Latest news with #Bengali-speakingMuslims
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Ten held for attack on security forces in evicted area of Paikan Reserve Forest: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday (July 18, 2025) said 10 people have been arrested in connection with an attack on security forces by alleged encroachers in Paikan Reserve Forest, which led to the death of one person and injuries to more than 20 others. He claimed that all encroachers have been cleared from the area, where an eviction drive was carried out last week. "We have already taken action. Ten people have been arrested within hours of the incident. Our action has been completed," Mr. Sarma said, addressing a press conference in Guwahati. One alleged encroacher was killed and more than 20 others, including policemen, were injured in a clash between evicted people and security personnel in Paikan Reserve Forest in Goalpara district on Thursday (July 17, 2025.) The eviction drive carried out on July 12 to clear encroachment on around 135 hectares in the Reserve Forest under Krishnai Range had affected 1,080 families, and the evicted people were mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims. The Chief Minister said Paikan is 'empty now' and added, "They won't come there again. After a point, they don't return, I know from experience." He said 40-50 families were staying in temporary shelters even after the eviction drive, with the authorities also not pushing him out immediately as they had assured him of leaving the area soon. Reiterating his accusation against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of emboldening the encroachers through his speech during his Assam visit on Wednesday (July 16, 2025), Mr. Sarma said, "People from Goalpara had come for Gandhi's meeting. Later, they went to Paikan at night and instigated the people, who attacked the forest guards and police the next day." "Police are looking into whether there was any impact of Kharge and Gandhi's provocative speeches. After all, one person died," he added. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had accompanied Rahul Gandhi during the day-long visit.
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
TMC trains guns at BJP for ‘targeting Bengalis' over illegal immigration, says Tripura CM Manik Saha needs to clarify stand
The Tripura unit of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Thursday criticised the ruling BJP for purportedly treating Bengali-speaking people as illegal immigrants. Addressing media persons in Agartala, TMC youth leader Santanu Saha said, 'A BJP chief minister recently said that those who consider Bengali as their mother tongue will be easy to identify as Bangladeshis (immigrants). We feel this is a conspiracy of the double-engine government to drive those who speak in Bengali out of the country. Sometimes they (Bengalis) are called Rohingyas, sometimes Bangladeshis… this is a double standard, fascism. The CM of Tripura, who is a Bengali himself, is yet to give any clarification on this.' 'Manik Babu has not given any assurances to Bengalis till today. We want him to clarify his stand before the people, he added. His comments came two days after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had targeted the TMC for 'distorting' his comments on Bengali-speaking Muslims. In response to All BTC Minority Students Union leader Moinuddin Ali's remark that Bengali-speaking Muslims would identify Bengali as their mother tongue during census enumeration and that Assamese would cease to be the language of the majority in Assam, Assam BJP Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had purportedly said, 'Writing Bengali as mother tongue in the census documents will quantify the number of foreigners in Assam.' Terming his comments as 'outrageous', the TMC had accused him of being hateful towards Bengalis and demanded an apology from him. Assam CM Sarma later refuted the charges and said on X, 'Assam has been waging a relentless war against illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims for several decades. The recent attempt by the @AITCofficial to distort my media remarks and portray our stand as anti-Bengali is nothing but a desperate ploy to shield Muslim infiltrators from Bangladesh – whose very presence threatens to alter the demographic fabric of our nation.' Citing Sarma's comments, TMC leader Milton Chakma on Thursday said, 'No particular community should be targeted and termed Bangladeshi. We are also against illegal immigrants. But we are protesting against any attempt to target any particular community in the name of combating illegal immigration.' The TMC leaders also criticised the state government's move to install smart electric meters, along with the decision of the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) to hike water taxes. The party said it would hold a sit-in demonstration outside the AMC office in Agartala on July 28 to protest against the hike in water taxes.
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'Kaan Khol Ke Sun Lo...': Mamata Threatens EC, BJP Over Bengali Harassment, Voter Roll ‘Conspiracy'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has launched a fierce dual-front attack, accusing the BJP-led Centre of harassing Bengali-speaking citizens across India and charging the Election Commission with acting under political influence. Leading a massive monsoon protest in central Kolkata, Banerjee warned that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bengal's voter rolls ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls is a 'dangerous conspiracy' to delete genuine voters, especially Bengali-speaking Muslims and the poor. The TMC chief alleged that Bengalis are being profiled and detained in BJP-ruled states and called the Centre's silence 'shameful.' She further claimed that the BJP's goal is to manipulate Bengal's voter rolls, as seen in other states like Bihar and Maharashtra. 'I respect the EC, but if they become BJP's agent, we will fight,' Mamata said, reigniting her famous call: Khela Hobey, round two begins.#mamataBanerjee #tmc #bjp #electioncommission #bjptmcclash #bengalpolitics #bengaliharrassment #voterrolls #khelahobey2026 #tmcprotest #eccontroversy #ecvoter list #voterlistcontroversy #banglabhasha #bjpcontroversy #tmcvsbjp #toi #toibharat #bharat #trending #breakingnews #indianews Read More
India Today
