“Prioritised Productivity…”: Assam CM Himanta Sarma On Doing Away With 2 Hour Juma Break

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Chief Minister of Assam, announced on social media today that the state assembly has abolished the two-hour Juma break on Fridays. He expressed his gratitude to Speaker Biswajit Daimary and the legislators for this development. In a post on X, the Chief Minister also stated that by eliminating the break, the state assembly has “prioritised productivity and shed another vestige of colonial baggage.”

According to Sarma, a BJP Chief Minister, the practice was first introduced by the Muslim League’s Syed Saadulla in 1937. In 2023, the Rajya Sabha chairman, Jagdeep Dhankhar, announced the adjustment of the additional 30-minute break on Fridays in the Rajya Sabha, citing the diverse representation of members from various communities in the parliament.

Read Also: “I Will Takes Sides, Won’t Let Miya Muslims Take Over Assam”: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Responding to criticism over the removal of the 30-minute additional lunch break traditionally granted on Fridays, allowing Muslim members of the upper house time for namaz, the former minority minister and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had said that the constitution and its preamble of secularism do not allow for any special concession to any religion or faith by the government or Parliament, adding that there is no restriction on ‘Namaz’, only extra and special break has been removed.

For Juma compulsory congregational prayers, devotees gather at noon in Masjid on Fridays, necessitating a break for them from their other engagement. Traditionally, in parliament, the break were allowed for the prayer till it was removed last year.

Read Also: “To Harass Muslims”: Criticism As Assam Introduces New Muslim Marriage Registration Act

Notably, the fresh move follows the Assam government on Wednesday passing the Muslim Registration and Divorce Bill, making it mandatory to register marriage with government. Some Muslim bodies of the state had called the new act as yet another harassment against Muslims. The chief minister’s recent remark “I will take a side, what can you do about it” when accused of partisan policies triggered outrage among the public.

Speaking in the assembly, the chief minister had said that he would not allow Miya Muslims to take over Assam, indicating the changing demography.