Guwahati: Bogged down by charges of pursuing a divisive agenda over language and religion, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday took his counterpart in West Bengal Mamta Banerjee head on social media and asserted that they do not divide people by language or religion. Mr Sarma accused Ms Banerjee of compromising Bengal’s future to remain in power. Responding to a social media post of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wherein she alleged that the divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back, Assam chief minister said, “Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilization can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation.” The fresh diatribe on social media X started on Saturday when Ms Banerjee tweeted, “The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional.” Reiterating that the divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight, she said, “I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights.” The Assam chief minister chose to respond to Ms Banerjee without any delay on the same platform X. He wrote, “Didi, let me remind you—In Assam, we are not fighting our own people. We are fearlessly resisting the ongoing, unchecked Muslim infiltration from across the border, which has already caused an alarming demographic shift. In several districts, Hindus are now on the verge of becoming a minority in their own land.” Mr Sarma went on writing, “This is not a political narrative—it’s a reality. Even the Supreme Court of India has termed such infiltration as external aggression. And yet, when we rise to defend our land, culture, and identity, you choose to politicize it.” He asserted, “We do not divide people by language or religion. Assamese, Bangla, Bodo, Hindi—all languages and communities have coexisted here. But no civilization can survive if it refuses to protect its borders and its cultural foundation.” The chief minister said, “While we are acting decisively to preserve Assam’s identity, you, Didi, have compromised Bengal’s future—encouraging illegal encroachment by a particular community ,appeasing one religious community for vote banks, and remaining silent as border infiltration eats away at national integrity—all just to stay in power.” Mr Sarma who was attending two days long Chintan Baithak of the BJP legislators. MPs and senior office bearers at hotel Mayfair in Sonapur asserted, “Assam will continue to fight to preserve its heritage, its dignity, and its people—with courage and constitutional clarity.” The fresh debate over language started after the remark of Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who while responding to a threat of minority students leaders that they would write Bangla instead of Assamese as their language in census data, stated that writing Bangla as their language would help the state in quantifying the population of Bangladeshi immigrants in the state.
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