GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said demographic changes have turned certain districts of the state into “mini Bangladesh” and the only reason the Hindu minority in these districts has remained secure is because of the state govt.
Speaking at a function at Tangra Satra (Vasihnavite monastery) here, Sarma said, “Today, the number of Hindus in neighbouring Bangladesh (referring to the recent attacks on Hindu places of worship in Bangladesh) has decreased from 35% to just eight per cent. If we talk about the Dhubri district in Assam, we will see that there are 12% Hindus, similar to the eight per cent Hindus in Bangladesh. In districts like Barpeta, there are 30% Hindus. In Morigaon, we have only 35% Hindus.”
He further said, “Our districts have now become a mini Bangladesh. Only the fear of the govt is stopping them (the majority) from doing something like in Bangladesh. They know that the govt here has the police and the military.
“The day the fear of the govt subsidies, the scenes we see in Bangladesh today will be visible everywhere except in the upper districts of Assam. And this is the reality,” he claimed.
Sarma also said, “It is uncertain how safe the Hindus of Assam are from the political point of view but if our society is united, if we fulfil our responsibilities towards our religious institutions and if we can keep our future generations inspired by the ideologies of our two great Vaishnavite gurus (referring to Srimanta Sankardev and Sri Madhavdev), then perhaps, we can survive as Assamese.”
In a post on X, Sarma wrote, “In both Assam and Bangladesh, the Hindu population is declining rapidly. Census data from 2021 will provide more detailed insights. Official census data up to 2011 of both places clearly demonstrate a demographic shift. The situation in West Bengal and Jharkhand is expected to be similar.”
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.Prabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is curren...
Read MorePrabin Kalita is a journalist at The Times of India and is currently the Chief of Bureau (northeast). He has been reporting in mainstream Indian national media since 2001. He has been a field journalist reporting gamut of issues from India’s northeastern region and major developments in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Bangladesh concerning India and northeastern region. He has been covering insurgency—internal and cross-border, politics, natural calamities, environment etc. He is a post-graduate in Geological Sciences from Gauhati University.
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