Guwahati, Jan 1 (IANS) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday asserted that the BJP government has been doing identity politics and development simultaneously to protect the indigenous people of the state, adding that the ruling dispensation has taken a strong stand to push back infiltrators from Bangladesh.

Speaking to reporters here, CM Sarma said, “We have prioritised to protect our indigenous community from infiltrators. The demography of Assam has largely changed due to large-scale infiltration in the last few decades, and it has threatened the existence of Assamese people in many areas. If we cannot protect the rights of indigenous people, then all the development initiatives will eventually go in vain, and that is why we have taken a firm stand to check the infiltration from Bangladesh.”

The Chief Minister mentioned that the government has been pushing back the infiltrators once they are detected on Indian soil.

“Earlier, we used to write to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for taking action following the detection of infiltrators in our territory. Then the MEA had to inform the Bangladesh government to take back those infiltrators; however, such cases used to be kept pending for a long time due to the lack of response from the neighbouring country. This stance of the Indian government has changed, and now we are pushing back the infiltrators immediately. The Supreme Court has approved this decision,” he added.

CM Sarma also mentioned that there must be strong vigilance so that no Assamese girl should fall prey to Love Jihad, and indigenous Assamese Muslims must oppose this kind of act.

He also said, “In Dhubri, during Eid celebrations last year, at least 20,000 kgs of beef were sold, and this has in turn hurt the sentiments of Hindu citizens. I believe that the selling of beef must be completely prohibited in the Hindu majority localities.”

Notably, the Chief Minister has repeatedly maintained that infiltration poses a serious threat to Assam’s demographic balance, social harmony and internal security. He said the state government is committed to safeguarding the rights of indigenous communities and enforcing the law without compromise.

–IANS

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