Will Muslims in Assam be divided on linguistic lines?

This is a buzz since a panel constituted by the BJP-led government in Assam recommended that Assamese Muslims be recognised as an indigenous Assamese speaking community and identity cards should be provided for their distinct identity.

The recommendations were made following a long demand by "indigenous" Muslims to protect their identity against the possible identity threat from a large population of Bengali-speaking Muslims. But the same has raised fears of further alienation of the Bengali-speaking Muslims, whom the BJP considers "outsiders" and "a threat" to the ethnic and linguistic identity of the Assamese and other ethnic communities.

"This is nothing but a move towards further alienating the Bengali-speaking Muslims," a leader belonging to Bengali-speaking Muslims told DH on Sunday.

Also Read | Give identity cards to Assamese Muslims as an indigenous community: Panel to Assam government

"BJP leaders have been trying for a long to tag the Bengali-speaking Muslims as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. So if the government implements the recommendations, this will allow BJP to win votes of the Assamese Muslims and thereby further alienate and target the Bengali-speaking Muslims for polarisation," he said.

One of the seven panels constituted by the state government suggested that five sub-groups of Assamese Muslims – Syed, Goriya, Moriya, Deshi and Julha – should be clearly mentioned and recognized in the government notification for recognising them as indigenous Assamese community.

Moinul Islam, president of Sadou Asom Goriya Jatiya Parishad told DH that they are in favour of recognising them as an indigenous community to protect their distinct identity against Bengali-speaking Muslims. "Our identity should be as Goriyas, Morias....not as Assamese Muslims," he said.

Although there has been no specific government data about the population of indigenous Muslims in Assam so far, some organisations say that out of the 1.18 crore Muslims in the state, nearly 40 lakh people belonging to the Goriya, Moria, Ujani, Deshi, Jola and Poimal. They had either converted to Islam or were prisoners during the Mughal-Ahom wars in the 13th Century.

"Our forefathers used to identify themselves by their surnames (Hazarika, Rabha, Koch, Rajbongshi etc.) before there was a large-scale migration of Bengali-speaking Muslims from erstwhile East Pakistan. The Mullahs and Munsis motivated such people to change their surnames to identify themselves on religious lines," Islam said. "There should be a census of these communities and specific steps should be taken to protect our identity and for welfare instead of using the same for political gains," he stressed.

After the reports of the committees were handed over to him, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said his government would undertake measures for the implementation of the recommendations for socio-economic and academic empowerment of the "indigenous" Assamese Mulsim communities. Sarma, however, did not specify whether his government would fulfil the recommendation for recognising the "indigenous" Muslims as indigenous Assamese communities. Sarma himself has several times claimed that Bengali-speaking Muslims are a threat to the "civilisation" of the Assamese and other ethnic communities.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: