Hojai/Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday warned All India Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind president Mahmood A. Madani against “crossing limits” during his visit to eviction sites in Goalpara district, cautioning that the Islamic scholar would be arrested if he did so.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official event, Sarma said neither he nor the BJP fears Madani.
“Who is Madani? Is he a God? His bravado exists only during Congress rule, not under the BJP. If he crosses his limits, I will put him behind bars. I am the Chief Minister, not Madani. I am not scared of him,” Sarma asserted.
The remarks came a day after Madani toured eviction-hit areas in Goalpara and later demanded that eviction drives in Assam be conducted in line with Supreme Court guidelines.
Addressing the media, Madani accused the government of ignoring due process and alleged that people were being “targeted on religious lines.”
Madani seeks rehabilitation, humanitarian approach
Madani called for the rehabilitation of all bona fide citizens affected by eviction, citing Supreme Court directives that require resettlement plans before such actions.
“Evictions happen across the country, but the way they are carried out here is saddening,” he said, claiming that guidelines are routinely flouted in Assam.
He further alleged that the state government uses communal narratives to consolidate power.
“They call people ‘miya,’ ‘unknown,’ ‘doubtful.’ This attitude is more disheartening than eviction itself,” Madani said, stressing that legal mechanisms exist to determine citizenship.
On the issue of foreigners, the Jamiat leader clarified, “If someone is a foreigner, deport them—we don’t oppose that. But Indian citizens must not be left homeless.”
Madani also emphasised that while development projects like road expansion may require eviction, they should be conducted “within the system and with humanity.”
CM defends evictions, dismisses Madani’s influence
Sarma maintained that the government will continue to evict “illegal settlers” from forest land and grazing reserves.
“If unknown people occupy Village Grazing Reserves or Professional Grazing Reserves, eviction will definitely happen. Madani now knows what BJP is. We are not scared of anyone,” he said.
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Calling Madani a “valueless topic,” Sarma claimed such leaders only gain relevance during Congress regimes. “Their value is only during Congress. Not now,” he added.
Madani hits back at Sarma’s remarks
Responding to Sarma’s earlier comment suggesting he could be sent to Bangladesh, Madani questioned, “How can someone like me—whose father and grandfather were jailed during the freedom struggle—be sent to Bangladesh?”
Taking a swipe at Sarma, he added, “I have no competition with him. He is a great man, a hero. I am zero.”
Madani also said Jamiat would continue to speak for all communities, including indigenous Assamese, and reiterated that his organisation had the right to demand action against the Chief Minister if it felt his actions were unjust.
