GUWAHATI: Activist and former Planning Commission member Syeda Saiyidain Hameed has stirred a hornet's nest by suggesting that Bangladeshis can live in Assam. Speaking to the media in Guwahati on Sunday on the sidelines of an event, she said, "What’s wrong if they are Bangladeshis? Bangladeshis are also humans. The world is so large. Bangladeshis can also be here. Not depriving anyone’s rights."
"To say that (they are) depriving the rights of others is troublesome, extremely mischievous and detrimental to humanity. God has created this earth for humans," she further said. The remarks, made amid eviction drives by the Assam government, triggered outrage.
"People like Syeda Hameed, a close confidant of the Gandhi family, legitimise illegal infiltrators, as they seek of 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," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma posted on X.
"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. 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," he further wrote.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju said it is not about religion, but land. He also said that if Assam becomes demographically vulnerable, the other states of the Northeast will be in physical danger for the Indian Union. "Rahul Gandhi and his gang want them in voter list and become Indian citizens!" he said, adding that Hameed may be the closest to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi but they should not support illegal migrants.
All Assam Students' Union (AASU) warned Hameed against making such "anti-Assam and anti-India" remarks. "She clearly stated that it is not a crime for the Bangladeshis to live in Assam. No sensible person can make such a bizarre statement," AASU president Utpal Sarma said. He viewed the remarks that "Bangladeshis have not deprived the people of Assam of their rights" as an insult to the 860 martyrs of the Assam Agitation of 1980s which was spearheaded by the student organisation.
He said the illegal migration of Bangladeshis had changed the demography of Assam's several districts, reducing the indigenous people to a minority. "Our language and economy are facing a threat. We are steadily losing our political rights. These are not our concerns alone. The Gauhati High Court said Bangladeshis enrolled themselves in the voters’ list and they have become the kingmaker," the AASU president further said.