GUWAHATI: Himanta Biswa Sarma, the chief minister of Assam, as a part of his campaign against madrasas in the state, claimed that people prefer to attend schools and universities for their education.
"I have shut down 600 madrasas, and I plan to shut down every madrasa because we don't want them. We want schools, colleges, and universities," Himanta Biswa said on Thursday during the BJP's Vijay Sankalp Yatra in Belagavi, a city that is preparing for elections in Karnataka.
All state-run madrasas were to be turned into regular schools that provide general education, according to a contentious bill that Sarma had notably sponsored in Assam in 2020.
There are 3,000 registered and unregistered madrasas in the state as of January 2023.
The senior BJP politician increased his rhetoric against illegal immigrants, saying that "people from Bangladesh come to Assam and present a threat to our civilization and culture."
He also attacked the Left and the Congress for allegedly employing a "pro-Mughal" narrative to distort India's past.
"Congress and the Communists demonstrated that Babur, Aurangzeb, and Shah Jahan played a central role in Indian history. I want to say that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Guru Gobind Singh, and Swami Vivekananda are who India's history is about, not them," Sarma remarked.
He called the opposing party the "new Mughals," compared it to the Mughals, and claimed that they were attempting to weaken the nation. He criticised the party for bringing up the Babri Mandir controversy and for being against the building of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
He claimed that the BJP, in stark contrast to the Congress, believes in creating new temples rather than demolishing old ones. He continued by saying that many Indians proudly identify as Muslims and Christians.
"I have no issue with it, but we need someone who can firmly assert their Hindu identity. India needs someone like that now," the BJP leader stated.
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