The ‘Miya’ Muslims and their endless persecution in Assam

The recent incidents in Assam are deeply worrying.

In Sivasagar district, tensions erupted following allegations against the Marwari community in the aftermath of a brutal attack. Thousands of people took to the streets in protest, but the response from the police and administration was inadequate. The Marwari community was later forced to offer a public apology at a function attended by state minister Ranoj Pegu and the district superintendent of police.

In another gruesome incident in Dhing in Nagaon district, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was allegedly gang-raped and left in a critical condition on the roadside. This heinous act sparked widespread outrage and protests across Assam.

A particularly controversial statement by the CM came during a BJP executive meeting in Guwahati, where he reportedly referred to himself as a “mad dog”. On Tuesday, Sarma doubled down, openly declaring that he would take sides and not allow “Miya” Muslims to “take over” Assam. When opposition members accused him of being biased, Sarma brazenly replied, “I will take sides. What can you do about it?”

Continuing with his unbridled Islamophobic statements, the CM added: “According to the 2011 census report, the population of Assam was 3,120,5576, of which 1,918,779 were Hindus, 1,067,9345 Muslims and the rest were from other ethnic groups. The percentage of the population was Hindu, 61.47% and that of Muslims was 34.22%. After India’s independence, the percentage of Muslim population in Assam was 22% in 1951. It increased to 24.66% in 1961, 24.56% in 1971, 28.43% in 1991, 30.09% in 2001 and 34.33% in 2011. The Muslim population increased by three to four percent between 2001 and 2011. The demographic pattern is changing very rapidly in lower Assam, where a human disaster is brewing. There were some purely Hindu villages in lower Assam, but now those villages are devoid of any Hindu population. For example, Kalitakuchi in Hajo was a purely Hindu village. The name of the village itself suggests that it was a Hindu village, but now there is no Hindu population in that village.”