Assam: Goalpara district administration seals newly inaugurated Miya museum

In a new development to the Miya museum controversy, the Golpara district administration sealed the newly inaugurated Miya museum on October 25.

This comes hours after Assam broke his silence on the recently questioned museum in the Goalpara district of Assam.

The notification states " As per the Direction of DC Goaplara this PMAY-G house of Mohar Ali, S/O- Somesh Ali of Village Dapkarbhita is hereby sealed until further order."

Notably, on October 23, 2022, the Goalpara administration issued a notice on the door of the Miya Museum office set up by the Assam Miya Parishad. 

On the instructions of the district administration, local magistrate Rajiv Gogoi came and removed the materials used in the agricultural work stored in the museum and sealed it.

Earlier on October 25, speaking to the media the chief minister said, "The museum in question only has traditional items which reflect the culture of Assamese society as a whole and not that of miya community."

Further, the Chief Minister also stated that the management of the Miya museum will be probed under the matter and may face legal action if they fail to provide a satisfactory explanation on how they have justified the items in the museum to belong to miya community.

"I don't understand what kind of museum is this, the plough which they have placed in the museum is used by Assamese people, even the items used for catching fish are also from the Assamese community", the Chief Minister added.

CM Himanta Biswa Sarma remarked that apart from the traditional lungi (a long piece of cotton cloth worn as a loincloth, sash, worn by men) nothing is new in the museum.

Speaking further, the chief minister stated that earlier when he spoke about Miya's poetry a section of the society remarked him as communal, but now those people have to look back at the said museum and see for themselves.

Notably, the state government will also direct the police department to investigate how the money was acquired to open such a museum.

It is to be mentioned here that the ‘Miya Museum’ was inaugurated at Lakhipur in Dapkarvita under the Goalpara district. 

The minuscule museum has been arranged for the preservation of old items that the Miya community in Assam has been using since time immemorial.

The inauguration was attended by hundreds of people from the Miya community as well as invited guests, and officials of the Miya Parishad.