Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that the Muslim population in the northeast state will be nearly equal to that of Hindus if their current growth rate continues. He made the remarks while addressing a press conference following a cabinet meeting here at Dibrugarh.
The firebrand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader further said that out of Assam's 34 per cent Muslim population, 31 per cent are those who had migrated to the state earlier. Only 3 per cent of the state's total Muslim population, the Assam Chief Minister said, are indigenous Assamese Muslims.
"This is not my take, it is just the Census result. Today as per the 2011 Census, 34 per cent of the population is Muslim," he said when asked if Assamese indigenous people will become a minority after some years. "...then the 31 per cent are the Muslims who had migrated to Assam. And if you project that for 2021, 2031 and 2041, you will come to almost a 50:50 position. I am just stating what the statistical census report says."
Not the first time when CM Himanta flagged concerns about demographic change...
This is not the first time Chief Minister Himanta has flagged concerns over the demographic change in the northeast state. While addressing a press conference in Guwahati last week, Himanta had claimed that the indigenous communities of Assam are facing "invasion" from people of a particular religion. Even though Himanta did not mention the details about the community, he was referring to the Bengali-speaking Muslims in the state.
Sarma had said that these people migrate from one part of the state to another, enrolling themselves in the voters' list. Noting that they belong to one religion, he said these demographic changes will be visible in the state's voter list in Assam's northern and upper regions.
"...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," he had said. "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."
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