Assam CM makes communal tirade against Chhattisgarh’s lone Muslim Minister

Mr. Sarma was addressing a campaign rally in Kawardha

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday took a controversial dig at Chhattisgarh’s only Muslim Minister, Congress leader Mohammad Akbar, saying “that the land of Mata (Mother) Kaushalya will get defiled if Akbar isn’t sent off”.

In a vitriolic campaign speech in Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha, the Assam Chief Minister repeatedly made references to the name of the incumbent Congress MLA Mr. Akbar. He used the word Akbar as a metaphor for Muslims in the context of a wide range of topics – from the Ayodhya dispute to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, and even the migration problem in his home State of Assam.  

“If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars.  So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled,” he said.  Mata Kaushalya, the mother of the Hindu deity Ram according to some Hindu scriptures, hailed from what is modern day Chhattisgarh.  

Mr. Sarma was addressing a campaign rally in Kawardha in support of BJP’s candidate Vijay Sharma whom the party has fielded against Mr. Akbar. 

While Mr. Akbar is a four-time MLA, Mr. Sharma is a debutant in electoral politics and is one of the accused in the 2021 Kawardha communal violence incident, which stemmed from a dispute over placing of religious flags. Mr. Sarma also referred to the 2021 incident and said that Mr. Sharma had raised his voice against the insult of the saffron flag.  

“Today, to stop religious conversions, prevent love jihad in Chhattisgarh and to save it from people like Akbar, we need people like Vijay Bhaiya,” he said, adding, ”Forty years ago, our elders elected one such Akbar as the Chief Minister of Assam, he opened the gates for Bangladeshis. Today, the land of Mata Kamakhya cries every day, we struggle every day. And the same condition – religious conversions and love for Akbar, the two issues that Bhupesh Baghel has started will make an Assam out of Chhattisgarh”. 

His comments come amid ruling Congress’ charge that the BJP is trying to communalise the Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh after Union Home Minister Amit Shah on October 16 referred to the Bemetara communal violence reported earlier this tear.