Himanta Biswa Sarma claims Muslim population in Assam now 40%: ‘Matter of life and death’

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that ‘changing demography’ is a big issue for him, adding that the Muslim population in Assam now stands 40 per cent.

“Changing demography is a big issue for me. In Assam, Muslim population has reached 40% today. In 1951, it was 12%. We have lost many districts. This is not a political issue for me. It is a matter of life and death for me,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was quoted by ANI as saying.

On July 1, Sarma without mentioning any community had said that criminal activities by a section of a people from a ‘particular religion’ were a matter of concern.

“I am not saying that crime is committed only by people of a particular religion but recent incidents since the just concluded Lok Sabha elections is a matter of concern,” Sarma had said.

On June 23, Sarma claimed that Bangladeshi minority community members voted for Congress in the Lok Sabha elections , without considering the development work done by the BJP-led governments in the state and Centre.

He also added that the Bangladeshi-origin minority community is the only one in Assam which indulges in communalism.

In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-AGP-UPPL coalition won 11 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats in Assam, while the Congress bagged the remaining three.

The BJP and its allies lost some ground in the northeastern states in the recently concluded general elections, winning 15 out of 24 seats. Opposition Congress won seven seats, a gain from the four it held previously.

“A particular religion openly went against our government in those states, and that religion has tremendous followers in those states. So that has made a difference. It is not a political defeat, because nobody can fight with a religion,” Sarma had said.