Assam, Feb 3: Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said while speaking to the media that a section of the Bangladeshi Muslims in Assam was communal and works to distort the local culture and language.
Sarma waded into the debate on CAA and NRC, and said he does not want the vote of those people who openly challenge the Indian and Assamese culture.
“Assam’s Muslim population is divided into two streams – one, Bangladeshi Muslims in Assam and the other who are indigenous. Some people who had come to Assam at a different point in time have started to identify themselves as Miya and they are very communal,” the minister said.
“They are involved in various activities to distort the Assamese culture and language. So, I don’t want to be MLA with their votes. My personal opinion is that the people who openly challenge the Assamese culture, language, and the composite Indian culture shouldn’t vote for us,” the BJP leader added.
The minister also commented on the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens, after The central government on Tuesday, informed the Lok Sabha that the rules under the CAA, which was enacted in December 2019, is under preparation.
Sarma said it was for the Centre to decide on the rules for the CAA’s implementation.
“The Citizenship Amendment Act has been passed; rules are yet to be framed. So, it is entirely up to the Government of India to frame the rules and modify them. So far as the NRC in Assam is concerned, we have already pointed out many anomalies in the implementation process of the first NRC,” the state minister stated.
“Our NRC coordinator has already filed an affidavit detailing anomalies and the requirement of a re-verification process. The Assam NRC issue is basically between the judiciary and the Assam government and there is nothing to be decided by the Government of India, per se,” he added.
He said that the matter is in the court and it is independent of what has been stated in the Parliament (on nationwide NRC). “The Assam issue will be decided by the court, the Government of India and the Government of Assam,” Sarma said.
