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Himanta Sarma's fresh claim on Assam's Muslim population: ‘Will be majority by 2041’
Rahul Gandhi, the Assam CM proposed, should be the ‘brand ambassador’ of population control, claiming that Muslims listen to the Congress leader alone.
Reiterating his stance that Assam's Muslim population was on the rise, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that in less than 20 years, the community would become the majority in the state.
“By 2041, Assam will become a Muslim-majority state. It is a reality and nobody can stop it,” Sarma asserted at a press conference in Guwahati.
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Citing a ‘statistical sampling,’ the BJP leader again claimed that Muslims now constitute 40% of Assam's total population.
“The state's Muslim population is growing around 30% every 10 years, while the Hindu population is rising by around 16% every 10 years. My government has taken steps to reduce population growth among the Muslim community,” he added.
Also, the ex-Congressman, a habitual baiter of Rahul Gandhi, again mocked the former president of the Congress party.
“Congress has the most important role in arresting the population growth of Muslims. If Rahul Gandhi becomes the brand ambassador of population control, it will be contained as the community only listens to him,” Sarma remarked sarcastically.
Also Read | ‘Bangladeshi-origin minorities voted for Congress in Lok Sabha polls’: Himanta Biswa Sarma
The fresh statement by Sarma on the Muslim population of Assam comes two days after he expressed ‘concern’ at the ‘changing demography’ of the northeastern state.
“Changing demography is a big issue for me. In Assam, Muslims are 40% of the population today. In 1951, they were 12%. This is not a political issue but a matter of life and death for me,” he stated.
On July 1, without naming any community, the BJP leader alleged that ‘a section of people from a particular religion' were indulging in criminal activities in Assam.
“I am not saying that crime is committed only by people of a particular religion. However, incidents since the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections are a matter of concern,” as per Sarma.
(With PTI inputs)
