Guwahati, Jul 19 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma accused West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee of compromising her state’s future by encouraging encroachment by a “particular community” and appeasement just to stay in power.
He said that his government would continue to fight to preserve its heritage and its people, while asserting that there is no linguistic divide in Assam.
The BJP leader was reacting to Banerjee’s post on X earlier in the day, slamming the Assam government for “threatening” Bengali-speaking people and alleging that the BJP was pursuing a “divisive agenda”.
Replying to Banerjee’s post, Sarma wrote, “Didi, let me remind you — In Assam, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift.” He maintained that in several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land.
Sarma claimed that this is not a political narrative, but a reality, with the Supreme Court terming such infiltration as external aggression.
“And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicise it,” he alleged.
“We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi — all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilisation can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation,” he said.
Sarma claimed that while Assam government is “acting decisively” to preserve the state’s identity, “you, Didi, have compromised Bengal’s future — encouraging illegal encroachment by a particular community, appeasing one religious community for vote banks, and remaining silent as border infiltration eats away at national integrity — all just to stay in power”.
He asserted that Assam will continue to fight to preserve its heritage, its dignity, and its people.
Sarma had alleged on Thursday that Banerjee was only concerned about Bengali-speaking Muslims.
“The question is whether Mamata Banerjee likes Bengalis or only Muslim-Bengalis. My answer is only Muslim-Bengalis,” he had said, responding to the West Bengal CM’s recent accusation against the BJP of weaponising linguistic identity to achieve political goals.
“If she comes to Assam for the Muslim-Bengalis, the Assamese people and Hindu-Bengalis will not spare her,” he asserted.
The TMC supremo has been accusing the Centre and the BJP-ruled states of systematically targeting Bengali-speaking migrants by branding them as “illegal Bangladeshi or Rohingya”.
Banerjee had also taken out a protest march in Kolkata on Wednesday against the alleged torture of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. PTI SSG SSG SOM
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