Communal riots took place only during Cong tenure in Assam: CM

Guwahati, Aug 27 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that there has not been a single riot in the state during BJP tenure while the Hindu-Muslim conflicts took place only during the Congress rule in the state.

Sarma, while speaking on the floors of Assam assembly said: “I have checked records. The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) ruled Assam for 10 years and the BJP has been in power for the last eight years. However, there has not been a single instance of communal riots during the tenure of these two parties. The Hindu-Muslim riots occurred only and only in the state when Congress was in power.”He claimed that it was the Congress which failed to provide adequate security to the Muslim community.“Congress always runs behind Muslim votes, but the opposition party failed in giving security to the minority community. That is why I believe that the party which has wrong pasts should not speak on Hindu-Muslim conflicts,” Sarma said.He has also asserted that population imbalance is a big problem in Assam and this must be dealt with properly for the safety and security of the people of the state. The Chief Minister said that the systematic decline of the Hindu population in the state is the most prominent aspect and it should be thoroughly discussed.He claimed that Barpeta – the land of Srimanta Sankardev now has a meagre population of the Assamese community.“In Barpeta, there are only 40 houses of Assamese people and MLA Sherman Ali mentioned that he would give them safety and security. This is disgraceful,” Sarma said.The Chief Minister further added: “Do you know why the issue of Hindu-Muslim is becoming a big problem in Assam? 40 houses of the minority in a place related to Satra culture are proud to say that they are given maintenance by an opposition MLA from the special community.”He said that the Hindu-Muslim population dynamics is the biggest issue in Assam because a Muslim Congress MLA in a Hindu country is proudly saying that 40 Hindu families in his region are safe because of his generosity.Sarma asked Sherman Ali how he could say that he was giving shelter to the Assamese Hindu community.Moreover, he also asserted that the Congress has been involved in tendering support to Bengali-origin Muslims to take over the state; however, this would not happen.Sarma said: “Today MLA Rafikul Islam and opposition leader Debabrata Saikia mentioned that people from lower Assam will move towards the upper Assam. I ask why this should happen. The opposition wants Assam to be captured by Miya Muslims. They can try to do it but I will not let this happen in Assam. The Miya Muslims can never take charge of the state.”He also mentioned that the rights of the Indigenous people of Assam should be always safeguarded and the state has been going through economic and external aggression.“The concept of economic and external aggression in Assam is not my observation. SC stated these things in a case earlier filed by Sarbananda Sonowal. Even the first Chief Minister of Assam Gopinath Bordoloi mentioned outside aggression. The opposition members can easily check my statement based on facts,” Sarma added. –IANStdr/dan