AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi launched a scathing attack on Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over his continued hate speeches against Bengali-origin Muslims. According to Owaisi, Sarma and his government cannot be run through fear or prejudice.
He emphasised that the Constitution guarantees equality to every citizen, regardless of their religion or community, and stated that no authority, including a chief minister, can act otherwise.
“If vegetable prices increase in Assam, Miya Muslims are blamed. If someone wants to vote, they are told to go to Bangladesh,” he said.
“The Chief Minister of Assam is of the BJP. Can any Chief Minister say something like this: ‘If there’s a ‘Miya’ driver in the auto-rickshaw, and the bill is five rupees, then you give him four rupees’? In Assam, ‘Miya’ refers to Muslims who were brought there by the British 150–200 years ago to cultivate land and work. They are citizens of India. They speak Bengali. How small are you, the Chief Minister of Assam?” Owaisi asked.
Owaisi further said that while the government talks about building a developed India, becoming the world’s third-largest economy, and emerging as a global superpower, it hesitates to pay “one rupee” to an autorickshaw driver. “I want to ask the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Prime Minister of India: You talk about a developed India. You say that we will become the third-largest economy. You say that we will become a superpower. You have to build a house on the moon, but you don’t want to pay one rupee for an auto,” he said.
“Himanta Biswa Sarma, I’m giving you these two rupees—will you take them? I know you’re a beggar for two rupees. Should I transfer it to your account?” Owaisi said at a public rally in Nizamabad on Friday.
The Chief Minister has faced criticism in recent weeks over what opponents describe as “hateful and divisive” rhetoric. At a recent event in Digboi, he reportedly said that during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he intended to “make the Miya people suffer.” He also urged people to “trouble” them, suggesting at one point that if a rickshaw fare is ₹5, one should pay ₹4.
In Assam, Muslims, particularly Bengali-origin Muslims, remain among the most socio-economically marginalised communities. They are often portrayed as “outsiders” or “illegal immigrants.”
Rights activist Harsh Mander has filed a police complaint accusing the Chief Minister of hate speech against Bengali-origin Muslims, arguing that such rhetoric threatens constitutional principles and minority rights in the state.
On the other hand, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind has approached the Supreme Court against these speeches made by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, alleging that the statements are openly communal, unconstitutional, and amount to hate speech by a person holding a high constitutional office.
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