CM Himanta Biswa Sarma says Assam has attained economic stability, but existential threats persist

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Assam attained economic stability, but existential threats persist on the political front. He said that, for the first time, the government took steps to secure the Assamese through a scientific analysis.

The Chief Minister said this at the programme for the rehabilitation of the pro-talk ULFA cadres and extending one-time assistance to the next of kin of the slain ULFA cadres. He said, "No state can be secure through arms struggle. However, with conscience and emotion teaming up to work together, the state becomes a secure one without fail."

He further said, "When viewed through the political prism, it becomes crystal clear that the demography of the state has changed drastically due to infiltration from Bangladesh. The changed demography is not a policy of the central government. Though we often say that the population of the greater Assamese in the state is 65 percent and that the religious minority is 35 percent, we will find in the 2021 census report that the population of the mainstream Assamese in the state will be around 40 percent. And if we exclude tea tribes, other tribes, Hindi speakers, and the like, the population percentage of the greater Assamese in the state will come down to 28-30 percent."

The Chief Minister said, "Since its inception, Assam has had to face a whole lot of odds, one succeeding the other. At that time, there was none to think about the future of the state. However, in the past three years, peace has come back to the state. There was scientific analysis to make the future of the greater Assamese secure. For the first time, I, as the Chief Minister of the State, say with conviction that now the Assamese will win 105 Assembly seats, irrespective of party affiliations. In the earlier regimes, the number of seats for Assamese legislators was on the decline. To check this erosion, we had to analyse the issue scientifically and realign the constituencies. The peace accord signed with the pro-talk ULFA faction helped us to a large extent in this regard. It's because of the peace accord that the Assamese will dominate in the state assembly for the next 50 years."

He said, "When I talk with Paresh Baruah, I tell him the vast difference between Assam of the 1980s and 2020s. Now, independent Assam is not the solution to the problems in Assam. The main aims and objectives of the state now should be 'as to how we should make strides by keeping our culture, traditions, etc., intact'. The environment in the 1980s, when the ULFA took up arms, was quite different from what it is now. When the ULFA talks about independent Assam, a question strikes me: What is the relevance of independence given the changed demography in Dhubri, Goalpara, Morigaon, Barpeta, and Nagaon? In such places, the Assamese had to depart as the environment there was not conducive for them."

The Chief Minister said, "I want the pro-talk ULFA cadres to give up the mentality of helping their past colleagues in the outfit. Never sail on two boats."

Each of the 45 ULFA cadres who sustained injuries in anti-insurgency operations got Rs 3 lakh each, Rs 5 lakh to each of the eight oppressed persons, Rs 10 lakh each to the next of kin of the 31 missing ULFA cadres, and Rs 4 lakh from the central government and Rs 3 lakh from the state government as rehabilitation grants to each of the 852 cadres of the outfit.

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