Assam opposition leader Debabrata Saikia criticises Kapil Sibal over 'Myanmar' comment, demands public apology

Assam CLP leader and leader of opposition in assembly, Debabrata Saikia has slammed senior advocate Kapil Sibal over his 'Myanmar' comment and has sought a public apology from him. He even named Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and AAMSU for allegedly feeding wrong information to Sibal about Assam.

In a strongly worded letter to the senior advocate, Saikia said such a comment coming from a senior statesman like Sibal has hurt the pride and emotions of the people of Assam and hence a public apology should be rendered. 

"Assam was never a part of Myanmar and this comment from a senior statesman like you have hurt the pride and emotion of indigenous people of Assam. In view of this, I request you to kindly withdraw the statement and render a public apology before the public of Assam for mis-representation of Assam’s glorious history," said Saikia in the letter. 

Saikia further said that Sibal stating that Assam was once a part of Myanmar has hurt the pride of the people of Assam and even went on to say that he may have been fed wrong information by groups like the All Assam Minority Students Union (AAMSU) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. 

"You been distinguished senior advocate of the Supreme Court and a parliamentarian of outstanding calibre, this incorrect representation of Assam history is very unfortunate and it has hurt the pride and prestige of Assam. It seems the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and AAMSU might have provided you with incorrect information about Assam history and your team has failed to cross check the data before presentation," said Saikia. 

Saikia further said that Assam had been invaded by different forces over the centuries, but it was never a part of Myanmar, as has been stated by Sibal in the Supreme Court. 

"The history of Assam is the history of a confluence of the Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman (Sino-Tibetan), Tai and Indo-Aryan cultures. The Ahom kingdom ruled Assam for six centuries and unified Assam. Although invaded over centuries, it was never a vassal or a colony to an external power until the third Burmese invasion in 1821, and subsequently the British ingress into Assam in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War. The colonial era began with the establishment of British control after the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826," said Saikia. 

Saikia also asked Kapil Sibal to withdraw the statement and seek an apology from the people of Assam. 

Noteworthy here is that yesterday Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had slammed Sibal over his comment and had said that people who dont know history should not be speaking about it. 

This comes after senior advocate Kapil Sibal while commencing his submissions on behalf of the respondents with regard to a series of petitions challenging Section 6A of the Citizenship Act of 1955 said that the migration of the population is embedded in history and cannot be mapped.

"Migration of people in the population is embedded in history and cannot be mapped. Assam was a part of Myanmar and then the British conquered a part of it and that is how Assam was handed over to the British you can now imagine the amount of movement of people that took place and under the partition, East Bengal and Assam became one and Bengali language was being taught in schools where there was large scale opposition. The interaction and absorption of the Bengali population in Assam has a historical context", Sibal says. 

Further citing his example, Sibal said, "We (Sibals) were also displaced from Lahore and my maternal grandparents were killed. We also came here and when partition took place, people from Bengali ethnicity etc will obviously try to come.. so saying that this disrupted the cultural ambience of Assam is Constitutionally unavailable and I have the complete fundamental right to move from one part of the country to another."

The Supreme Court yesterday directed the Union Government to furnish data on the inflow of illegal migrants to Assam and North-Eastern states after March 25, 1971.