Assam’s future not secure, Hindu-Muslim population balance eroding: Himanta

Guwahati, Aug 15 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said the future of the state is “not secure” as the population balance between Hindus and Muslims is declining fast.

Hoisting the Tri-colour here, Sarma also said that the indigenous people have gone in a defensive mode due to demographic change in Assam as “we are a minority in 12-13 districts”.

“The future of Assam is not secure for us. The Hindu-Muslim population balance is declining fast. The Muslim population in 2021 rose to 41 per cent, while the Hindus were down to 57 per cent. The rest is shared by Christians and other communities,” he claimed.

According to the 2011 census, Assam had a total Muslim population of 1.07 crore, making up 34.22 per cent of the total 3.12 crore residents of the state. There were 1.92 crore Hindus in the state, around 61.47 per cent of the total population.

In his speech made on the occasion of Independence Day, the CM asserted that the Hindu population is slowly going down to 50 per cent from 60-65 per cent.

“In such a crisis phase, I am trying to bring back the population balance. I request all Hindus, Muslims and others to follow the family planning norms. We should be aware against polygamy by all sections of the society,” he added.

If there is no strong state government, the indigenous people feel danger at every step, Sarma said adding: “In 12-13 districts, we have become a minority.”

“I am not the sunlight, but will stand like a candle of hope to protect the interest of indigenous people till my last breath,” the chief minister said.

Sarma said that the government has so far recovered 167 sq km of forest land from encroachers.

“Only one community had encroached on land from Gorukhuti to Kaziranga to Lumding. We evicted them and handed over the land to the Forest Department,” he added.

The CM also said that to prevent the sale of land from the indigenous communities like tribals and Adivasis to others in undivided Goalpara district, a strong law will be brought.

“With this, the interests of Koch-Rajbongshi, Bodo and Rabha people will be protected. The Revenue department will also introduce a law in the coming Assembly session to protect the land in Batadrava and Majuli,” he added.

Sarma said that the plots of land in tribal belts are protected, but not outside demarcated areas.

“So, now we have decided to create micro tribal belts outside the tribal belts and a law will be introduced. We are also planning a law so that land sale from one community to another will not be possible easily,” he added.

From October 2, the Assam government will start the third edition of Mission Basundhara. Under this scheme, indigenous people will get land rights in the hills of Guwahati, Sarma said.

“The tea garden land will also be returned to the workers. We will soon come out with a policy in this regard,” he added.

The chief minister said that the government will introduce a state domicile policy in the next few days so that only locals can get government jobs.

“The biometrics of 9.22 crore people were stopped during the NRC update process. I am trying to lift the ban so that the process can start within the next few months,” he added.

Sarma said that the cases of child marriage are going down.

“I took an oath to end child marriage after taking charge. Till May 31 this year, 5,413 cases have been filed and punishments have been pronounced in many cases by the courts. Today I take an oath that by 2026, we will abolish child marriage completely.

“Education is a strong weapon to fight child marriage,” he added.