‘Don’t Need Vote From Miya For Next 10 Years’, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma (image- Instagram/ himantabiswasarma)
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said BJP doesn’t not need the votes of Miya people of ‘char’ areas for the next 10 years till they reform themselves by leaving aside practices such as child marriage. The term ‘Miya’ is used to refer Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.
But Sarma also said that the Miya people can continue supporting him, PM Narendra Modi and BJP, and can also continue to shout slogans in favour of the saffron brigade without voting for them.
“BJP will do public welfare and they will support us, but they don”t need to vote for us. There is no harm in supporting us. Let them shout “zindabad” for Himanta Biswa Sarma, Narendra Modi and BJP,” he told reporters in response to a question.
He then added that when election comes, he himself will ask them not to vote for BJP. “When elections come, I myself will request them not to vote for us. When you will follow family planning, stop child marriage and shed fundamentalism, then you vote for us,” he said.
He said the one who opts to vote for BJP should not have more than two or three children and they will have to send their daughters to school and should not indulge in child marriages and adopt Sufism by leaving fundamentalism, says Economic Times.
“When these conditions are fulfilled, I will go to the ‘char’ to seek votes,” he said.
When questioned about the scarcity of schools in ‘chars’ he said that schools would be set up immediately if he is informed about the non-existence of school in such areas. The ‘chars’ are predominantly occupied by Bengali-speaking Muslims.
“It can”t happen that minority students won”t get a chance to study. We will open seven colleges in minority areas in the coming days,” Sarma said.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announced in a joint press conference on Sunday that the two states are at the verge of finalising the actual boundary lines in the six remaining areas as part of the ongoing process to resolve the boundary disputes on Saturday.
