Assam CM Lays Down Rules For Migrant Bangladesh-Origin Muslims To Be Recognised As ‘Indigenous’

Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma laid down certain conditions for the migrant Bangladesh-origin Bengali-speaking Muslims, “miya”, if they want to be recognised as indigenous people of the state:

“They should stop having more than two children and practising polygamy as it is not the culture of Assamese people. If they want to become indigenous, they cannot marry off their minor daughters,” Sarma said on Saturday while laying down certain conditions for the migrant Bangladesh-origin Muslims living in the state, reported The Times of India.

“Instead of sending your children to madrasas, educate them to become doctors and engineers if you want to be called indigenous,” he said, adding that they should also start sending their daughters to schools and give them the right over their fathers’ properties.

He wondered how Bengali-speaking Muslims could claim to be indigenous if they “encroached” on ‘satras’ (Vaishnavite monasteries) land.

“These are the differences between them and the indigenous people of the state. If they can give up these practices and imbibe the culture of Assamese people, at some point of time they too can become indigenous,” Sarma added.

According to the 2011 census, Muslims account for over 34% of Assam’s total population. The state has the second largest Muslim Assam has population among all the Indian states, after Jammu and Kashmir. The Muslim population in Assam has two distinct ethnicities — Bengali-speaking and Bangladesh-origin migrant Muslims and Assamese-speaking indigenous Muslims.

The state cabinet recognised around 40 lakh Assamese-speaking Muslims of the state in 2022 who do not have any history of migration from Bangladesh as “indigenous Assamese Muslims” and a sub-group of the greater native Assamese community, making a clear distinction between the two groups of Muslims, according to the Times of India reports.

However, the Assamese-speaking indigenous Muslims are just about 37% of the total Muslim population, while the migrant Bengali-speaking Muslims account for the remaining 63%.

The cabinet-approved ‘indigenous’ Assamese Muslims comprise five groups — Goria, Moria, Jolah (only the ones living in tea gardens), Desi and Syed (only the Assamese-speaking).