Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a fiery speech given at the death anniversary of Khargeshwar Talukdar, the first martyr of the Assam Movement, slammed the liberal media for not covering the atrocities committed against the Assamese in the past. Sarma gave his speech during the Swahid Diwas in Morigaon and stated how the people of Morigaon fought different battles in the past saying, ‘Morigaon is one such district of Assam where the Assamese people have shed their blood during the freedom struggle, economic struggle and the struggle to save the culture of the Assamese people.’
Assam Chief Minister also raised questions if Assamese people feel safe in the state, ‘like the situation we were in 1979, even in 2021 we are not in any better position’. He said that all those people who had weakened the Assamese Movement in 1979, were involved in repeating the same things all over again and weakening the position of the state by assuming a different shape. Sarma then blamed the ‘leftists’ for crippling the Assam Movement in the past and stated that the same forces were involved even today in destabilizing the Assamese culture.
Assam CM then further stated that the ‘leftists’ and Congress party fueled the rise of the political party AIUDF in the state in order to politically weaken the Assamese. Sarma also mentioned the killing of young men of Assam in Gorukhuti and how the liberal media covered up the atrocities committed there ‘..There was a 4000 years old temple in Gorukhuti, and the priest of that temple was brutally killed and the wife of the priest was forcefully converted…’
Himanta Biswa Sarma said that every step taken to protect the identity of the Assam are being opposed by the left, Congress and liberal media. He said that the NRC is facing massive obstacles, and the main objective of the NRC has been murdered. Similarly, conspiracies are going on to prevent the implementation of the main objectives of the Assam Accord.
Furthermore, Assam CM stated during the last five years, he had continuously worked to strengthen the Assamese culture and protect the Assamese people. He stated that his work to save the Assamese people and the Assamese lands could be seen in Gorukhuti, Sipajhar and Lumding. The CM accused the media of distorting the recent events in Garukhuti, where an eviction drive had faced violent protests.
Notably, On November 8, the Assam government conducted an eviction drive in the Lumding reserve forest of the Hojai district of Assam. Reportedly, the eviction drive was directed by Guwahati High Court to clear the reserve forest lands from illegal settlers. While in September this year, the Assam government undertook an anti-encroachment drive in order to remove the land grabbers and hence clear the government lands including a temple at Dholpur in the Gorukhuti area near Sipajhar in Darrang district.
In the past, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had warned land grabs and illegal settlements were nothing but attempts made to alter the demography of Assam and change the election results in Vidhan Sabha constituencies. He had said that Bangladesh-origin Muslims have a clear plan to take over 3-5 constituencies in each election through a strategic increase of population and ultimately grab power in the state in the coming decades.
