Assam Evictions: Jamiat Leader Says Foreigners Out, Citizens Rehabilitated
Mr Madani, who visited the eviction hit district and met the families of those evicted, told reporters that the government’s “attitude” towards those displaced was more painful than the eviction itself
Guwahati: Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) president Maulana Mehmood Madani on Tuesday condemned the ongoing eviction drive of the Assam government while calling it barbaric and accused the state administration of ignoring the Supreme Court directives on rehabilitation for affected families.
Mr Madani, who visited the eviction hit district and met the families of those evicted, told reporters that the government’s “attitude” towards those displaced was more painful than the eviction itself. “Country and nation must run according to a system. The way the Supreme Court’s guidelines were ignored in this drive is condemnable. Just to divide people in the name of religion, terming members of a certain community as ‘unknown’, ‘doubtful’ or ‘miya’, is highly saddening,” said Mr Madani.
Arguing that Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) does not support the presence of foreigners in India, he reiterated that Indian citizens must not be wrongfully evicted without rehabilitation. “There is a way to identify foreigners, but such processes have not been applied. If Indian citizens have been evicted, there must be a rehabilitation plan for them. This is the directive of the Supreme Court in multiple cases,” he said.
Reacting to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s remarks against him, Mr Madani said, “Yes, I agree he is a hero and I am zero. He threatened that he would send me to Bangladesh. I have been here in his state for the past two days—send me. My father and grandfather spent 20 years in jail during the Freedom Movement. How is it right to say such things ?”
He also clarified that he never asked for the arrest of the chief minister, in fact his remarks were twisted in the media. “As an Indian citizen, I have the right to ask a party to act against its members if they use wrong language. That is what our resolution says,” he clarified.
“If the namghar (places of Hindu worship in Assam) is in trouble, how would the masjid be alright? Both are parts of the same hand. Our fight is also for the namghar. You cannot ignore indigenous people,” he said, invoking figures such as Srimanta Shankardev and Azaan Fakir as symbols of Assam’s seamless culture.
The JUH leader also argued that concerns over demographic change are not unique to Assam. “Similar discussions are happening in Uttar Pradesh—in places like Basti and Shamli. If the evictees are foreigners, they should be sent to their countries, but if they are Indians, they must be rehabilitated,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, a high-level delegation of JUH led by Mr Madani visited relief camps where hundreds of families displaced in recent eviction drives are taking shelter.