CM wants Ahom general in textbooks
The Ahoms had defeated the Mughals 17 times. One of the battles, fought in 1671, is etched in the hearts and minds of the Assamese. It is the Battle of Saraighat, considered the greatest naval fight on a river. The Mughals had come under the command of Ram Singh and had 30,000 infantry, 15,000 archers, 18,000 Turkish cavalry, 5,000 gunners, over 1,000 cannons but suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Ahoms who were led by General Lachit Borphukan. As not many people in the mainland know about his valour and gallantry let alone the Battle of Saraighat, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken it upon himself to introduce the Ahom General to the country.
Our good days will come: Congress
The Congress in Assam is unfazed despite being embattled by a series of defections of its MLAs and leaders. State Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said every political party goes through highs and lows. He is confident the good days of the party will come. “People had once embraced the AGP and then rejected it. The BJP will also meet the same fate. So our good days will come again,” Borah said recently after his predecessor Ripun Bora ditched the party to don Trinamool Congress colours. The slide for the Congress started in 2016, a year after the then minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is now the chief minister, deserted the party along with several MLAs.
Panel seeks documentation of Assamese Muslims
The Assamese Muslims could soon be documented if the state government accepts the recommendations of a committee it had constituted. The committee suggested that the government issue a notification for identifying them as a distinct indigenous community and conduct a census to document them. Another suggestion was that each of the community members is issued with a certificate or identity card. A member of the committee said the objective was to ensure that the Assamese Muslims were not clubbed with Bengali-speaking Muslims. The committee also suggested the enforcement of a population policy. It submitted its recommendations to the CM on April 21.
Prasanta mazumdar
Our correspondent in Guwahati prasantamazumdar@newindianexpress.com