STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Amid controversies, the Goalpara district administration has sealed the Miya museum set up at Lakhipur in the district. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has appealed to the intellectuals to remain alert on such challenges.
The Chief Minister has made this statement while reacting to the controversy over the recent setting up of a Miyan museum at Lakhipur in the Goalpara district. After the reaction from the Chief Minister, the Goalpara district administration sealed the museum and detained Assam-Miya (Asomiya) Parishad's president M Mahar Ali. The police arrested the parishad's general secretary Abdul Baten Sheikh.
On the other hand, Muslim Rashtriya Mancha's state assistant coordinator Nur Azam Mandal said, "There is no community called Miya. The word 'Miya' is a respectful utterance."
The Chief Minister said, "Barring lungi, the items kept in the museum as Miya heritages are under use among various ethnic groups of Assam for generations. How can the plough be a Miya heritage? Various ethnic groups have been using this agricultural appliance in the state from time immemorial. They need to reply to the government how they can claim various items used by the ethnic groups of Assam as theirs."
The Chief Minister said, "They will also have to give a detailed reply to the government on the funds spent for the museum. When I raised my voice against Miya verses, Miya schools and Miya culture, a section of intellectuals in the state branded me as 'communal'. Now it is time for them to rack their brains on the issue."
Another question that strikes the mind of every right-thinking people is: how come one set up a museum in a house erected under the PMAY (Prime Minister Awas Yojana)?
Abdur Rahim Gibran, a state member of BJP's minority cell, said, "For people schooled in Assamese medium in the state do not have the necessity of setting up a Miya museum. A few people have set up the museum as a publicity stunt."
During the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) agitation, Congress MLA Sherman Ali claimed to set up a Miya museum in Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalashetra in Guwahati. The issue did rake up a controversy in the state. The controversy raised its head again with the Miya museum coming up in the Goalpara district.
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