Assam Mahasabha supports Bangla Hindus, draws flak
The Assam Sattra Mahasabha a leading religious institution associated with tradition of Vaishnavism in Assam has stirred a major controversy by supporting the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s step to grant citizenship to Bangladeshi Hindus.
The stand of the Sattra Mahasabha faced the strong protest across the state with numerous organisations coming out openly opposing the Sattradhikars ( Head priests) accusing them of acting as an agent of RSS.
The Jorhat unit of AJYCP ( Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad) staged a protest in front of the head office of the Assam Satra Mahasabha in Jorhat, holding placards and burning effigies. They said that they have been protesting the Citizenship ( Amendment) bill as it intends to divide the state on religious line. “Srimanta Sankardev dreamt of an Assam where there is no religionbased division. The mahasabha is doing exactly the opposite,” they added.
The powerful All Assam Students Union ( AASU) general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi said that all the people who came to Assam after 1971 must not be granted citizenship in Assam, irrespective of what religion they belong to.
T he Ahom Royal Society has also termed the bill ‘ destructive to the Assamese community’. The All Assam Matak Sanmilan commented the bill plans to make Assam a land of non- Assamese, which shall never be expected.
Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi also slammed Assam Sattra Mahasabha for its stand regarding hearing of a joint parliamentary committee on April 17 on the proposed amendment of the citizenship act.
“I think representatives of the Mahasabha who had participated in the hearing were highly influenced by the BJP. The Satradhikars in general are non- political. However, we have seen that the BJP and the RSS are trying to influence some of them who had participated in a recent meeting of the RSS. The representatives of the Mahasabha are duty bound to conserve and promote the culture created by Sankardeb - the great saint and social thinker of Assam. They are thus deviating from their duty,” said Mr Gogoi.