Guwahati. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma has said that Bengali-speaking Muslims will be considered ‘Khilonjia’ as indigenous people of the state only if they give up practices like child marriage and polygamy. Sharma had earlier held the Bengali-speaking Muslim community of the state responsible for social evils. Most of this community belongs to Bangladesh.
Sharma said on Saturday, ‘Whether Mians (Bengali-speaking Muslims) are natives or not is a different matter. What we are saying is that if they want to become ‘native’, then we have no problem but for this they will have to leave child marriage and polygamy and encourage women for education.
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The Chief Minister said that Assamese people have a culture in which girls are compared to ‘Shakti’ (goddess) and marrying two-three times is not Assamese culture. He said, ‘I always tell him, there is no problem in ‘Mian’ being Swadeshi but he cannot have two-three wives. This is not Assamese culture. How does someone want to become a native by encroaching the Sattra (Vaishnav Math) land?
The Chief Minister said that if Bengali-speaking Muslims could follow Assamese customs, they would also be considered ‘indigenous’.
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Tags: Assam news, Himanta Biswa Sarma
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 24, 2024, 13:40 IST