Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday slammed rights activist Syeda Hameed for her remark that “Bangladeshis can live here”, asserting that such statements legitimise illegal infiltrators and seek to “realise Jinnah’s dream of making Assam a part of Pakistan.”
The chief minister in a post on X said, “People like Syeda Hameed, a close confidante of the Gandhi family, legitimise infiltrators, as they seek to realise Jinnah’s dream of making Assam a part of Pakistan.”
Today Assamese identity is on the brink of extinction because of the tacit support of people like her, Sarma added.
“But we are the sons and daughters of Lachit Barphukan, WE WILL FIGHT till the last drop of our blood to save our State and our identity,” he added, referring to the legendary Ahom general.
Sarma stated, “Let me make it very clear, Bangladeshis are not welcome in Assam, it is not their land. Anyone sympathising with them may accommodate them in their own backyards. Assam is not up for grabs by illegal infiltrators, NOT NOW, NOT EVER.”
Hameed, a former member of the Planning Commission, was in Guwahati to attend a seminar on ‘The State of the Nation with Special Reference to Assam’, organised by a citizens’ forum – Asom Nagarik Sanmilan on Sunday.
Along with Hameed’s comments, Sarma also shared her photographs with former PM Manmohan Singh and ex-Assam CM Tarun Gogoi at different forums.
He also shared a finding from a recent report by a commission set up by the state government to examine Satra (Vashnavite seats of learning) land issues.
The report stated that over 15,288 bighas (5,045.04 acres) of Satra land across Assam have been illegally taken over.
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In Barpeta district alone, 7,137 bighas (2,355.21 acres) are under encroachment. Other affected districts include Bajali, Nagaon, Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Kamrup, Bongaigain, Majuli and Dhubri.
