Assam CM tells Bangladesh-origin Muslims living there to 'limit to 2 children, stop practising polygamy'

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has said Bangladesh-origin Bengali-speaking Muslims should "stop having more than two children and practising polygamy" as it is not the culture of Assamese people.

"If they want to become indigenous, they cannot marry off their minor daughters," he said on Saturday (23 March) while laying down certain conditions for the migrant Bangladesh-origin Muslims living in the state, reports Times of India. 

"Instead of sending your children to madrasas, educate them to become doctors and engineers if you want to be called indigenous," he said, adding that they should also start sending their daughters to schools and give them the right over their fathers' properties.

He wondered how Bengali-speaking Muslims could claim to be indigenous if they "encroached" on 'satras' (Vaishnavite monasteries) land.

"These are the differences between them and the indigenous people of the state. If they can give up these practices and imbibe the culture of Assamese people, at some point of time they too can become indigenous," Sarma added.

Among all the Indian states, Assam has the second largest Muslim popular after Jammu Kashmir. 

According to India's 2011 census, Muslims account for over 34% of Assam's total population. 

This Muslim population in the state if of two distinct ethnicities — Bengali-speaking and Bangladesh-origin migrant Muslims and Assamese-speaking indigenous Muslims.

According to the Times of India reports, the Assam cabinet recognised around 40 lakh Assamese-speaking Muslims of the state in 2022 who do not have any history of migration from Bangladesh as "indigenous Assamese Muslims" and a sub-group of the greater native Assamese community, making a clear distinction between the two groups of Muslims.

However, the Assamese-speaking indigenous Muslims are just about 37% of the total Muslim population, while the migrant Bengali-speaking Muslims account for the remaining 63%. 

The cabinet-approved 'indigenous' Assamese Muslims comprise five groups — Goria, Moria, Jolah (only the ones living in tea gardens), Desi and Syed (only the Assamese-speaking).