Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Sunday that the state would implement a new domicile policy, restricting government job eligibility to those born in Assam. Addressing a state Executive meeting of BJP in Guwahati, he also declared that his government would soon bring a law for life imprisonment in so-called ‘love jihad’ cases, news agency PTI reported.
The term 'love jihad' is used by right-wing groups to claim a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
In his announcement, CM Sarma remarked that while “encroached land equal to the size of Chandigarh” has been freed from illegal settlers by his government, land equal to “20 times of the northern Union Territory” is still taken up by encroachers in the state. He cited the historical and cultural significance of the undivided Goalpara district, especially for the Koch Rajbongshi community.
Sarma then expressed concern over the demographic changes in the region, stating, "One by one, a particular community has taken away the land from the indigenous people and made us a minority on our own land. The state government has proposed that within the next few days, we will bring a law that no land in the undivided Goalpara district can be sold to people of special communities. We cannot allow the land that is left among tribals, SCs, and other backward communities to be transferred."
He also addressed the issue of land sales between religious communities, announcing stricter regulations: "Earlier there was inter-religious land transfer, Hindu land was bought by Muslim and vice versa. The Assam government has newly decided that land sale permission will be given only after the approval of the Chief Minister for the purchase of land of a Hindu by a Muslim and the land of a Muslim by a Hindu."
In a significant move, Sarma announced the government's intention to bring a law imposing life imprisonment for ‘love jihad’ cases. "Workers, friends, during the election we talked about Love Jihad. In Assam, we will bring a new law in the next few days to convert the punishment of Love Jihad to life imprisonment," he said.
"Assam government is bringing two laws to stop Land Jihad and Love Jihad," he stated in a post on X.
Under the new domicile policy to be introduced soon, CM Sarma said that only those born in Assam will be eligible for state government jobs, PTI reported. He maintained that indigenous people have been given priority in the “one lakh government jobs” provided according to a pre-poll promise, which will be evident when the complete list is released.
He claimed that people of a “particular community” had gotten up to 30 per cent of constable jobs in the state police force under the Congress government when the incumbent Dhubri MP was in charge of the Home Department, PTI reported.
During his speech, Himanta Sarma also reiterated his government's commitment to recognising various indigenous communities, including tea plantation workers and the Gorkha community, as integral parts of Assam's social fabric. "Today, for the first time in the last 3 years, we have seen episodes where the protests have disappeared in Assam. The tribal people returned to the mainstream of state life. Tea plantation workers were recognized as indigenous for the first time. The Gorkha community received indigenous recognition for the first time. Earlier, no Chief Minister of Assam could dare to say that Gorkhas are indigenous people of Assam. No one ever dared to say," he remarked.
He accused the Congress of giving "special dispensation" to a particular community to occupy land while claiming that the BJP government has "freed a Chandigarh-like area from encroachers."
Further emphasising the protection of tribal lands, the Assam Chief Minister declared, "We have decided to bring a new law so that small villages among the tribal people outside the tribal belt and block are converted into Micro Tribal Belt and Block so that no one can look at the land of the tribal people outside the tribal belt."
Assam CM Himanta Sarma On Assam BJP Leaders Joining Congress
CM Himanta also addressed those quitting the BJP to join the Congress saying, "A few of our friends have joined the Congress party. I'm happy about that, I certainly wish that the movement of the Rashtriva Swavamsevak Sangh would spread to Rajiv Bhawan because our job is to spread it at every time in society. If the swayamsevaks of our Sangh can talk like lions at Raiiv Bhawan tomorrow, no one can be happier than us. Because the ideal of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is not to build BJP but to build society and state. The more people who believe in Hindus go to Rajiv Bhawan, the more we must feel it is a victory."
"If we had the environment to work for the indigenous people while in Congress, we would never have left the Congress. If they go today and create an environment for the indigenous people of Assam at Rajiv Bhawan they will remain our role models and inspirations. Some people should go to CPM, and CPM should also become RSS. Some of them should go to UDF so that beef eating can be stopped," he quipped.
This comes as Congress MP Pradyut Bordoloi in July claimed that several sitting BJP MLAs from Assam approached him and other senior leaders about joining the opposition party, which he said would be decided upon during its upcoming 'political affairs meeting'.
Notably, Assam CM Himata Sarma has previously spoken about the need for population control measures and mentioned conditions for recognising Bengali-speaking Bangladeshi Muslims, known as 'Miya', as indigenous people of Assam.
The move to impose life imprisonment for 'love jihad' cases follows the recent approval of a similar bill by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The proposed law, named the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Bill, 2024, targets severe crimes involving forced or deceitful conversions, promising heavy penalties for offenders.