Himanta Biswa accuses 'leftists' & 'liberals' of sowing division in Assam

GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today during a book unveiling launched into a tirade against leftists and liberals in the context of the CAA and NRC protests.

Accusing the left-liberals are trying to divide society along "linguistic lines", Sarma added that they are the ones who took advantage of the "misinformation" cycle during the anti-CAA protests in Assam.

Lamenting that the intellectual class in Assam primarily comprises "left and liberals", Sarma added that the "left" is more than Karl Marx (author of 'Communist Manifesto' himself).

Making a clear demarcation between people who are agitating in the streets of Delhji or Chennai against CAA and those who are agitating in Assam, Sarma said that the latter has a "very, very communal viewpoint."

"In Assam, however, our debate is different. You do not allow Hindu migrant and we will not allow Muslim migrant."

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Sarma said that "misinformation" was rife during the anti-CAA agitation in Assam. "That people were waiting. That 10'000 trucks are waiting to bring people who will enter tea estate grounds."

Adding that discussions and deliberations can be held with people with genuine concerns, Sarma added that in view of the "communal poison" being spewed during the last election cycle, there is no need to justify the necessity of the 'CAA.'

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) is an act that was passed in the Parliament on December 11, 2019. Under this law, non-Muslim migrants will be granted fast track Indian citizenship in six years. The amendment also relaxed the residence requirement for naturalization of these migrants from eleven years to five.

Himanta Biswa Sarma launches new book:

Himanta Sarma today launched 'Citizenship Debate Over NRC & CAA: Assam and the Politics of History' authored by Gauhati University professor Nani Gopal Mahanta at Srimanta Sankardev International Auditorium in Kalakshetra, Guwahati.

Mahanta's book argues that citizenship debate over NRC and CAA in India is a legacy of partition, and not a crisis of secularism

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