International News Desk: At a time when several minority leaders have repeatedly claimed that there is not a single Bangladeshi living in Assam, AIUDF MLA Aminul Islam has acknowledged that although the number is small, Bangladeshi Muslims do exist in the state (Bangladeshi Muslims in Assam).
In an interview with national news outlet India Today North East, MLA Islam made this controversial statement, saying,
“If a door-to-door ground survey is conducted across Assam, more than 1,000 Bangladeshi Muslims will not be found.”
He said, “Before Independence, out of 108 Assembly seats in Assam, 34 were represented by Muslim MLAs. Even in the 1946 Assembly elections, there were 34 Muslim MLAs. After India’s Independence, many Muslims left India and migrated to East Pakistan. Even today, places like Dhakapatti exist in Jorhat, Nagaon, and Tezpur. People from Dhaka in East Pakistan used to live in these areas. After Independence, those people left India and migrated to East Pakistan. However, nearly 45 percent of them remained in India.”
Alleging that many people were not included in the 1951 Census, MLA Islam said in the interview,
“Many people living in border areas or riverine regions of Assam were not included in the 1951 Census due to poor communication facilities.”
Quoting a book written by then MP Hem Barua, he said,
“The book mentioned that more than 55,000 people were excluded from the 1951 Census. Those whose names were left out due to communication issues were included in the 1961 Census, as transport and connectivity had improved by then. This is the main reason why the Muslim population appears to have increased in the 1961 Census compared to 1951.”
MLA Islam further said, “After the formation of states like Manipur, Mizoram, and Meghalaya, the Hindu and Christian population in Assam declined, as many people became residents of those newly formed states.”
He also mentioned that between 1983 and 1985, notices were issued to around 52 lakh Muslim individuals and their identities and addresses were verified.
MLA Aminul Islam stated,
“The citizenship of Muslims living in Assam has been repeatedly verified through various government processes for decades. Even during election periods, they submitted documents such as Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and bank account details. The identity of a Muslim individual in Assam has been verified more than 15 times. Despite this, if these people are still labelled as Bangladeshis, infiltrators, or ‘Miya’, then who will resolve this problem?”
He added, “During the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process, the Muslim community faced the strictest scrutiny. Since their documents were verified multiple times, claims that a large number of Bangladeshi Muslims are living in Assam are not accurate.”
Referring to the second draft of the NRC, MLA Islam said in the interview with India Today North East, “In the second draft, nearly 1.9 million people were excluded from the list. Of them, around 1.2 million were non-Muslims, while only about 600,000 to 700,000 were Muslims. Those excluded from the NRC cannot automatically be labelled as Bangladeshis or foreigners, because as per law, they are given an opportunity to present their case before Foreigners’ Tribunals after receiving a rejection slip. After submitting documents in the tribunals, nearly 90 percent of Muslim applicants excluded from the NRC are likely to be recognised as Indian citizens.”
Concluding the interview, the AIUDF MLA claimed that the actual number of Bangladeshi Muslims living illegally in Assam would be very small. “Even after all verifications, the number may be around 1,000,” he said.
He also noted that despite repeated verification of citizenship documents, the issue is frequently raised in political discourse.
The remarks made by MLA Aminul Islam in this interview with India Today North East have gained significance in the current political climate.
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