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OTHERS Bonding together: Muslims greet each other after offering prayers on Id-ul-Adha at Idgah Maidan in Tezpur, Assam. FILE PHOTOMany within the community are unhappy at being divided into subcategories, and vying for the ‘indigenous’ tag, even as there is a lack of clarity on what this term actually means; political leaders argue that the exercise pits Bengali-speaking Muslims against the rest of the community, Rahul Karmakar reports
On July 6, the BJP-led government in Assam approved the identification of five Muslim sub-groups as ‘Khilonjia Musalman’ or indigenous Assamese Muslims to set them apart from Bengali-speaking or Bengal-origin Muslims usually referred to as Miyas.
This was based on the recommendation of a government-appointed ‘Subcommittee on Cultural Identity’ that the ‘Assamese Muslim’ subgroups — Syed, Goriya, Moriya, Deshi and Julha — be given identity cards as distinct, indigenous communities and a Census undertaken to document them. This subcommittee, headed by TV journalist Wasbir Hussain, was set up in July 2021.
It was constituted along with six other subcommittees that submitted their recommendations together to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The other subcommittees submitted their reports on the issues of health, education, financial inclusion, skill development, women empowerment and population stabilisation.
Soon after the subcommittees submitted their reports on April 23, an organisation representing one of the subgroups said some of the recommendations would set a dangerous precedent.
Assamese Muslims have always seen themselves as Assamese first, and amplifying their ‘Muslimness’ by emphasising their religion — even if aimed at distinguishing them from Bengali-speaking/Bengal-origin Muslims — is faulty and divisive, said the Sadou Asom Goriya Jatiya Parishad (SAGJP).
In April 2021, three months before the panel was set up, another organisation called Janagosthiya Samannay Parishad, Assam (JSPA) launched a portal to conduct the first-ever ‘Census’ of Assamese-speaking Muslims.
The exercise by the JSPA, which has been campaigning for a ‘janagosthi’ or ethnic group status for the community, is yet to be completed.
“We welcome the government’s decision to recognise Assamese Muslims as a distinct group but the cultural panel’s recommendations could do with some amendments,” JSPA chief convener and BJP leader Syed Mominul Aowal said. He did not elaborate on how the recommendations could be tweaked.
‘Define Assamese first’
Yasmin Saikia, Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies...