GUWAHATI: Eye on Assam elections due early next year, the BJP, which heads the state’s three-party ruling coalition, is trying to polarise voters.
After Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had called upon the indigenous communities and genuine Indians to stand united against “Mughal aggression”, the state’s Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma went after people believing in the “culture and civilisation” of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, who is a Lok Sabha member and chief of minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF).
“Love jihad today assumes mountainous proportions before Assamese women and girls. They are falling prey to people believing in Ajmal’s culture and civilisation. There have been several instances where such youths married Assamese girls by hiding their identity and the girls faced a situation like talaq soon after,” Sarma said.
He warned that the government would not spare people indulging in “love jihad”. The minister further said the government had decided to close down all state-run madrassas in the state as it felt orthodox madrassa teachings were not required for Assam and “our history”.
The Mughals, which Sonowal had mentioned at a programme recently, is a BJP metaphor for AIUDF which allegedly carries the “Bangladeshi” party tag.
“The indigenous communities are not safe and secure as the Mughal aggression is still on,” Sonowal had said. He had made an appeal to people to unite and defeat the illegal immigrants’ conspiracy to take over Assam.
The BJP has upped the ante against the AIUDF amidst the talks about its proposed alliance with the Congress. The Congress envisaged a grand alliance of opposition parties to oust the BJP from power. Endorsing it, Ajmal said his AIUDF would be a part of the formation. The Congress said the Left parties had already confirmed their participation while a regional ally of the BJP was sending feelers to join it.