Don't sell land or hire 'unknown people': CM Himanta tells citizens during inauguration of Assam Agitation Martyr's Memorial

The memorial was set up in memory of 860 Assamese who had died during the anti-foreigners movement, known as Assam Agitation, between 1979 and 1985

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday asked people not to sell land or give employment to "unknown" people as he inaugurated a martyr's memorial in memory of 860 Assamese people who had died during the anti-foreigners movement, known as the Assam Agitation, 40 years ago.

"The unknown people entered our Nam Ghars, satras, Kaziranga, killed the rhinos and tried to eliminate our pride. The indigenous people in Goalpara and Dhubri district have been reduced to minorities and launched attack on our economic freedom by getting into all sorts of work. They even challenged us by threatening economic boycott. They also occupied the land of our holy Batadrava than," Sarma told the crowd including family members of the Assam Agitation martyrs, who were invited for inauguration of the memorial.

Sarma has often referred to the Bengali-speaking Muslims as the "unknown" people. He recently said he would not allow the 'Miyas', a pejorative to describe the Bengali-speaking Muslims, to "stay in peace" as long as he was the CM.

The memorial, the foundation of which was laid in 2019, has been set up in memory of 860 Assamese who had died during the anti-foreigners' movement that had kept the state on the boil for six years, between 1979 and 1985. The foundation was laid when Sarbanada Sonowal was the Chief Minister.

The memorial has been constructed on 150 bigha land with expenditure of Rs 178 crore. It has a 225 feet memorial tower, a photo gallery highlighting major developments during the Assam Agitation, a gallery housing statues of the martyrs (not all), a cycling track, fountain, a meditation centre, beside others.

Assam observes December 10 as Martyr's Day as Khargeswar Talukdar, the first martyr of the agitation, had died in action by the security forces at Bhabanipur in Barpeta district, on December 10, 1979.

The memorial was inaugurated days after the BJP-led government released two reports that inquired into the violence in 1983 including the Nellie massacre in which more than 3,000 Bengali-speaking Muslims were killed in six hours. The Assam Agitation was a fight against the "infiltrators" from neighbouring East Pakistan or present Bangladesh.

"The Tiwari and Mehta Commission reports that probed into the violence in 1983, revealed how Assamese people were tortured, our land taken away and bloodshed was carried out by the foreigners," Sarma said soon after he began his speech with the slogan, 'Joi Aii Ahom', (hail mother Assam). This was a slogan of the agitation. "Our land were forcefully occupied, even the Assamese women were not spared."

Sarma said the BJP government, which came to power in 2016, have been taking several steps to check the threats from the "unknown" people.

"We have cleared lakhs of bighas of land by evicting them from forests and government land. But government alone can't get us all out of the threats. Today, I want to urge you all to take a pledge not to sell our land to the unknown people and not give employment to them. Don't hire a driver or allow our pavements to be used by the unknown people to run shops, business."

"Our traders and industrialists have to deny them jobs. They are paying more price to buy our land and gradually reduce us to homeless in our own land. By 2027, when the next Census is done, population of the Assamese people will come down to 60 per cent. Although Assam Agitation ended in 1985, our fight against the foreigners has not ended. We all must take inspiration from the 860 martyrs and continue our fight to protect the community, our land," Sarma said.

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also attended the event, urged people to stay together and continue the non-violent fight to protect the Assamese people.

The memorial was inaugurated months ahead of Assembly elections.