Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said eviction drives to clear encroachments will continue across the state, asserting that “illegal Miyas” will not have peace as long as he remains in office. “Evictions will continue. Even today, notices are served in the Behali area (in Biswanath district). Illegal Miyas don’t have peace till I am the CM,” Sarma told reporters after an official function at Jamugurihat.
‘Miya’ is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam, and the non-Bengali-speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term as a gesture of defiance. “There will be no peace even if you pray at Samadhi. Illegal Miyas have to be in tension till I am the CM. If I am not there, then it is a different thing,” Sarma said.
Sarma also said the government will bring in a new law against polygamy on November 25 during the Winter Session of the Assam Assembly. “If any person engages in polygamy, there will be seven years of rigorous imprisonment,” Sarma said. With the Assam Government vowing to carry out a series of evictions to clear encroachments, political and social experts had earlier said such a move was aimed at creating a ‘narrative’ ahead of the assembly elections next year.
Since the Sarma-led government came to power in 2021, it has carried out a series of evictions to clear land from alleged encroachments, mostly affecting the Bengali-speaking Muslim population.
