reside in sensitive areas' can apply for arms licences. Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi said there 'is no guarantee' of when things could go 'out of control.' The AIUDF has also written to the Assam DGP asking for his intervention 'to identify and take strict legal action against the individuals and groups responsible for these unlawful activities'.
Indian Express
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Assam to launch portal for indigenous people to seek arms licences
Two months after the Assam Cabinet approved a scheme to issue arms licences to 'indigenous people' in parts of the state where their 'population is in the minority,' Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced Wednesday that the government will soon roll out an online portal where eligible people can apply for the licences. When the Cabinet decision was announced in May, Sarma had named districts where Bengali-origin Muslims account for majority, such as Dhubri, Morigaon, Nagaon, Barpeta and South Salmara, and said that 'indigenous people are in minority' in these areas and often 'have to confront the question of their security.' On Wednesday, he announced on social media that the government is in the process of rolling out a dedicated portal where 'indigenous people, who perceive threat to their lives and reside in sensitive areas' can apply for arms licences. He announced three key eligibility criteria for the issue of arms licences under this scheme: that the applicant has to be an 'original inhabitant or indigenous citizen of Assam,' they must 'perceive a genuine threat to life and safety due to the vulnerability of the area of residence,' and that they must 'reside in a vulnerable or remote area, as notified by the District Administration, or assessed as such by authorized security agencies.' He also said the applicantions would be subject to a security assessment, verification and vetting and that once issued, the licences would be subject to periodic review and 'monitoring and reporting.' This portal is likely to be rolled out this month and this comes at a time when vigilantes, particularly those of a group called Bir Lachit Sena, have been issuing ultimatums to Bengali-Muslims living in different parts of Upper Assam in the past few days, giving calls for 'all Bangladeshis to leave Upper Assam within seven days.'
Indian Express
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
In an Assam village, young men who found work in Gurgaon are returning in droves
'If I don't work, my family won't be able to eat. But the mahaul (atmosphere) there is scary. I will wait here for a couple of weeks, and if things improve, I will go back,' said Mohammad Anwar Hussain, from his home in Assam's Kokrajhar. Shaken by the Gurugram police's crackdown in the past two weeks, 22-year-old Hussain locked up his rented house in the city last Friday and took a train back to his village. Not just him, seven other Bengali-Muslim men from his village, Haoripet 1, in the Gossaigaon subdivision of Kokrajhar, who had been living and working in Gurugram, have returned fearing detention. In mid-July, the Gurugram police began what they called a 'routine verification' drive to identify Bangladeshis and Rohingya living illegally in the city, as part of which hundreds of Bengali-Muslims have been taken to and held in police stations and 'holding centres'. At least 250-odd such people have been released from these centres after document verification since the drive started. Anwar's uncle was one of those held as part of the drive, which cemented his decision to leave the city until the dust settles. He, his uncle, and others from his village were employed as sanitation workers and pantry workers in a sprawling corporate complex in Gurugram's Sector 74A. 'Around July 14, I started seeing people being picked up, and though I have my documents, I felt uneasy. On July 16, my uncle was held. His landlord told him that the police were summoning him and that he should go to the Badshahpur police station. When he did, he was kept there for nearly a week and was let go only after our local police station in Gossaigaon spoke to them and confirmed that he was from here. He had a hard time, and that experience scared me. So I told my company that things are not good and I want to leave for some time, and they told me that it's fine. I took a train and reached the village on Saturday. Thankfully, I had already sent my wife and two children back to the village earlier in the month,' said Hussain, who has worked in Gurugram for over five years. Hazrat Ali (25) said he was terrified when dozens of people who lived and worked with him were picked up. 'I live in a slum in the city, and for two days straight, police came and picked up one or two people from there. They were released after eight hours. On the third day, around 20-25 people were rounded up and kept for nearly a week. I was at work at the time. There were men from other parts of Assam like Dhubri, Barpeta and Bongaigaon. It was so scary, police could come any time, night or day, and take people away. Everyone around me started preparing to leave, and I felt that it wasn't safe for me to stay back if everyone else was leaving,' he said. He said that he does not intend to stay away from the city and his livelihood for long. 'I have been making calls, and people in Gurugram are telling me that it will be better soon. So I am thinking of going back this weekend, I don't want to lose my job,' he said. Another resident of the village, Aminul Hoque (20), landed in Gurugram just three months ago to join his elder brother at work, but left in panic soon after. According to Nur Mohammad Ansari, who is part of the All BTC Minority Students Union (ABMSU), hundreds of Bengali-Muslims from Gossaigaon alone work in Gurugram. 'We are trying to keep track of their situation. There are many others who are unable to come back because they are short on money. They are taking shelter in others' houses or hiding somewhere else for fear of being detained,' he said. 'It was impossible to live there like that. We work hard for eight years, and then we don't know when at night someone will come, pick us up and take us away,' said Anwar. The Gurgaon police, however, maintain that no genuine citizen needs to fear or flee the to their home state, and there is no need to panic.
