Assam BJP warns of ‘miya land’ threat, blames Congress-era infiltration for demographic shift

The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday issued a strong statement warning against what it described as a “Miya-land” agenda, citing alarming demographic changes caused by decades of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh during Congress rule.

In a press release from the party’s state headquarters at Basistha Chariali, Assam BJP’s chief spokesperson Kishor Kumar Upadhyay accused East Bengal-origin Muslim migrants of posing a serious threat to the cultural, linguistic, and religious identity of the indigenous Assamese population. He warned that under no circumstances would the BJP allow attempts to convert Assam into "Miya-land" to succeed.

Citing Census data, Upadhyay highlighted that in Dhubri district, the Muslim population rose from 9.38 lakh in 1991 to over 15.53 lakh in 2011 — an increase of more than 6.14 lakh — while the Hindu population grew by just 5,563 in the same period. In Barpeta district, he claimed the Hindu population declined by nearly 65,000 between 1991 and 2011, while the Muslim population surged by over 4.21 lakh.

Similar demographic trends, the spokesperson said, have been observed in Darrang, Morigaon, Mangaldoi, and South Salmara, resulting in indigenous communities becoming minorities in their own land. He blamed illegal land encroachment, unregulated population growth, and cross-border infiltration for this imbalance.

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The BJP also took aim at figures such as MLA Sherman Ali and activist Ashraful Hussain, accusing them of promoting the “Miya agenda” through controversial cultural initiatives like Miya poetry and demands for a Miya Museum at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra — a cultural institution named after the founder of neo-Vaishnavism in Assam.

Upadhyay further alleged that religious and cultural sites, including Satras and temple lands, have been systematically encroached upon. He cited instances such as settlements inside Batadrava Satra, madrasas on Rampur Satra lands, and the alleged renaming of Surya Pahar near Kamakhya Temple to “Qudratpur.”

Asserting the BJP’s firm stance, he said Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s government is committed to reclaiming all illegally occupied lands and deporting illegal Bangladeshi migrants. He stated that the religious tolerance of the Assamese people has been exploited for too long, and now the government would take decisive steps to protect the state’s demography and cultural heritage.