Taking a jibe at Trinamool, Assam CM says party fomenting unrest over language

Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday alleged that a political party seeking to make an entry in Assam is trying to foment political unrest over language in Barak Valley, a region in the state dominated by Bengali-speaking people.

"A section is trying to make Bengalis staying in Brahmaputra valley vulnerable. They want to incite a fratricidal fight," Sarma said. "A new party which is trying to come to Assam is behind this conspiracy," he alleged.

The chief minister was responding to a recent incident in Barak Valley where an organisation smeared government hoardings written in Assamese with black ink. Later, Barak Democratic Front (BDF) leader Pradip Dutta Roy issued a deadline for the government to withdraw the hoarding in Assamese.


Police on Saturday arrested Dutta.

The chief minister said if the said organisation really cared for Bengali people, they would have not done such an act as there are two million Bengali people in the Brahmaputra valley, and they would have thought that this would create a rift. "The person inciting such an act is out and out anti-Bengali," he said.

Such incidents in Barak Valley may cause reaction in Brahmaputra valley, Sarma said. "They are out to harm Bengali people in Pandu and Dibrugarh... These people want to trouble Bengali people from Brahmaputra valley so that they can come and say that Bengali people are in trouble in Assam," he alleged.

When asked if he is hinting at Trinamool Congress as the party behind this incident, Sarma said, "Definitely, for Congress never indulged in such acts."