[ad_1]
In late October, police in India’s northeastern state of Assam, which shares a border with Bengali-speaking Bangladesh and the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, shut down a humble museum showcasing the culture of Miya, or Bengali Muslim culture. facing, and it was closed. three people related to the incident. The arrestees were booked under India’s anti-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The incident comes as the latest in a long list of allegations against Muslims, a minority religion in India that constitutes 14.23 percent of India’s population according to the latest 2011 census. increased since 2014 when the Hindu Bharatiya. The Janata Party (BJP) has taken over the government of India. Assam, where ethnic conflict between Assamese and Bengali speakers is not new, is now ruled by the BJP.
Authorities closed the Miya museum shortly after it opened on October 23 in the predominantly Muslim district of Goalpara. The museum displayed some agricultural and fishing tools, hand towels, and lungi, The men’s skirt is generally associated with Bengali-speaking Muslims, although some Bengali Hindus also wear it. Mohor Ali, who created the museum in his house, said that these are the artifacts that the Miya community recognized.
The police closed the museum, claiming that it was being housed under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), a government housing scheme for the poor. They said the buildings were being used for wrong purposes – PMAY houses should be used for residential purposes only.
Soon, senior Assam government officials and BJP leaders opposed the idea of revealing Miya’s identity. A press conference held by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was asked, “Is there a community named Miya?” He said that the organizers will face police action if they fail to prove that the items displayed in the museum belong to a specific Miyas. Except lungieverything else is used by indigenous people, he said.
However, the police in Assam said that the arrest and slapping of terrorism charges occurred in a separate case. Organizers of the museum are accused of receiving money from banned terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Bangladesh-based Ansarullah Bangla group.
Nasir Uddin, a resident of Goalpara district and a former member of the Asom Miya Parishad, a council of Miya people, spoke to this writer over the phone and said the allegation of funding terrorism was “ridiculous.”
“The museum showcases bamboo and cane handicrafts that are used every day, mostly collected from local people. It did not cost more than a few thousand rupees. Who would face terrorist organizations for such a small amount of money? The accusation is unbelievable,” he said.
For the BJP, and the state chief, however, confirming Miya’s identity is a risk.
Cultural confirmation of Miya’s identity emerged in 2016 and beyond. The biggest trigger was the direction of the Supreme Court of India in 2013 in Assam to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state. People who fail to prove the existence of their family names in the Assam electoral roll before midnight on March 24, 1971 – just before the Bangladesh Liberation War began – will be considered infiltrators and deported.
The ethnic conflict between Assamese and immigrants, especially the Bengali identity, has been a powerful force in Assam politics for decades, often leading to conflict, bloodshed, and property destruction. It is alleged that immigration from Bangladesh has changed the demographics.
The old ethnic conflict took a new turn with the rise of the BJP in the state in 2016. After the NRC excluded 1.9 million Bengali speakers residing in Assam from the 2019 citizenship list, Hindu nationalist forces sought to protect those non Bengali speaking. Muslims through the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
The people excluded from the NRC included Hindus and Muslims, mostly of Bengali ethnicity. However, the implementation of CAA, when it happens, will leave only Muslims to bear the burden.
Miya’s poetry has become the talk of the town in Assam in 2019, as the NRC list is about to be finalised, and hundreds have already descended on the detention centres. In 2019, the poet was targeted in police cases. In 2020, an Indian National Congress lawmaker from the state proposed the idea of building a Miya museum, a proposal that provoked a strong reaction from Biswa Sarma, then the state’s finance minister. He became the chief minister last year.
Sarma, who is often branded a “communist,” has been targeting Miya’s identity claims since 2020, when he said: “It is a war between two cultures. The so-called immigrants – Bangladeshi Muslims – have started a new idea in Assam. They call it Miya’s culture, Miya’s poetry… We have to preserve the mixed Indian culture and especially the Assamese culture… Assamese Muslims stand firmly behind us.”
In 2021, he said that “Miyas are a threat to the culture and identity of Assam” and that he does not want “Miya votes.”
After the recent incident, Biswa Sarma quoted his previous statements to the Miya community saying that he was correct. “I’ve just witnessed Miya’s poetry, Miya’s school, and Miya’s museum. I’ve always talked about those challenges.”
After the arrest, although many local Muslims considered the police action unjust and illegal, there were no protests on the streets by community members, not even on social media. Speaking to this writer on phone, a Muslim of Bengali origin from Goalpara district said, requesting anonymity, “Organizing a protest or even openly criticizing it can land one in jail.” , slapped with terrorism charges and his business shut down.”
But maybe the noise is coming out of the silence.
[ad_2]
Source link