15-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Encroachments in Assam a 'jihad' to wipe out locals: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed on Tuesday that the indigenous communities of the state are facing "invasion" from people of "one religion", who are allegedly encroaching on land in different parts to alter the demography of those said the government's eviction drives, through which over 1.19 lakh bighas have been cleared since 2021, are a major step towards checking this alleged attempt by migrants to gain a political foothold in Assamese-majority chief minister did not specify who was making this alleged attempt, but most of the evicted people are Bengali-speaking Muslims. Addressing a press conference here, Sarma said that it has been found while conducting eviction drives that the encroachers are mostly people with own land in their native districts, and yet they move to settle illegally in distant parts of the state.'Forest destruction is one of the issues. These people migrate to change the demography of that place,' he said that as these people migrate from one part of the state and settle in another part, they enrol themselves as voters in the new once they grow in numbers to thousands, they become a sizable vote bank, and the political leaders do not act against their initial encroachment of forest or government land, the chief minister claimed.'All these people are of one religion,' he said, without elaborating.'This is not just a land jihad, but a jihad to finish off the Assamese people. After demographic invasion in lower and middle Assam, it is now happening in upper Assam,' the chief minister alleged that these encroachers have been enjoying the patronage of the Congress.'We see that in a place, votes secured by the Congress go up suddenly. If we calculate this increase in numbers, it will be the same as the demographic change that has taken place there,' he added that it is for the district commissioner to strike out the names of the encroachers once evicted from the local voter list, as their names already appear in their native districts within the asked if a special intensive revision of the electoral roll could help in detecting illegal settlers, Sarma said it would not serve the purpose in this context of demographic updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is yet to be notified, will also not help in this regard, as it is apprehended that names of foreigners have been included in it due to "lack of government mechanism" in certain areas to check it, he answer to checking this attempt at demographic change is an uncompromising government and leadership who will work to evict them,' Sarma said 1,19,548 bighas (160 sq km) of land has been cleared of encroachment since his government took over in May these, 84,743 bighas are forest land and 26,713 bighas are 'khas' or general government land, among other categories of land cleared, the chief minister added.- EndsTrending Reel
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Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Assam CM Himanta alleges demographic shift due to religious invasion
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed on Tuesday that the indigenous communities of the state are facing "invasion" from people of "one religion", who are allegedly encroaching on land in different parts to alter the demography of those areas. He said the government's eviction drives, through which over 1.19 lakh bighas have been cleared since 2021, are a major step towards checking this alleged attempt by migrants to gain a political foothold in Assamese-majority areas. The chief minister did not specify who was making this alleged attempt, but most of the evicted people are Bengali-speaking Muslims. Addressing a press conference here, Sarma said that it has been found while conducting eviction drives that the encroachers are mostly people with own land in their native districts, and yet they move to settle illegally in distant parts of the state. Forest destruction is one of the issues. These people migrate to change the demography of that place, he claimed. Sarma said that as these people migrate from one part of the state and settle in another part, they enrol themselves as voters in the new place. And once they grow in numbers to thousands, they become a sizable vote bank, and the political leaders do not act against their initial encroachment of forest or government land, the chief minister claimed. All these people are of one religion, he said, without elaborating. This is not just a land jihad, but a jihad to finish off the Assamese people... After demographic invasion in lower and middle Assam, it is now happening in upper Assam, the chief minister said. Citing instances of people moving to settle in places far from their native districts within the state, Sarma said, Residents of South Salmara-Mankachar (western Assam) can go to West Bengal if they need better opportunity, it is so much closer. But they are travelling hundreds of kilometers to settle in Lakhimpur (northern tip). This demographic change will be visible in the voters' list in the state's northern and upper Assam in the coming years, he cautioned. Sarma alleged that these encroachers have been enjoying the patronage of the Congress. We see that in a place, votes secured by the Congress go up suddenly. If we calculate this increase in numbers, it will be the same as the demographic change that has taken place there, he told reporters. Asked whether foreign forces are involved in this, Sarma claimed that the Congress' social media is being 'boosted' by foreign handles. The CM said he last month provided details of 5,000 social media accounts of the opposition party being operated from abroad. "You will see that the people who criticise me now on social media are from places like Chittagong (in Bangladesh)," he said. Sarma added that it is for the district commissioner to strike out the names of the encroachers once evicted from the local voter list, as their names already appear in their native districts within the state. When asked if a special intensive revision of the electoral roll could help in detecting illegal settlers, Sarma said it would not serve the purpose in this context of demographic change. The updated National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is yet to be notified, will also not help in this regard, as it is apprehended that names of foreigners have been included in it due to "lack of government mechanism" in certain areas to check it, he added. In places like South Salmara and Hailakandi, there is no mechanism. The local person in authority won't identify his own people as illegal foreigners. Even if we transfer someone from a different district, they are forced to request for transfer soon, he said on using NRC for detecting infiltrators. Dealing with the situation in Assam needs improvisation', and strategies have to work', Sarma maintained. The answer to demographic invasion is not NRCdemography is a social science subject, not a legal issue, he said. The answer to checking this attempt at demographic change is an uncompromising government and leadership that will work to evict them. The government won't allow land to be taken over, indigenous people shouldn't rent out their property or employ them, and our people have to start doing their own work, Sarma asserted. He said 1,19,548 bighas (160 sq km) of land has been cleared of encroachment since his government took over in May 2021, affecting about 50,000 people. Of these, 84,743 bighas are forest land and 26,713 bighas are khas' or general government land, among other categories of land cleared, the chief minister added. Sarma, presenting an audio-video clip of reforestation of cleared land and animals returning to their habitat, said the government was working for restoration of the natural balance and dismissed allegations of planning to hand over forest land to industrialists. He added that another 63 lakh bighas, including 29 lakh bighas of forest land, are still under encroachment in the state, though some of the land is occupied by tribals who will be provided with ownership as per rules. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
