Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has made a shocking claim about the Muslim population in the state. Himanta, who said earlier this week that the growing Muslim population in Assam was a "matter of life and death" for him, said that the community's population will surpass that of Hindus by 2051.
"Assam has a population of 11 crores. Based on the statistical projection of the NRC data, the Hindu-Muslim population will be equal by 2041. Assam will become a Muslim-majority state by the year 2051. I am not making this up. ," he said on Friday.
The claim, however, is not new. Similar claims have been doing the rounds for nearly a decade now. A 2015 article in RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser' made a similar claim, citing the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, but put the timeline further away to 1981. "According to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, by 2081, Assam will become a Muslim-majority state. Assam is another Kashmir in the making," an article by Silchar journalist Jyoti Lal Choudhury read.
Both Himanta Biswa Sarma and Jyoti Lal Chowdhury based their claims on the 2011 Census, but placed the deadline when "Assam would become a Muslim-majority state" 30 years apart.
ALSO READ | Hindu-Muslim Rhetoric Still High On BJP Agenda As Leaders Seek To Forsake 'Sab Ka Saath...' Motto
CM Himanta during the Lok Sabha election campaign had referred to the Ayodhya Ram Mandir said that Hindus were in danger in India. He said: "Hindu ko thanda mat karo. Hindu abhi garam hua hai, garam rehne do. Abhi logo ne 'Jai Shri Ram' bolna shuru kiya hai bahut saalo baad. [Don't calm Hindus down. Hindus have just woken up. Let them rise. They have just started saying 'Jai Shri Ram']. These secular people will try to cool us down and not let us chant 'Jai Shri Ram'. Can they stop offering namaaz."
He also said that Hindus are the ones who will build the nation and bring it glory.