Himanta’s ‘Hard Hindutva’ drops eastern saffron pivot
Image credit X.com @himantabiswa
BJP finds new saffron poster boy in Himanta Biswa Sarma
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, August 31: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is playing hard Hindutva. Assam Assembly in two days erased pro-Muslim British-era legacies.
The Assam chief minister is unapologetic in his espousal of hard Hindutva. Sarma asserted that he will takes sides.
Sarma has coined ‘Mia Muslims’ to mould his hard Hindutva image. The saffron poster boy spotlight is now sharply shining on the Assam chief minister.
The Assam Assembly in quick successions trashed Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, 1935, and a 1937 rule that allowed a two-hour ‘Jumma (Muslim prayers)’ break in the House. The 1937 ‘Jumma’ break in the Assembly had the authorship of the Muslim League and patronage of the British masters.
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The Assam Assembly trashed the ‘Jumma’ break on Friday. The rule allowed a break in the Assembly proceedings on Friday from 11 AM to 1 PM.
On Thursday, the Assam Assembly binned ‘The Muslim Marriage and Divorce, Act 1937’. Sarma defended the repeal bill, saying: “Even Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala do not allow the registration of marriages and divorces of Muslims with Kazi. They are done with the state agencies.”
He also thumped that there is no other legislative house that allows breaks for religious purposes. The legacy communal fault lines are inviting the wrath of Sarma.
The Assam chief minister portrays an image of a man on a mission. “At the time of Independence, the Muslims constituted 14 per cent of the population of Assam. They are now 40 per cent,” said Sarma.
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He argued that he will indeed take sides. He posted a strong rebuttal to lead editorial of The Indian Express that revealed tone and tenor with headline The CM For Some. “Assam is facing external aggression and a silent invasion – These are not my words but those of the Supreme Court of India,” posted Sarma in his response.
“In this situation, no Chief Minister can remain neutral. I have taken a side and will continue to stand with the indigenous Assamese community. In your words I shall continue to be CM for some,” an unapologetic Sarma stated.
Sarma was furious with his sharp comments on the day a teenaged girl was found gangraped in Assam. Two days later, the alleged main accused allegedly fled from the police custody and drowned in a pond.
“The Muslims are now in majority in several of the districts of Assam,” Sarma keeps saying these days. ‘Mia Muslims’ want to take whole of Assam, and I will not let that happen, asserts Sarma.
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The Assam chief minister’s saffron surge set off ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His hard Hindutva pivot helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win 11 of the 14 parliamentary constituencies.
Sarma is now helping the BJP offensives in the Jharkhand Assembly elections. His clarion call against the ‘Mia Muslims’ netted former Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren for the BJP.
Soren unyoked from the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, asserting that the BJP could be the only bulwark against the Bangladeshi illegal Muslim immigrants. Soren claimed that the tribals in Jharkhand now face existential threats from the illegal Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants.
From Assam to Jharkhand, Sarma is showing his sweeping influences on the BJP’s poll plank. In him, the BJP has found a new saffron poster boy, and the spotlight is shining more brightly on Sarma than Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yodi Adityanath.
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