Online census of Assamese Muslims launched
The Hindu
The exercise, viewed as ‘mini-NRC’, aims to distinguish three categories of indigenous Muslims from their migrant Bengal-origin counterparts
The Janagosthiya Samannay Parishad, Assam (JSPA) on Thursday launched a portal for conducting the first-ever census of Assamese Muslims for distinguishing them from their migrant, Bengal-origin or Bengali-speaking counterparts. The JSPA represents three categories of Assamese Muslims — Goriya who converted from various indigenous groups and tribes, Moriya whose ancestors were brought by the Ahom kings to make weapons and utensils and Deshi who converted specifically from the Koch-Rajbongshi community. The three-month exercise, seen as a small-scale version of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), has a cut-off period corresponding with the British annexation of Assam in the early 1800s. The JSPA considers the pre-British rule Muslims of Assam as indigenous, which is why the Jolahas — converts from among tea plantation workers who were brought from central India by British planters — have been kept out of the census.More Related News