The Assamese language is safe so long as we’re in power: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said that nobody can hold the Assamese to ransom by airing damaging comments. He said that so long as the BJP is in power, nobody should be scared of the future of the Assamese language.

The Chief Minister's statement is a reaction to the stand taken by the All BTC Minority Students' Union that has threatened that all East Bengal-origin minority people will register Bengali as their mother tongue in the forthcoming Census, instead of Assamese, so as to reduce the speakers of the Assamese language to a minority. This statement from the minority student union came as an immediate repercussion of the ongoing drives to evict encroachers in the state.

The Chief Minister said, "Assamese is the official language in the state in conformity with laws and the Constitution. Nobody can erase it. The Assamese language can't be a victim of blackmailing. Especially so long as we're in power, nobody can dare do that. Assam bothers the least about what they (the BTC minority students) have aired. The Assamese language will have the very status that it has now. It is their wrong notion that recording their mother tongue as Bengali will spell disaster for the Assamese language as the official language in the state. Rather, it will expose the number of Bangladeshis residing in Assam."

Various parties and organizations in the state have been reacting sharply to the statement aired by the minority students' union.

Reacting to the statement, AASU president Utpal Sarma said, "It's true that immigration of foreigners and their unabated population growth have changed the demography of Assam. Apart from the people of Assam, the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court have admitted this fact. It's also a fact that many districts in the state are not in the grip of the indigenous people who have been losing their political rights. Now they (the minorities) have threatened not to write Assamese as their mother tongue during the census. In such a situation, the need of the hour is to amend the Constitution, besides implementing every section of Clause VI of the Assam Accord to keep the Assamese language alive."

Also Read: Low intake of ultra-processed foods regularly may raise diabetes risk

Also Watch: