The alleged hate speeches of the Assam Chief Minister HimantaBiswaSarma are being held responsible for creating the impression that the root of all the problems in the north-eastern state is linked to a minority community. The majority is being made to fear the minority, and a deliberate attempt appears to be underway to create a fault line between the Muslim minority and the rest of society. A nefarious effort is being carried out, with the help of the media, to erase the distinction between “Mian,” “Muslim,” and “Bangladeshi infiltrators.” Even calls for various forms of discrimination are being voiced, and a policy of economic marginalisation of the minority community is being justified.
Although the official electoral campaigns are yet to begin, public debate is already being driven by emotions, religiosity, and the justification of division, rather than by reason, peace, and communal harmony. Issues of “national security” have suddenly been brought to the centre stage, and opposition parties and their leaders are being accused of being anti-national and protectors of infiltrators. While the Hindutva party in the state presents itself as “nationalist” and as a defender of Assamese culture and people, the opposition is demonised as “anti-Hindu.” The right-wing party is also attempting to portray the majority community as “law-abiding” citizens and upholders of Constitutional values, whereas the minority community is dismissed as “reactionary elements,” guided by Shariat rather than the Constitution. Instead of engaging with the constructive criticism of opposition parties, the ruling establishment dismisses them as defenders of “Mian,” “Muslim,” and “Bangladeshi infiltrators.”
But the ruling BJP does not even have the honesty to reflect on the fact that when its own government has been in power for a long time both in the state and at the Centre, and when it claims to be the biggest “nationalist” party in the country, then the issue of infiltration should have been resolved during its tenure. And even if one assumes that this problem is indeed very serious, should it not hold itself accountable for it? If the ruling party lacks the courage to ask itself this question, then the media, at the very least, ought to raise it. Yet, instead of questioning those in power, it appears to be in search of easy targets and is blaming them for all the prevailing problems.
As communal polarisation intensifies in the state, basic issues such as food, public health, employment, and the larger welfare of the people suddenly disappear from public discourse. Assam has a large population of Dalits, Adivasis, and Muslims, whose social and economic conditions remain far from satisfactory. The elites in the state, mostly drawn from upper castes, have been co-opted by the BJP through the distribution of key positions, and they, in turn, stand at the forefront of the narrative that portrays Bangladeshi infiltrators as the state’s only problem. In this din of communal polarisation, the geographical location of Assam, its sociological realities, asymmetrical Centre–state relations, the region’s economic backwardness, and the widespread poverty of its people are all being silenced.
[Dr. Abhay Kumar is the author of the recently published book Muslim Personal Law: Definitions, Sources and Contestations (Manohar, 2026). Email: debatingissues@gmail.com]