Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a singer was arrested for trying to popularise ‘Miya Bihu’, asserting that no Assamese person will tolerate any attempt to transform its traditional Bihu songs into something “very different”.
Sarma underlined the need for a community, entering a new society, to assimilate and accept the “fundamental characteristics” of that society. “Some people are trying to popularise ‘Miya Bihu’. One such singer, Altaf Hussain, has been arrested by the police today,” he said in a post on Facebook late on August 31.
In a 2.27-minute clip of the original post shared by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on X on Sunday (September 1), the chief minister said till the Assamese society sustains, it will do so with dignity. “We will not tolerate any attack on our social system. And there should not be such attempts to attack us either,” he said.
Without naming, he stressed that a community must assimilate with the new society it becomes a part of. “We have to let go of certain things and hold on to some. But if we are more inclined to hold on rather than also letting go, then no community can assimilate in the new society. We should remember in every step that we have come to a society, we have to assimilate and to do that, we have to accept the fundamental characteristics of that society,” he added.
Sarma further said no Assamese person will accept any attempt to present the culture, heritage, food, song, dance forms in a “very different way”. “If our pride Bihu songs are transformed into ‘Miya Bihu’, which Assamese will accept it?” he asked.
“I don’t know till when we will survive, but till the time we are here, we will not live with heads bowed. We will live with our heads held high, with dignity,” he said, adding, “hope people take this message in a positive manner.”
‘Miya’ is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam and the non-Bengali speaking people generally identify them as Bangladeshi immigrants. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term as a gesture of defiance.
Last week, the CM had said in the assembly that he will take sides and not let “Miya Muslims take over” Assam, which had led to stiff objection from the opposition benches and an uproar in the House. He also claimed that Hindus were facing problems in “Miya Muslim majority areas” of the state and are being forced to leave their native places.
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